HEAD START OR BACKSTOPCouncils have effectively been presented with two pathways. Head Start is the voluntary fast-track process that allowed groups of councils to develop high-level merger proposals for consideration by the Government. Under that pathway, central government would determine the changes, informed in part by proposals developed through Head Start. For Rotorua, Māori representation is particularly significant. The Government announced the Head Start process in May, leaving councils only months to assess potentially transformative structural changes.