Last week we published Tim Costley’s response to our letter to him on the possibility of a forced amalgamation with the rest of the Wellington region.   Tim is the current MP for Otaki and is the National Party candidate for the new Kapiti electorate.

In the interests of balance, we invited the Labour Party candidate for the Kapiti electorate, Sophie Handford, to provide a short statement with her position on local body amalgamation.  Her statement is provided in full below:

“There is clearly very little appetite in our community for being merged with Councils in the wider Wellington region, and I am committed to ensuring our community’s views remain front and centre in any future decision-making. People want a local government setup that truly understands, protects, and reflects our district’s unique needs.

National rammed us through this process, with Council’s only being given 90 days to negotiate proposals and engage their communities. Labour is keen to make sure we take time to get this right.

I share the concern about a single Wellington-wide super-council model that could dilute local voice and decision-making for Kāpiti. Our local identity, rural-urban balance, and distinct priorities risk being lost in such a broad regional structure. Labour wants to ensure that any reforms to local government deliver better outcomes without undermining local voice, accountability, or democratic input.

Regarding the options moving forward, I’m supportive of exploring sub-regional pathways that keep governance close to home, including a North-Western approach, provided any proposed model is grounded in community engagement and a clear understanding of what best serves our district’s future.

On the process, I believe democratic safeguards should be respected and local communities shouldn’t have fundamental governance changes forced upon them without genuine buy-in. Labour is not advocating for forced amalgamation of councils.”

---