29 July, 2013

Population-based law change welcomed

News of a looming population-based law change that would potentially enable the creation of strong, legally-empowered ‘local boards’ in Northland has been welcomed by Northland Regional Council (NRC) Chairman Craig Brown.

Mr Brown says the Local Government Commission is still considering what form it believes local government in Northland should take after a bid by the Far North District Council for a unitary authority in its area.

However, an alternative proposal put forward by the regional council in April had called for seven elected local boards with real, legally-protected powers and budgets – supported by a single unitary authority.

In putting forward that alternative, the regional council had acknowledged it would require a law change before the desired local boards could be set up in an area with Northland’s relatively low population. Under current law, an area must have 400,000 people to qualify for local boards; the proposed change would lower that threshold to allow smaller regions to qualify.

Mr Brown says given the commission has yet to issue its findings, it would be premature to read too much into a recent announcement by Local Government Minister Chris Tremain that the Government did indeed plan to lower the threshold under upcoming changes to Local Government Act.

Mr Brown says while Mr Tremain – who had been speaking at a Local Government conference – did not specify what the new limit would actually be in his speech, the NRC understood it was likely to be available to regions with a population like Northland’s.

He noted that in his speech, Mr Tremain had made it clear that the government was not proposing that local boards would replace community boards altogether – rather, it was keen to see that both options were available.

“Conceivably, even with a law change, an option incorporating local boards might still not be something the commission was keen to see in Northland,” Mr Brown says.

“Having said that, at least it appears the commission will be able to consider it as one more potential option when making its recommendations on the future shape of local government in Northland and indeed, areas of New Zealand with similar-sized populations.”

Mr Brown says in settling for a proposed alternative model which had local boards at its heart, he and his fellow councillors had been guided by community feeling.

Those taking part in a series of regional council workshops on proposed reform earlier this year had indicated a clear preference for an enhanced status quo or the local boards/unitary mix.

Given the status quo was already one of the options the commission must investigate, the regional council had indicated there was public support for it, but had specifically introduced the single unitary model as a new alternative.

“My fellow councillors and I share the feeling of many in our community that this alternative may be a modern and empowering solution to putting the ‘local’ back in local government.”

“Part of the real attraction for us is that under such a model, local boards would be independently elected by ratepayers themselves (rather than appointed by a parent council) and have the statutory delegations and budgets to match.”

“Importantly, these would be legally protected and could not be taken away at the whim of a council as could happen with community boards set up under current legislation and which already exist in parts of the region.”

Under the regional council’s alternative proposal, local boards would be supported by a single regional body, made up of nine councillors (elected from seven wards) and a single mayor, elected from across the entire region.

“We believe this sort of model would deliver truly local decision-making and efficient delivery of local services, but also allow Northland to effectively speak with one collective voice on issues of regional significance when required.”

Mr Brown says he expects the latest development to be of considerable interest to his fellow regional councillors and it would be discussed at some length in the near future.

ENDS

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