Ashburton District residents will be asked to rank five amalgamation options as the council seeks a mandate for Canterbury reform talks.

South Canterbury emerged as the preferred merger option at the council meeting on Wednesday, as some councillors feared being dominated by Selwyn’s urban population.

Ashburton District Councillors narrowed their amalgamation options to five for a whirlwind community engagement from Friday until July 5.

The options on the council’s shortlist of potential options are:

•  Remaining a stand-alone unitary council

•  An amalgamation with the South Canterbury councils (with or without Waitaki)

•  An amalgamation between Ashburton and Selwyn

•  ADC extending to include the Rangitata catchment and rural Selwyn

•  Provincial unitary (Ashburton District, rural Selwyn District, rural Waimakariri District, Hurunui District, with or without Kaikōura)

Mayor Liz McMillan said in some scenarios “assumptions have been made” including the possible merger of other councils like Greater Christchurch.

“What matters going forward is that our district gets good governance and is represented well.”

Deputy Mayor Richard Wilson felt his provincial district doesn’t want to be in a position of being dominated and dictated to by a large urban population or “fringes of the city” – the issues they have had with Environment Canterbury.

Wilson was particularly perturbed by a possible representation example that showed if Ashburton merged with Selwyn it could result in a 4-9 split of councillors due to the population disparity.

“We would be firmly in the minority…if you voted on purely district lines.

“As opposed to some of the other scenarios where if one district potentially got too big for their boots, you could say, the other districts could partner up and probably outvote them.”

Strategy and policy manager Mark Low said it could be interpreted that way, but “any elected member is there to represent the entire district”.

Cr Tony Todd said joining Selwyn would create a massive representation imbalance and couldn’t help taking another swipe at Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger’s need to put big pants on – when his microphone was turned off.

Todd clarified on Thursday that he still firmly believes Selwyn isn’t an option as “Rolleston will go to Christchurch anyway”.

“I just made the comment that a guy wearing big pants in Christchurch would probably solve that problem.”

Mauger has been unable to respond to Todd’s comments as he is in China on a Sister City visit.

READ MORE: Merger talks: Christchurch mayor told to 'put big pants on'

The South Canterbury option was the only one to receive unanimous support, with the exception of the absent Cr Phill Hooper.

Cr Deb Gilkison said a South Canterbury merger is “one of the most viable options”.

They opted to include Ashburton becoming a standalone unitary, even though it may not be a viable option.

Cr Julie Moffet said the provincial option had a “mix of rural and urban”, Gilksion said it had too much rural, and Wilson feared it would end up being “swamped by a greater urban Canterbury” due to the continued urban growth.

Chief executive Hamish Riach advised councillors the focus of the engagement was to determine which option the community wanted to take to negotiations at the next Canterbury Mayoral Forum meeting on July 6.

Riach said while the forum could not submit a proposal, the 10 mayors could use discussions to produce their own proposals to present to the Government as "problem solved in Canterbury".

Riach said councils may have a “firm view supported by their communities of a particular outcome that doesn't get support from other councils”.

READ MORE: Canterbury councils still no closer to amalgamation proposal

Riach said the engagement on the potential options, which closes on July 5, will allow Ashburton’s representatives to attend that meeting “with a much clearer and specific direction”.

The engagement survey is set to go out on Friday, asking people to rank the preferred options.

McMillan said the council will meet on July 22, and that could be when they determine what their Head Start proposal will be, or if they will submit one at all.

By Jonathan Leask