Councils signal battle with Hide

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Angry local government representatives are likely to give Local Government Minister Rodney Hide a stormy reception in Christchurch today.

Hide is scheduled to speak on sector reforms at the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) annual conference this morning.

Nearly 600 delegates are attending the conference, which has super-city Auckland and Hide's planned changes to the Local Government Act at the top of its agenda.

The ACT leader has made it clear he wants to cut the functions of councils so they provide only core transport, water and waste services, and not social, recreational, cultural and environmental ones.

Comments during the conference's first day yesterday show Hide's plans face a battle.

After delivering his speech, Labour leader Phil Goff gave delegates tips on how to handle Hide and his proposals, and called ACT "a radical party, which is better than saying it is an extreme party, but there may not be a great deal of difference".

Waitakere City Mayor Bob Harvey told the conference there was plenty to fear from Hide.

"Not since [former National local government minister] Warren Cooper have we seen a minister that holds local government in such contempt," he said. "All of us in this room are in dire peril of this man."

LGNZ president Lawrence Yule said initial concerns over Hide's appointment were reinforced by his comments on the sector.

"We have to acknowledge that there are things that we agree with the minister on, such as his need for regulatory reform, and obviously a range of things that we don't agree on," he said.

"I would, however, like to publicly state that as a sector we are philosophically opposed to rates-capping and the formal definition of core services, and such approaches challenge the very heart of our democracy."

Yule acknowledged Hide's understanding of the sector and that his role had grown "significantly" in recent months.

Told last night by The Press of the reception he could expect today, Hide said: "I'm not worried. Don't worry about it."

Goff told the conference he rejected Hide's vision of a local government sector with narrowed responsibilities, restricted ability to raise money and where "those who are elected to local government cannot be trusted to make decisions and be accountable to those who elected them".

"The presumption that core services do not include recreation including things like libraries and swimming pools culture and heritage, social services and the environment is frankly bizarre," he said.

"Imposing restrictions implies that central government knows better than local government about how to deal with issues and provide services locally, and that locally elected people are incapable of making sound decisions on issues of local importance."

Hide seemed to favour a rates cap, Goff said. International experience showed rates-capping led to core expenditure being "cut to the bone".

Goff's advice to delegates to overturn proposed changes was to "continue to apply the pressure".

At the opening session, Prime Minister John Key tried to dampen fears over Hide's review. "I think we can find a lot of common ground," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News