The Government has fired the starting gun on the biggest shake up of local government in a generation. And it’s giving councils just three months to lead their own reform, or have it imposed on them.

RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts today unveiled a so called “Head Start” pathway. It invites councils to put forward their own proposals to merge, simplify and streamline.

The message from Ministers was blunt. Lead your own reform, or we will do it for you.

New Zealand currently has 78 city, district, regional and unitary councils. Too many, the Government says, for a country this size. The system, they say, is too complex, too costly, and too tangled in duplication.

Under the plan, regional councils as we know them would disappear. Elected regional councillors would be removed, with their functions folded into new, larger unitary authorities.

Here in Canterbury, that could mean the end of Environment Canterbury in its current form. ECan’s work on water, transport and the environment could be absorbed into one or more new unitary bodies, sitting alongside the functions currently delivered by Christchurch City and the surrounding district councils.

Proposals must come from two or more territorial authorities and show clear public support.

Cabinet will sign off the successful pitches in 2027, with changes taking effect at the 2028 local body elections.

For councils that don’t step up, the Government has warned a backstop is ready.