North Canterbury’s mayors say they are not opposed to change, but they want to know what would replace regional councils.

There has been a bit of chat about scrapping regional councils, but Hurunui Mayor Marie Black and Kaikōura Mayor Craig Mackle say they have yet to see a better alternative.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Resources Minister Shane Jones have suggested regional councils could be abolished as part of the Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms.

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has expressed support for forming a unitary authority, but the North Canterbury mayors are not so keen.

They say the present model is working, with Environment Canterbury (ECan) as the regional council, supported by the Canterbury Mayoral Forum - a forum of the region’s mayors.

Mrs Black said the mayoral forum has worked well together this term.

‘‘We have all brought into the mantra, if it’s good for one, it’s got to be good for all.

‘‘If we can all hold true to that, you don’t lose the voice of the small rural areas against the big metro.’’

Hurunui District Council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said geographically his district is the same size as regions like Taranaki, but has just 9205 ratepayers.

‘‘Those places with unitary authorities act as a one-stop shop, but you probably need a certain population base to make it viable, and what that population base is, is the question.’’

Mr Mackle said with just 3082 ratepayers, there is no way his council could take on ECan’s functions, such as looking after rivers, environmental issues, pest control and flood mitigation.

It would mean amalgamating with either the Marlborough District Council, a unitary authority in the north, or other Canterbury councils to the south.

‘‘I’m not opposed to change, but show me how it works for our district,’’ Mr Mackle said.

‘‘What representation would we have? Do we want to loose our voice to save a couple of bucks?’’

Former Waimakariri District Council chief executive Jim Palmer led a review of local government, with a report presented to Parliament in 2023.

He said looking at the structure of local government in isolation was unlikely to achieve a sustainable outcome.

Other issues such as funding, partnership with central Government, empowering local government to develop local solutions, enabling ‘‘citizen-led democracy’’, improved governance arrangements and embracing the Treaty of Waitangi also needed to be addressed.

‘‘Local government needs to be given the opportunity to lead the design process, supported by central Government,’’ Mr Palmer said.

Unitary authorities or ‘‘combined networked councils’’ were possible alternatives, but each region is different.

‘‘In my view, just transferring regional council functions to existing councils would be unworkable as most local authorities do not have the capacity,’’ Mr Palmer said.

‘‘It requires a certain critical mass to operate effectively.’’

Combined networked councils is where local councils appoint representatives to make decisions at a regional level, similar to the Greater Christchurch Partnership, which brings together representatives from the Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri councils and ECan.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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