New Zealand’s councils are calling for a review of the current functions and governance arrangements of local government.

This comes after a remit from Tauranga City Council was passed this morning at Local Government New Zealand’s (LGNZ) annual general meeting.

LGNZ Chief Executive, Susan Freeman-Greene, says that local government needs to be proactive and lead the changes required.

“The current sector arrangements are a legacy, and do not always reflect how communities have expanded and how modern services are delivered. With key Government legislation changes now underway it’ll require an agile and well-planned response by the sector,” says Susan Freeman-Greene.

“It’s also important we retain local decision-making in the work we do and the decisions we make, particularly when it comes to the delivery of infrastructure and services for the community.”

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chair, Doug Leeder says councils needs to be prepared to question their structure and functions.

"The structure of local government hasn’t meaningfully changed since 1989. In that time, our communities, demographics, and challenges have changed dramatically.

“We need to be brave enough to question how we deliver services and what functions sit best at which level—national, regional, or local,” says Doug Leeder.

Three other remits were also passed at LGNZ’s AGM, including a call for legislative changes to make the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) mechanism more accessible for councils to use with iwi/hapū under the current and future resource management systems.

Another remit put forward calls for Government to update the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Fees) Regulations 2013 to account for inflation and include a mechanism for automatic annual inflation adjustments.

And a fourth remit calls for the reform of school bus services to provide an improved service for families and to better integrate the services with council provided public transport services.

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