Waimakariri District Council - Let's talk about the Head Start Pathway / Amalgamation

Head Start and Backstop pathways

Central Government has announced significant changes to how local government will be structured across New Zealand.

A key part of this reform is moving away from the current two-tier system of district and regional councils.

Regional councils, in their current form, are expected to be replaced, with their functions – such as environmental management, transport planning and water management – absorbed into new, larger council structures (expected to be across whole or sub-regions).

The Government is encouraging councils to form unitary authorities, meaning district/city and regional functions are combined into a single council.

To support this, it has created the Head Start pathway, which allows councils to work together and propose their own reorganisation. Councils have a short window in 2026 to develop and submit proposals, with agreed changes likely to take effect from the 2028 local government elections.