By Justin Tuburan

Mayor Peter Revell has slammed councillors who put forward a motion to break up TCDC’s amalgamation proposal saying he was “blindsided”.

The motion by councillor Flemming Rasmussen to withdraw Thames-Coromandel from its agreement to merge with Matamata-Piako and Hauraki districts failed in a 7 to 4 vote.

Councillors against the motion railed against how the move was leaked to the Waikato Times last week before elected officials were notified.

Mayor Revell, who voted against withdrawal, said in this mornings meeting that “for the first time in my 12 month mayoralty, I have been blindsided”.

He said the motion was valid for debate as it was clearly “an important matter for four councillors” however added that it was “so important that I was kept in the dark”.

Revell said he doesn’t have a problem with the debate, but rather “my issue is with how it was actually done”

He warned against leaks, asking councillors “is that going to be the pattern for anything where we don’t have unanimous decision?”

Mayor Revell joined other councillors in warning of the reputational damage TCDC would suffer if they were to reverse its decision.

He recalled how “accolades” he received from other mayors and government ministers on council’s response to the January storm event and minimising rates rises has since shifted to him being jokingly “ripped by my peers”.

The mayor recalled a colleague at a recent Local Government New Zealand meeting who joked that “you guys don’t need a natural disaster to wreak havoc, you guys just do that to yourself”.

Mercury Bay ward councillor Tony Brljevich, who supported breaking up the proposed merger, said the only reputation councillors should be worried about is with ratepayers.

He likened the agreement as it stands to the song Hotel California “where you can check in but you can never leave”.

The councillor defended the decision to hide the move from other elected officials saying he feared it would be “stonewalled, manipulated or diverted”.

The accusation led to a short verbal joust between Brljevich and Deputy Mayor John Grant who voiced frustration at councillor Rasmussen, saying “his case has been made in print, not at the table”, in reference to the leak and interviews given to the media.

He also argued that a standalone peninsula unitary authority would not have the funding or support to deal with the pressing infrastructure and storm preparedness issues the region faces.

Councillor Hampton added that the work TCDC had already done to reach their agreement with its southern neighbours was already “thorough and costly”.

He warned that the “burden of workload” should amalgamation negotiations reopen would be too much for staff ahead of council’s next Long Term Plan.

Councillor Alison Smith, who voted in favour of the withdrawal, said the short deadline to complete a proposal led to the final result being “rushed rather than thorough”.

On reputational damage, she added that “we would be remiss if we didn’t take this opportunity” to look at other merging options.

In a statement released following the decision, TCDC says the vote “reaffirms commitment to its joint amalgamation proposal” with Mayor Revell stating “we made commitments to Hauraki and Matamata-Piako and to iwi in August, and today’s vote keeps faith with them”.

He adds that “there is a great deal of detailed work still to come before anything is cemented, and the community will be part of that.”

TCDC remains in its joint proposal with Hauraki and Matamata-Piako districts, and a decision from Wellington on the merger is expected to come after the election.