What is the role of local councils and has that changed in recent years? Photo / File
Is it local councils' job to solve homelessness and curb gambling, fight climate change, support education initiatives or stimulate business growth in the CBD? Where once the public expected councils to primarily build and maintain infrastructure and ensure community facilities are serviced, now social issues command public conversation and many local councils are diverting time and resources to addressing them. Does the public know what is within local councils' jurisdiction and has the role of councils changed in recent years? Journalist Stephanie Arthur-Worsop reports.
If you were stopped in the street and asked what your local council was meant to do for the city, would you know the answer?
Most locals appear to have vague ideas about roading and infrastructure coming under a council's command but other responsibilities, including addressing social issues, are less clear.
One retiring councillor says that could come down to rising expectations for local councils to respond to social issues but could also be that people just don't know the difference between local, regional and central government.
According to the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) website, local councils are responsible for a wide range of services including, but not limited to, roading, water reticulation, sewerage, libraries, recreation services, community and economic development and town planning.
However, councils also have considerable freedom to undertake different activities, as long as they consult their communities in making the decisions.
This flexibility allows each council to accurately reflect and respond to the specific circumstances of their district.
But differences from city to city can also make it difficult to know what is and isn't within a council's power.
Retiring Tauranga City councillor Catherine Stewart, who sat around the council table for 12 years, said in her dealings with the public, many were confused by which council was responsible for what.
"We would have people coming to us about buses which actually falls under the regional council. People don't have a clear idea of what the local council does and that often gets blurred with the role of the regional council."
An informal street poll conducted by the Bay of Plenty Times found most residents knew councils had to look after infrastructure but it was not until prompted that they considered the role councils had to play with social issues.
This is despite the Local Government (Community Well-being) Amendment Act that came into effect this year stating local authorities were to "play a broad role in promoting the social, economic, environmental, and cultural wellbeing of their communities".
Most who spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times agreed homelessness should be dealt with by local council but felt, in general, it wasn't always clear what local councils did.
Wai Terry, from Welcome Bay, said local councils needed a support system around them to take care of social issues in the community.
"Local councils are supposed to take care of the region's infrastructure, things like roading and sewerage. Homelessness is a major issue but it's not one the local council can be expected to conquer on its own.
"Homelessness comes with other issues like mental health, so the hospital should be helping. The government should be giving the council support to deal with the problems. It's not just the council's responsibility."
Homelessness is a major issue but it's not one the local council can be expected to conquer on its own.
Welcome Bay resident David Campbell said he didn't know what the local council's job was because, in his opinion, the council "will say one thing and do another".
"A council needs to help out with social housing. We should not have homeless people so that needs to be an issue dealt with locally. In Cambridge, their council set up relief houses. That should happen here."
Poike woman Natasha Cooper said looking after roads was the local council's responsibility, and when asked whether social issues also came under the council, she said things like education and homeless definitely should.
"I think it's only clear to a degree what councils do because you don't hear much about it until it's an election year.
"Something like homelessness definitely needs to be taken care of. There should be no homeless in New Zealand."
Even the locals vying for a seat on Tauranga City Council in this year's election had varying opinions on the types of social issues that came under local government and how far that responsibility extended.
Some said social issues should only be financially funded by central government while others said councils had a fundamental responsibility to be involved in solving social issues affecting their communities.
The LGNZ website states councils were established to provide the services and infrastructure communities need to survive and prosper.
These services are paid for through property tax - the single form of tax New Zealand councils can gather.
Other forms of income can come from the sale of goods and services such as swimming pool charges, regulatory fees like parking infringements, interest earned from investments, including Council-Controlled Organisations and through grants and subsidies.
It is with this funding that each local council is to meet the expectations and needs of the community now and in the future.
So, when a council decides to financially support homeless initiatives or tackle problems associated with begging, as Tauranga City Council has, that funding has to come from the same pool of money.
But are local councils obliged to address issues like these with financial support?
