The boards would empower mayors from the same region to work together to govern their regions through genuine regional collaboration.
But doubts remain about what will happen to the port, which is owned by the Otago Regional Council, brought about by changes in legislation in 1989 in the last local government shake-up.
Council chairwoman Hilary Calvert said it looked as if the port would pass into the hands of a new unitary authority.
“You would expect that the government might be looking at them [ports] and either thinking those would be good to take back over as strategic assets for the state, or that they should just disappear into a new unitary council, or several of them.
“So if you combined Dunedin with other places, the debt that they’ve created by the choices they’ve made just gets written off by stealing away with Port Otago and Chalmers Properties.”
She said either way, the port was going to disappear to government or to balance somebody’s debt.
The port was the family jewels as such, but it also included property investment company Chalmers Properties and in reality they were different entities. She said perhaps the regional council could look for a top-up from Chalmers Properties before it went out of business.
Ms Calvert said she was not annoyed by the government’s local body reforms to end the Otago Regional Council.
“Whatever happens, that money will end up either in the same ratepayers’ hands in a different configuration or it will end up with the government taking it away in some fashion or another. And either way, it’s just what it is.”
She had always believed the government was voted in and had the mandate to make changes.
The council’s new building in Maclaggen St was nearing completion and with the council set to disappear in two years, there was no time to waste over the future of the new offices.
“That’s a conversation to be had, and I would have thought we’d have them quite soon because [staff are] supposed to be moving [in] at the end of, or in March sometime.”
She questioned whether mayors had the time to deal with all the extra work brought about by the ending of the regional councils.
“Those mayors, although they’ve been chosen and they look like their local choices, they weren’t chosen as being a board to run the regional council in an interim basis. And they’ve already got fairly full plates themselves. For them to suddenly have enough time and energy to be a change board is quite a big ask.”
The government said Crown-appointed commissioners would be part of the new structure and Ms Calvert thought the government may be keen to make appointments to boards, who will do plenty of work.
More details about the changes are expected in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said it was business as usual at the port.
They would continue to operate a commercially sustainable port for their shareholder, whoever that may be.
There was an independent board the port executive reported to, he said
Any decision on ownership was above his pay grade, he said
The port delivered a net profit after tax of $64.6 million for the 2024-25 year and paid $18m to the Otago Regional Council, which helped cover rates.
