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The Pandora’s Box of Local Government Reform

The Pandora’s Box of Local Government Reform

Does the Napier City Council quarrel with the Local Government Commission (LGC) confirm that financial facts are being misrepresented, to sway public opinion in favour of the Government’s Local Body Reform agenda?

The Government has confirmed the LGC decision to ring fence the Hawkes Bay debt and financial assets but does not highlight the loss to Hawkes Bay whereby the Port of Napier will come under Government control.

The predicted savings for the Auckland reforms have not materialized and none are predicted anywhere else, except by the LGC. This is leading ratepayers, nationally, to question what is behind the Government’s “obsessive reform” agenda.

The “Super Councils” proposed for Hawkes Bay and Wellington are no different to the Pandora’s Box opened in Auckland. Expensive upfront amalgamation, at the cost of the ratepayers is pointless, when the savings from reducing duplication through shared services will come from within the current organisations, thereby retaining existing community engagement and the current service structure.

Could it be that the real Government agenda is to access community owned assets to sell them?

Keep central Government’s hands off our community owned assets but, better organise the operation of Regional and District Councils to streamline planning and share services using the current operational expenditure.(Opex) In this way communities and leadership will remain empowered and strengthened and not the other way round, as the LGC proposes.

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The Government’s proposed changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) are more about Local Body Reform than the RMA and will simply put the environment at further risk. The RMA legislation lacks the function to manage the administrators of the Act and this is where the Act can be improved. With Winston Peter’s success in Northland, changes to the RMA have now stalled. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/67560526/rma-reforms-set-to-be-delayed

Democracy does not guarantee good governance. The elected members of Councils only have direct influence over one employee, the CEO, who is charged to manage the “red tape”. Councillors need to step up to drive change and cut some of this red tape and Government must look at the Local Body Act to empower them to do just that, or partially appoint people who can do the job, because it is not happening.

To date the Super Council of Auckland has simply added more management layers and this has merely compounded its problem and has not created the efficiencies or cost savings predicted and expected by Aucklanders.

Perhaps the Auditor General should be charged to deal with complaints against Council administrators to keep a check on incompetence and corrupt practices?

The Government’s attempt to convince New Zealanders’ that the RMA is fuelling the lack of affordable housing, is disingenuous. A common set of rules to streamline housing permits and resource consents can be achieved in every region without gutting the RMA or enacting expensive and unwanted amalgamations.

We all know that it is speculation, the inflated cost of building materials, land, compliance, infra-structure costs and GST that push up house prices. Government inaction to manage the building material distributors and curb land and housing speculation, is at the root of the problem.

As politically unpalatable as it may be, something has to be done about this runaway train which is not on a track anywhere near ‘a new economy’.

The Government’s resource-gouging economic policy is degrading our environment, which the RMA was designed to protect. With amalgamation it is planned to remove Regional Councils, bypass their special legislative status, infield experience, case law and their powers of environmental protection over the air/water/land and coastal environs. This is a direct assault on New Zealand’s consciousness and will only serve to damage our economy, not improve it.

The Government proposes that Regional Council and Territorial Local Authorities (TLA) powers are to be transferred to the new Unitary Councils. Development and Environmental functions will be lumped together and will ultimately compete for less financial resources and within a weaker political structure.

Development is bound to win, as resources for environmental protection and monitoring are wound down, as has happened in Auckland. With the demise of Regional Councils and the ring fencing of regional debt and assets then these assets will fall out of the community influence and benefit, into the hands of the Government.

Upfront amalgamation will be a burden on ratepayers and this centralized theme will be the same for all regions, unless ratepayers object and say no.

The Government intention is to sell community assets to pay for the planned amalgamations and for the renewal of infrastructure. Successive Governments have failed to enforce sinking funds for depreciation, in all councils. There is very little capital put aside or available nationally for the renewal of infra-structure.

Amalgamation and asset sales will not cover these future costs or resolve the sinking fund issue. This is the Governments responsibility and they have long ago taken their eye off of that ball.

The bottom line is that ratepayers will have to stump up for all of this and more.

The implementation of the grand plan for the Auckland Super City is currently failing. The amalgamation was rushed through with no clear plan and the Government is responsible. Today a major concern is that the Auckland Mayor and Councillors do not have the collective skill set or understanding, to deal with the complex issues that they are now facing daily. Is this also to be the case and fate for the rest of New Zealand’s regions?

If management of a corporate was planning a merger then they would want to know where every dollar was going to fall. They would also have locked down the direct benefits to their business or their jobs would be on the line. One would think that the Government would understand this?

Surely, with the future of the Hawkes Bay and Wellington now on the line, it is timely for the people to pause and consider calling a halt to this folly of amalgamation and adopt a more sensible approach to the current proposals?

The forthcoming Auckland audit report should help clarify some of these issues, and may yet prove to be the hope that also sprung from Pandora’s Box, but as yet, is not understood by all New Zealanders.

ENDS


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