Submissions call for next supercity bill

BY MIKE BISHARA

People wanting a say on the new Auckland supercity have until June 26 to get their views in.

The government has called for public submissions on the second of three bills about the supercity. It is scheduled to go to parliament in September.

The second bill is key because it will set out the governance structure for the proposed Auckland Council. The first bill cast in stone the creation of an Auckland Council, or supercity, and the creation of the Auckland Transition Agency which will oversee the merger of up to six district or city councils.

The bill will provide powers for the Local Government Commission to determine the names, number and boundaries of the wards and local boards, and the boundaries of the Auckland Council itself.

It is expected that boundary definitions produced by the commission will be strongly guided by the recommendations of the select committee.

Chairman of the government committee, Northland MP John Carter, has made a special plea for submissions on the role and funding of proposed local boards, and especially the northern boundary of the Auckland supercity. "Nothing is a done deal
yet," he says.

The Rodney District Council wants the northern boundary to stop at Waitakere and North Shore cities – in other words to exclude Rodney in any supercity plans.

It plans to parallel the supercity as a unitary authority catering for the priorities for Rodney, which it sees as hugely different than those of the urbanised councils of Auckland, Mangere, Waitakere and North Shore.

This will be basis of its submissions to the select committee.

In simple terms, a unitary authority for Rodney means absorbing the functions carried out by the Auckland Regional Council.

"The governance of Rodney is one of the most important issues affecting our community. Now is the time to let the select committee know your views. In a few months they will be making recommendations on Rodney’s future," Rodney mayor Penny Webster says.

A unitary authority is not as unusual as critics of the proposal suggest.

Some National Party stalwarts suggest the local government system could consist of about 20 unitary authorites throughout the country, supported by a central environmental protection agency, rather than the 74 district or city councils as present.

Rodney is already the 10th biggest council in terms of population and small unitary authorities operate successfully in Gisborne, Malborough, Nelson and Tasman.

Rodney chief executive Rodger Kerr-Newell is an unabashed supporter of the leadership of mayor Penny Webster. He says she has consolidated and set on a firm footing a council historically dubbed as dysfunctional or profligate in spending borrowed funds.

"To have brought rates back to less than five percent and produced a downward trend in the 10 year long-term plan is a monumental achievement," he says.

An alternative which the council considered and rejected involved merging Rodney’s rural townships and areas with the Kaipara District Council and putting the Hibiscus Coast and the west as far north as Waimauku in with the Auckland supercity proposals.

The question is whether Kaipara would welcome what is essentially a reverse takeover of its domain.

The district already has some of the lowest rates in the country because of its predominantly rural flavour, and the subsequent lack of demand for much in the way of infrastructure beyond roading.

Kaipara’s population is about 18,000 compared to about 40,000 voters from Rodney which would be added to the equation.

The net effect would undoubtedly be to switch the power base of Kaipara operations and priorities from Dargaville to Warkworth, the rapidly growing Mahurangi peninsula, Wellsford and Helensville.

It also makes Rodney as a unitary authority a questionable option without a big enough population base to operate effectively.

This turns the thinking back to a rural Rodney joining the supercity, albeit stripped of any sway in the Auckland Council through a lack of effective representation.

Recent surveys have made it clear that Rodney residents across the board do not want to be an extension of North Shore City, nor have a metropolitan dominated Auckland Council doing their thinking for them.

For example, the Hibiscus Coast has five elected councillors concentrating on its needs and able to directly implement changes that it sees best for the area. Under the supercity proposals that will be gone.

The councils other considered option to joining the supercity involved the Rodney District Council joining up with other northern councils and the Northland Regional Council.

The practical aspects of mixing the needs of areas like Kaikohe and Whangarei with Rodney townships and the Auckland-oriented Hibiscus Coast make the suggestion untenable, say analysts contacted by the Rodney Times.

Whether or not residents views match any of the options presented, the call for submissions is the last opportunity for people in the district to make a meaningful submission on the issues.

To view a copy of the bill visit www.parliament.nz. Submissions on the bill can be made by emailing AGL@parliament.govt.nz or by posting two copies of your submission to the Committee Secretariat, Auckland Governance Legislation, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

People wishing to appear before the committee to speak on their submissions should state this clearly and provide an email address and daytime telephone contact number. Submissions close on Friday, June 26.

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