Far North unitary authority bid

A few brief comments from Northland Regional Council Chairman Craig Brown in the wake of confirmation the Local Government Commission is to consider the Far North District Council’s application for unitary authority status:

• The Northland Regional Council is pleased that from this point on, the Far North District Council proposal will be overseen by an independent body. We look forward to the commission’s investigations/findings and will assist it in any way we can on behalf of ratepayers.

• We’re pleased the Commission has recognised the implications the Far North’s proposal would also have on the Whangarei and Kaipara District Councils, the Northland Regional Council and their respective ratepayers.

• With that in mind (and while willing to work co-operatively with the Local Government Commission as it processes the FNDC application), the Northland Regional Council intends to continue with plans announced late last year to embark shortly on a broader fact-finding exercise to see what form the public thinks local government in the wider Northland region should take. Once again, we will reserve our collective judgement until those views are known. We also note a potential opportunity exists to undertake this important consultation collaboratively with both our Whangarei and Kaipara District Council counterparts.

• The Northland Regional Council’s position for a number of years now has been that any local government reform in Northland should be driven by Northlanders themselves and that any moves by Northland’s local authorities to implement change/s in this regard should be done collaboratively and with the full engagement of the many communities which make up our region. We believe any change that provides more effective local government for ALL our ratepayers would be welcomed.
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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>