Local Government New Zealand principal policy adviser Dr Mike Reid says while councils have a responsibility to address social issues, the way each council chooses to do so is up to them.
"It's a misguided view that a local council's job is to only cater for infrastructure. Since its inception, local government has been primarily there to look after public health - infrastructure is just one aspect of that."
"But local government has a limited financial pool to draw from so it really comes down to how councils want to respond to social issues, whether they say 'yes, we will help either financially or through partnership' or 'we will alert the central government'.
"We are seeing more instances where local councils are playing the role of advocate in getting social issues in communities put in front of central government.
"Local councils have a responsibility to be aware of and take an interest in the social issues their communities face but how they deal with that is up to them."
Reid said the whole point of local government was to cater to the needs specific to their community which was why legislation allowed councils to have flexibility in what they did and did not support.
"Citizens will have different expectations and views of what the most pressing issues in their community are and it's up to the council to respond to those. Because of this, you can't really talk about local government as a single entity.
"Urban councils, for example, face these social issue pressures a lot more than rural councils. You will see these urban councils work to cater to these pressures while rural councils may be able to put more of their energy into infrastructure or environmental pressures."
When asked whether this had resulted in a change in role for local councils, Reid said legislation surrounding the role of local councils hadn't changed but public perception had.
"While legislation hasn't changed the volume of social issues we are seeing in the community has increased significantly. When people go to central government and find it is not capable of fixing these problems, people turn to local government."
Stewart disagrees, saying she believes the expectations of local councils has changed significantly.
"Being a councillor is a full-time job. It wasn't 12 years ago, but it is now. The expectation of what a local council does has grown a lot. Central government has dumped a lot of social issues on us so we have ended up contributing to these issues financially."
Stewart used the women's and men's night shelters as examples of Tauranga City Council financially supporting solutions to a social issue.
"We can't ignore these social issues ... but with more demand in these areas, prioritisation is much harder and the pressures on the ratepayer dollar are far higher.
"There is a social budget that goes towards helping people which didn't exist eight years ago. But that money has to come from somewhere so while demand is increasing, rates and our debt goes up."
Stewart said she thought central government needed to put more money towards social issues.
"We need to see more collaboration with central government to achieve some of the projects the community wants. We are supporting many different issues that 10 years ago we wouldn't have needed to.
"Personally I think a lot of the solutions to these social issues should sit with central government unless local councils are given the funding to carry them out."
Fundamentally, yes, councils should be involved with these things, at local levels, but funding should be via central government not ratepayer-funded.
Hugh E Robb
Council candidate at-large
Central government needs to focus on the root cause of the social problems rather than focus on the effects and look to others, like local government, to provide solutions. For example, continued high net immigration creates huge demands on local government trying to keep up with housing and infrastructure demands.
Rick Curach
Council candidate at- large
Theoretically, no. Government has the power of income and consumer taxation; receiving nearly $90 billion annually. Councils can only tax property owners and receives $179 million. Despite this difference, the government chooses not to support our community to the level it needs so the council can help but in a small way.
Steve Morris
Council candidate Mount Maunganui-Papamoa Ward
The Local Government (Community Well-being) Amendment Act 2019, states councils "... play a broad role in promoting the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of their communities ..." So there is really no question to answer. Besides, even if it wasn't already law, who else would you leave it up to, morally?
Linda Munn
Council candidate at-large
Councils have a role to play in social issues by working in partnership with communities, organisations and government towards common goals of health, wellbeing and prosperity. If we ignore social issues and focus solely on functional infrastructure, we will face increasing social and environmental degradation that affects everyone.
Heidi Hughes
Council candidate at-large
Yes we do, as an extended, caring community family. However, we must sheet home responsibility, accountability, to agencies (Crown or other) that have specific obligations relevant to the areas of concern, advocating on behalf of those in need in our community. Too often ratepayers become the primary source of funds.
