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The proposed North Rodney Unitary Council.
NAG’s application to split from the supercity has been labeled a wake-up call by several Auckland Councillors.
The Governing Body met last week to debate a report which summarised how the Northern Action Group’s proposal would impact Auckland Council.
The report said there would be significant costs to Auckland ratepayers if the proposal was approved, but much of the debate was concerned with the wider political issues raised by NAG’s application.
Albany Cr John Watson said many people felt power had been taken out of the hands of local communities and it was time for a review of the supercity structure.
“There is a wider issue is at stake here,” Cr Watson said. “People’s notion of governance isn’t confined to financial balance sheets. It can be more intangible than that. People like to have a feeling of control over their own destiny and make the decisions which are important to them … we are five years into the Supercity and communities can now make educated assessments of how things are working for them. I would like to see a wider review to get a sense of people’s views on the supercity because I think you will be surprised.”
Waitemata and Gulf Cr Mike Lee said Council needed to devolve power back to local boards.
“The best way to deal with this problem is for Council and the Governing Body to consider how to go forward,” Cr Lee said. “Real power should be given to local boards and the Governing Body should transition to focus on regional issues.”
Mayor Len Brown said Council needed to be proactive in engaging with the public to prevent other areas lodging applications to secede from the supercity.
“There are other communities feeling unloved, like Waiheke, and we need to involve them in an ad hoc process rather than wait for them to make an application,” Mayor Brown said.
Cr George Wood said a North Rodney council would be too small to be financially viable and would be unable to fund the infrastructure required for the growing region. Waitakere Cr Linda Cooper said small councils around the country could no longer afford to meet infrastructure needs.
“The Rodney Local Board does a lot of work in Rodney. I don’t imagine the Rodney District Council would have been able to fund these kinds of things,” Cr Cooper said.
The Council unanimously voted to endorse the report, which was produced following a request from the Local Government Commission, which is assessing NAG’s application. The Commission is determining what constitutes the ‘affected area’ – just the northern area defined by NAG, the whole of Rodney, or the whole of Auckland.
Earlier last month, the Rodney Local Board voted to endorse the report.
Board member Greg Sayers asked Council governance director Phil Wilson why the report said NAG would be unable to secure contracts as cheaply as Auckland Council.
Mr Wilson said it was due to economies of scale.
“Since 2010, we have driven significant costs out of operations through bundling contracts and taking regional procurement perspective,” Mr Wilson said.
He then asked Council finance general manager Kevin Ramsay whether a break-down of Council’s operational expenditure in Rodney would be available as part of investigations. Mr Ramsay said a further breakdown of costs would be developed in the future.
Board member James Colville asked whether the NAG proposal would affect Council investment in Rodney.
“While this is being resolved we might not have too much commitment into the north. The sooner we can get a clear answer, the sooner we can move on,” Mr Colville said.
Mr Ramsay said Council investment would not change.
Once the Local Government Commission has determined the affected area, it will determine whether there is support for the proposal within the affected area.
The Commission is expected to make this decision this month.
