Canterbury’s mayors are working to a tight timeframe to develop a region-wide Head Start proposal, with no recommendations yet agreed on what it could look like.

The Canterbury Mayoral Forum held a workshop on Friday to work through a potential collective approach under the Government’s Simplifying Local Government reforms.

It followed the Forum’s May meeting, where members agreed to reconvene to discuss a shared Head Start proposal for the region.

Members have agreed to meet again within the next few weeks to continue the conversations.

Mayoral Forum Deputy Chair and Hurunui District Mayor Marie Black said the Forum is committed to working through the process collaboratively and is pleased with how member councils have rallied to ensure the best possible outcomes for their communities.

“This is a significant piece of work, and we have very little time to get it done. While our individual councils continue to engage with their communities, we also need to understand collectively what a Head Start proposal could look like for Canterbury as a whole, and we must get it right,” Mayor Black said.

“We know there’s a lot of interest in what this could mean for our communities, and rightly so. Conversations are advancing between neighbouring councils across the region, and several variations are being explored,” Mayor Black said.

The Mayoral Forum and its Secretariat are supported by the regional council but remain a separate entity.