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Albany Ward Councillor John Watson is calling for the formation of a separate Northern Council to serve all communities north of the Auckland harbour bridge, including the Hibiscus Coast and Rodney.
He is advocating for this because of a major review into local government, which presented its first report this month.
The independent review is looking at all aspects of governance and representation. It offers a chance to redesign local government and strengthen democracy.
Cr Watson says that latest Council polling results show trust in Council’s decision making at 16 percent for the Hibiscus & Bays local board area – the Auckland average is 23 percent.
“Generally speaking, the further north you go the less trust there is in the super city and that’s been the case since 2010,” Cr Watson says. “An alternative structure should be put out to the Auckland public to debate and decide.”
Cr Watson favours the establishment of three councils across Auckland – one north of the bridge, one for the south/east and one for the city/west. He suggests retaining Auckland Transport, Watercare and Auckland Unlimited as region-wide entities but refocused, with accountability to the new political boundaries while retaining the regional overview. He says the rest of the Council Controlled Organisations could either be absorbed into the new councils or “ditched entirely”.
“The Hibiscus Coast has done well out of a number of large infrastructure projects and has community facilities the equal of anywhere in Auckland but there is a real disconnect at the local level that is getting more pronounced,” he says.
He suggests scrapping local boards and envisages 16-18 Councillors could be on the Northern Council (decided on a population basis) which may include some people currently on local boards.
The current system has areas north of the bridge represented by five Councillors across three Wards. Albany Ward (including the Hibiscus Coast) has Cr Watson and Cr Wayne Walker. Cr Watson says the two of them represent 180,000 people. By comparison the former Rodney District Council, as a whole, only represented 80,000 ratepayers. Local board members bring the tally of elected representatives in North Auckland to around 40.
The findings of the independent panel go out for consultation in a year’s time.
Cr Watson says it’s vital that people have their say, particularly about whether the super city is working and, if not, how can that be fixed or what could be an alternative.
“If there is not a groundswell of people asking for what they want, the status quo may remain,” he says. “Maybe this groundswell could start on the Coast?”
Fact check
• The review into the Future for Local Government is an independent, two-year review, called for by the Local Government Minister. It began this year. • On the review panel are Jim Palmer (chair), Penny Hulse, Gael Surgenor, Antoine Coffin and Brendan Boyle. • The panel published its first interim report on October 8. That report is linked to this story at localmattersne.wpengine.com • A draft report and recommendations are due to go before the Minister by September 30, 2022. Then a formal consultation and submission process will be held. • The final report and recommendations are due in April, 2023.