Murray Guy
Mayoral candidate, council candidate Otumoetai-Pyes Pa Ward
Yes and no. Yes, because it is imperative local council takes the initiative as community representatives to take part in identifying challenges and in the strategic implementation of solutions. No, because it shouldn't be entirely its responsibility but rather, involve integration between the community, local and central government.
Caleb Hall
Council candidate at-large
The idea councils should fund social issues is outmoded. Ratepayers are fed up. Social issues need to be addressed by central government. Charity only goes so far. People contribute billions to central government but nothing gets returned to locals. A new mechanism to give certainty to funding needs establishing.
Barry Pollett
Council candidate Otumoetai-Pyes Pa Ward
A council has a moral and legal duty to help society. Government is supposed to exist for the good of the people. What good is a government that refuses to help address social issues? The LGA was amended in 2019. Councils now must play a broad role in society.
Jako Abrie
Council candidate Otumoetai-Pyes Pa Ward
It is local government's district-based education initiatives that help people understand how to become self-sustaining and develop awareness of climate change. Council involvement assists people to take environmental ownership and their role within that community. Councils should focus on projects most likely to be successful and have positive outcomes.
Waitsu Wu
Council candidate Te Papa-Welcome Bay Ward
Councils should take a larger role in social issues. As central government becomes increasingly remote from these matters, it's local communities, voluntary organisations mostly, filling the gap. Councils' role should be supportive of these organisations where it can and those experiences should inform future long-term planning strategies.
Buddy Mikaere
Council candidate at-large
Authorised by: Doug Owens, 6 Triton Place, Mt Maunganui
I believe the role of local government in social issues is to facilitate NGOs and special interest groups and to provide assistance to them for issues such as homelessness. It is unfair to expect only ratepayers to fund social issues. Funding needs to come from central government from everyone's taxes.
Rob Poad
Council candidate Te Papa-Welcome Bay Ward
Central government must take the lead on social issues to ensure equal access to the same resources nationwide. However, it is essential that local government, on the coal face of the needs of the community, actively seeks to improve standards of living and addresses issues specific to the area.
Suzi Paige
Council candidate at-large
Yes, it is the local government's role to independently use resources to address social issues, starting with homelessness. It is a major concern with the surge of Airbnbs, taking up a once-lucrative rental market. Any initiatives for development within the CBD should be encouraged and driven by private enterprise.
Alan Davidson
Council candidate Te Papa-Welcome Bay Ward
No, it is not the role of local government to address social issues in its area, unless those issues have been caused by the council's own ill-conceived plans. Educational initiatives leading to greater employment opportunities may be an exception.
Les Wallen
Mayoral candidate
It's central government's role to address social issues. They should be funded by taxes, not rates. Councils can assist in some areas. I willingly participate in meetings with social agencies to advocate for social services for our community, but the Government must fund those services, not shift costs on to ratepayers.
Greg Brownless
Mayoral candidate
Local councils must have a shared role with central government in addressing social issues, especially through enabling the delivery of government-funded programmes in our community. Council planning processes for housing, transport, disability accessibility and community amenities must include social values and should mitigate and avoid causing further social issues.
Peter Gregson
Council candidate Mount Maunganui-Papamoa Ward
Local government's core business is infrastructure, housing and community development. Anything rates pay for is council business and I think a council should play a supporting role for community education initiatives, business revitalisation and CHPs to alleviate homelessness and over time transition public transport fleets from petrol to hybrid and electric.
Pare Taikato
Council candidate at-large
Central to all the issues in the greater BOP is transportation, homelessness and environmental destabilisation which affects everyone. We all need to be part of the solution. I advocate passenger rail to solve congestion, reduce carbon emissions, create better access to areas and confer benefits for the public good.
Jos Nagels
Mayoral candidate
Social problems within Tauranga City are not TCC's responsibility but they are TCC's problem. We are often picking up the gap in services and funding provided by central government. TCC deploys significant resources to address these many issues, through our Community Development department and supporting a myriad of community organisations.
Kelvin Clout
Mayoral and council candidate at-large
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