Under the plan, all 11 regional councils across New Zealand
would be abolished, with their responsibilities handed to new Combined
Territories Boards (CTBs) made up of city and district mayors, and
commissioners appointed by central government.
The CTBs will have two years to come up with a “regional
reorganisation plan”. Local Government Minister, Simon Watts, said that the plan
could include “shared services, council-owned companies, reallocating functions
or merging territorial authorities to form new unitary councils”.
The reorganisation plans are subject to the approval of the Minister of Local Government.
Minister Chris Bishop described the changes as “the most
significant changes to local government since 1989”. Bishop is also the
Minister leading the RMA reforms, which have clearly been written to dovetail
into the proposed local council reforms.
At the heart of the reform is amalgamation. The most likely
outcome for Northland will be one or more unitary authorities being established
that will see district councils take over the functions of the regional
council. They would also take over the NRC’s assets worth $445 million. Plunder
of that magnitude will be too attractive for the mayors to resist!
A single unitary authority model would merge all three district councils in Northland, while a two-council unitary authority would
see Kaipara split between Whangarei, the Far North, and possibly Auckland.
The reform of regional councils is part of a tranche of
central government reforms that are steadily reducing local autonomy,
increasing national consistency, and pushing councils toward fewer roles,
stronger compliance, and better financial discipline. The effect is for
councils to become delivery agents, not policy-makers, where central government
sets the rules and priorities and councils implement them.
This shift is largely the result of dissatisfaction with
local councils, and particularly their excessive rate increases and increased
debt. Clearly central government has seen this as a problem that would escalate
if not brought under its control.
Public feedback on this reform is open until Friday, the 20th
of February, and may be submitted via the Department for Internal Affairs
website as part of the select committee process. HERE >>>
Further information
Department of Internal Affairs HERE >>>
Beehive press release HERE >>>