Report from LDR by Justin WongThe eight councils across Wellington and Wairarapa will vote next week on the region’s amalgamation proposal ‒ an overarching authority with subsidiary community councils ‒ with Upper Hutt likely to bail out and the Kāpiti Coast wanting to be a standalone authority. There are 10 days left for councils to present amalgamation plans to the Government as part of its local government reforms. As in the Auckland supercity, the regional mayor would be “a strong voice to Government to promote the interests of the region”. The paper compares the regional authority with two alternatives that could include a separate Wairarapa authority or one that combines Horowhenua and Kāpiti. If ministers were unhappy about Wellington’s amalgamation proposal, they could throw the region to the “backstop” and decide what the region’s governing structure would look like.