Mayors read into future

BY MALCOLM MCMILLAN

Northlanders are about to be asked what form of local government they would like for the future.>

The findings of an $80,000 report commissioned by the mayors of Far North, Kaipara and Whangarei district councils to review the best options for local governance in Northland, were made public on Wednesday.

The mayors say they commissioned the shared-cost report being mindful of the creation of the Auckland supercity.

It is preferable, they say, for Northland to proactively shape its own destiny, taking into account the challenges the region faces including geography, infrastructure and socio-economic issues – and the need to interface with central government and others on a co-ordinated basis to maximise benefits to the region.

The 108-page report from Tauranga consultancy McKinlay Douglas recommends that the existing four-council structure – regional plus three district councils – be rationalised because it is not considered to be "fit for purpose" for Northland into the future.

One or two unitary authorities – local body structures which combine the functions of both a regional and a district council – are considered by the report’s authors to be the preferred options.

If there are two unitary authorities, it is envisaged that one would be based on the present Far North District Council and the other would combine Kaipara and Whangarei.

Far North district mayor Wayne Brown and Whangarei mayor Stan Semenoff say the local governance review was first mooted at a meeting of the mayoral forum in August 2009 where all three district council mayors and the regional council chairman were present.

All agreed that there should be only one tier of local government for Northland, but the Northland Regional Council had since withdrawn from the process.

Both mayors say they prefer the two unitary authorities option in the report, but disagree that they commissioned the report without a public mandate.

"We have a mandate to do the best for our districts," says Mr Semenoff.

"We are being proactive in bringing this idea forward now so the report’s findings can go out for full public consultation."

Mr Brown says he and his mayoral peers agreed to take a leadership stance on the local governance issue by commissioning the report.

"This is not designed for our personal preservation.

"We’re not driving it that way," Mr Brown says. "You ask where is our mandate?

"I say where’s the problem? Our mandate is to get things done."

Mr Brown says there are numerous examples where the present structure isn’t working. 

"The regional council allocated $50,000 to river management and then spent $3.8 million doing up their offices," he says.

"They published statistics which claimed they’d met 99 percent of their obligations. Well, I’ve only ever met the 1 percent.

"And why is it that district councils are no longer represented on the regional council development fund?

"This is not an attack on the regional council.

"We want to find out what Northlanders think is the best way to do things up here."

Kaipara mayor Neil Tiller didn’t attend the report’s unveiling, saying his district is exploring further the option of joining with part of Rodney district to form a unitary authority, but he supported the report’s findings.

Public meetings are being scheduled throughout Northland next week when the consultants will explain the findings in their report and the options available.

Any changes the public want to see, subject to referenda, could take effect at the 2013 election.

- © Fairfax NZ News