When it comes to potential Canterbury council amalgamations, Selwyn's mayor is approaching the negotiating table with an 'all or nothing' approach for her district.

Mayor Lydia Gliddon said she wanted Selwyn treated "as a whole, not in parts".

“That reflects how our communities see themselves and how services are delivered.

“It also addresses key criteria not to split the catchment in half.”

The mayor and councillors analysed 6900 responses - a record level of community engagement - to its simplifying local government survey, in a closed-door workshop on Wednesday afternoon.

Councils have until August 9 to put forward a plan to Government under its amalgamation ultimatum.

Gliddon said the council is still in the early stages of working through options.

“No positions have been locked in by anyone yet, everything is hypothetical.

The council's focus is on having a strong mandate from the community to explore options, she said.

Her initial summary of the survey is that Selwyn people were open to amalgamation, but are looking north and south, and not necessarily east, or to try to go it alone.

The council's survey results, released today, had 46% of responses asking the council to explore both amalgamating with other neighbouring councils and becoming a Selwyn-based unitary authority.

About a third wanted to only explore becoming a Selwyn-based unitary authority.

“What we are seeing from the survey is that people care deeply about local identity, affordability, strong representation, and keeping decision-making close to home.

“That feedback is now being worked through by councillors alongside more detailed advice, to refine a smaller number of credible options.”

Councillors will work through the next steps on the council’s Head Start proposal at a public council meeting on July 15.

The options will feed into discussions with neighbouring councils, including the upcoming Mayoral Forum meeting on July 6 where Canterbury's 10 mayors are attempting to come up with an agreed proposal for the region.

“Importantly, those conversations will be shaped by what our community has told us, not the other way around.

“Our neighbours are also consulting with their communities too – so we need to keep this in mind.”

With Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon publicly backing a North Canterbury unitary (Waimakariri, Hurunui and Kaikōura), Ashburton seeming to be leaning towards the South Canterbury (Timaru, Mackenzie and Waimate), and Christchurch City yet to state a preference, there is a risk Selwyn could be late to the party, but Gliddon doesn’t want to rush the process.

“These are significant, long-term choices about how local government will work in Canterbury, so it is more important we get them right than rush to an outcome – although that can be difficult with the timeline we have."

One option is an amalgamation with Ashburton, but some Ashburton councillors have reservations about being dominated by Selwyn’s larger urban population.

Gliddon said she is hearing similar concerns right across the region.

“There is more than one way to look at working together – which could mean shared services, rather than a full-scale amalgamation, and how representation will be structured to retain that identity.”

 By Jonathan Leask