Amalgamation is the subject of a closed-to-the-public workshop attended by Tauranga City Councillors today.

City council communications manager Frank Begley says the workshop is a chance for staff to bring the newly elected councillors up to speed on what is happening with amalgamation.

There have been other similar workshops since the October 12 local body elections, which replaced 70 per cent of the council.

'These are the final few briefings really, getting them up to speed on all the issues around the table ahead of the annual plan workshops essentially,” says Frank.

'It happens after every election. I guess in some ways it's more important given the number of new elected members.”

The prospect of amalgamation by decree has been overshadowing territorial local authorities since the government created the Auckland Super City in November 2010.

Tauranga's response was to set up BOPLASS - Bay of Plenty Local Authority Shared Services - with other Bay of Plenty and East Coast councils to combine purchases on council services, and it has for some time been party of a joint forward planning document Smart Growth.

Now the government is continuing to push change. The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3) was introduced into Parliament on November 4, 2013, altering the rules councils have to follow on development contribution spending - tightening up a cash flow many councils have come the depend on.

The Bill changes what development contributions can be used for and allows for objections to development contributions charges.

For example - councils can no longer require development contributions for reserves if the development is non-residential.

It also ‘encourages' more collaboration and shared services between local authorities, while making consultation requirements more flexible.

The Bill also provides for a new significance and engagement policy, and tidies up the consultation process on annual and long term-plans, removing some of the unnecessary duplication between two time consuming planning processes.

There are also new requirements for infrastructure strategies and asset management planning.

Councils are now required to disclose information about their rating bases in long-term plans, annual plans and annual reports, and require disclosure of risk management arrangements for physical assets in annual reports.