The Waihi Beach residents' petition to leave the Western Bay of Plenty for the Hauraki District will be referred to the Local Government Commission.
The Western Bay of Plenty District Council made its decision on Thursday.

Mayor Ross Paterson says the council's decision to head to the Local Government Commission is in line with decisions by Environment BOP, Environment Waikato and the Hauraki District Council.
The councils had 60 days from December 21 when the residents' petition was filed to decide how to deal with the issue. There are three options; form joint committee of the affected councils, choose a council to deal with it, or hand it over to the LGC.
An extraordinary meeting of the Waihi Beach Community Board on Monday also resolved that the matter to be dealt with by the Commission.
'We'll be contacting the Commission today to let them know our decision and the timing of the resulting process will be up to them,” says Ross.
'As a council we're cognizant of providing clarity to submitters and the rest of the Waihi Beach community in a timely manner and I'm sure the Local Government Commission shares this view.”