'They Can’t Ignore Us': ECan's Rallying Cry Over Government 'Threat'

Thursday, 28 August 2025, 2:55 pm
Article: David Hill - Local Democracy Reporter

Canterbury’s regional councillors say they're disappointed in the Government's lack of engagement on the future of regional governance. 

Environment Canterbury deputy chairperson Deon Swiggs wants the council to engage widely to form ‘‘a Canterbury voice" after Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop declined an invitation to discuss the RMA and local government reform with the council. 

‘‘We need to get together with our friends around Canterbury [mayors and councillors] and we’ve got to bring businesses, communities and industry along with us, and then present it to Government," he told Wednesday's meeting. 

‘‘If we all get together, they can’t ignore us.’’ In a letter to ECan, Mr Bishop said he was unable to meet "at this time due to other commitments", but he thanked the council for its feedback. 

Councillors debated a report which has been produced to promote discussion on the future of regional governance. 

ECan has been looking to frontfoot the debate following suggestions from Government Ministers that regional councils could be abolished as part of the RMA reforms. 

‘‘The essence of this came from when the Prime Minister spoke at the local government conference in 2024,’’ Mr Swiggs said. 

‘‘[Former ECan chairperson] Peter Scott and I were sitting in the front row, and we looked at each other and thought, ‘what the hell is going on?’.’’ 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has previously said he wants to explore the possibility of scrapping regional councils as the Government reforms the Resource Management Act. 

The future of ECan The report identifies four possible scenarios if regional councils are abolished, including a unitary council(s), a Canterbury or South Island assembly, a regional environmental leadership body and a combined council. Under the existing Local Government Act there are only two models for regional governance - regional councils and unitary authorities. 

Mr Swiggs said he did not believe unitary authorities were right for Canterbury. 

‘‘If we had 10 unitary councils in Canterbury, imagine what that’s going to look like?’’ 

Councillor Scott said the council had responded well to the ‘‘threat’’ laid down by Government Ministers. 

‘‘It has caused a few raised eyebrows with people judging that we are trying to get ahead of the game.

‘‘But there is a lot of experience and expertise in this building and there’s been a lot of thinking that has gone into this. 

‘‘When there’s a threat, we need to respond and the threat has been made by significant players at a national level.’’ 

Cr Claire McKay said the council needed to be careful not to come to a position without the support of other Canterbury councils. 

Ngāi Tahu councillors Iaean Cranwell and Tutehounuku Korako welcomed the engagement with Papatipu Rūnanga and looked forward to further debate after October’s elections. Chairperson Craig Pauling said it will be up to next council to pick up on the work. 

‘‘I would like to see the Government give us the potential to come up with our own models as a region, or even going beyond our region as Te Wai Pounamu (South Island).’’ 

A Christchurch or Greater Christchurch unitary authority has been mooted, but questions have been raised about whether the rest of Canterbury would have a sufficient ratepayer base to manage regional council functions. 

A Canterbury or South Island assembly would be based on the Greater Manchester model, with the existing local councils continuing and the mayors or council representatives and Mana Whenua representatives forming an assembly to make regional decisions, with a regionally elected mayor. 

The regional environmental leadership body model would comprise a mix of appointed, elected and Mana Whenua representatives. 

A combined council would be similar to the Canterbury Mayoral Forum, comprising the region’s mayors, a regionally elected chairperson and Mana Whenua representation. 

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

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