Viewpoint – Council amalgamations

The government has given councils three months to submit voluntary proposals for the most radical reform of local government in three decades, which will merge councils and do away with regional councillors. Proposals must be submitted to the government by August 9.

Councils that don’t voluntarily create their own proposals now, will be required to merge after the 2028 local elections and have plans created on their behalf by central government.

At the Northland Mayoral Forum in February, it was agreed that a ‘By Northland, for Northland’ proposal to establish a Local Government Reform programme would be taken back to individual councils for consideration.

At that early stage of the reform, and the lack of confirmed legislative direction, Kaipara District Council hadn’t discussed the proposal further or made any decisions in relation to it. At this month’s council briefing, elected members discussed the issue and concerns were raised by elected members around the costs associated with joining the By Northland, for Northland joint panel, currently consisting of Whangarei and Far North District Councils and Northland Regional Council. An interim amount of $250,000 per council was floated to progress the Local Government Reform Programme. At this stage, there has been no allocation of funding for this programme by Central Government to help councils with anticipated costs. The expectation is that Council will make a decision on joining the panel at this month’s Council Meeting.

There have been concerns raised that three months isn’t enough time to work through a proposal. Given the enormity of the reform and the timeframe, it’s important that ratepayers get to have a say at some stage in the process. At this point it’s unclear if the government has considered the need for public feedback during the proposal period. Many fear smaller communities will lose their identity, local voice, representation and lose control over local decisions.

With such a tight turnaround, our ratepayers potentially won’t get a say in the new proposed structure or in what local representation could look like for smaller areas in the region. It’s also unclear if a broad Representation Review will form part of the amalgamation programme.

Ultimately, our responsibility is to work through what the new structure could look like, ensuring the best outcome for our ratepayers and Kaipara communities.