Local Government Minister Simon Watts says the government has not changed its position on merging councils, after a mayor claimed the stance had softened.

"There's been no change in government policy," Watts said. His comment came after Tararua Mayor Scott Gilmore told RNZ's Morning Report that the government's rhetoric on amalgamation — combining councils into bigger ones — "has changed and has softened" (RNZ).

The government wants councils to put forward merger plans by 9 August under what it calls its "head-start" process. That process was announced in May by RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Watts, giving councils three months to come up with plans for redrawing their boundaries (RNZ).

The government's wider plan is to get rid of regional councils and create larger unitary authorities — single councils that do the jobs currently handled by both regional and district councils. A Beehive press release from November 2025 put the case simply: combining two small district councils into one means a single mayor carries a stronger voice when representing the area to central government (beehive.govt.nz).

Gilmore confirmed the Tararua District Council will not be putting forward a merger plan by the 9 August deadline. He told RNZ that amalgamation is the only option available within the head-start process (RNZ). Speaking to The Post, he said the process asks councils who they would like to merge with, not whether merging is the best outcome for their communities (The Post).

The mayor's claim of a softer stance appears to come from his own discussions with Watts. On 9 July, Gilmore described himself as "cautiously optimistic" about the reforms after talks with the minister, and said he believed amalgamation was voluntary for councils ready to merge (Scoop).

Watts has now moved to shut down that interpretation. The head-start process is not voluntary in the way Gilmore suggested. Councils that do not take part will be moved into a separate "back-stop" process, which Watts confirmed the government will push ahead with. He said final decisions on the back-stop option would be informed by what happens with councils going through the head-start process (RNZ).

That leaves councils like Tararua stuck. Saying no to the head-start process does not exempt a council from the reforms. It just sends them through a process the government has not yet finalised. Watts's framing makes clear the choice for councils is not whether to engage with amalgamation but how.

The broader context here is that the gap between what the mayor thought he heard and what the minister is saying publicly could matter for other councils still making up their minds before 9 August. Gilmore's "cautiously optimistic" assessment followed a direct conversation with Watts, yet the minister's public position leaves little room for the voluntariness Gilmore described. Councils still weighing whether to submit may see the Tararua exchange as a sign that the room for negotiation is narrower than some local politicians have suggested.