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At Auckland Council’s Governing Body meeting on May 30, councillors debated whether or not to consult the public about the proposal to reorganise local boards, potentially reducing the number of boards from 21 to 15.
Under the proposal, the Hibiscus and Bays and Upper Harbour local boards would combine, becoming the largest local board in Auckland with an estimated population of 191,700 – larger than cities like Hamilton or Tauranga.
Many councillors felt that the proposed restructure was ‘underbaked’ including Albany Ward Cr John Watson who called his proposed local board ‘a mega-board’.
“There is not going to be support for this [from the public] – it’s confusing,” Cr Watson said. “You need a PhD in local government to understand this.” Fellow Cr Wayne Walker also supported delaying the work in favour of a more robust process.
Consultation was voted down with five votes in favour and 16 (including Crs Watson and Walker) against, so that more work can be done on the proposed reorganisation. Cr Watson said after the meeting that the proposed reorganisation is driven mainly by cost savings and bureaucratic convenience.
“There would be few benefits to local communities, in fact it would make a distant bureaucracy even more distant,” he said.
