Press release

The Grey Power Federation is preparing for battle to protect the right of members to be consulted over the structure of district and regional councils. The federation has joined Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) in opposing parts of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 2) which includes a proposal to extend the powers of the Local Government Commission to re-structure district councils without consultation with rate payers.

Grey Power national president Tom O’Connor said a provision in the Bill would give Local Government Commission the authority to require neighbouring district councils to amalgamate some or all of their functions and ratepayers would have no say in the process.

“Government interference which resulted the Auckland Super City experiment and commissioners to replace the elected Canterbury Regional Council back in 2010, have only served to push rates up and reduce efficiency. This new proposal would also make it near to impossible for ratepayers to control or even influence the cost of local government.” He said.

O’Connor said, while ratepayers did not always agree with the decisions of their local authorities, they should never lose the right to be consulted on how local government operates. “We have about 70,000 members nationwide to mobilise to protect that democratic right if we need to.”

“We have made a submission to the Select Committee considering the Bill and given our support to Local Government New Zealand which has opposed the Bill. Amalgamations are for local ratepayers to decide and should not be imposed by central government,” he said.

The Bill is due to be reported back to Parliament before Christmas.

© Scoop Media