Faye White: Taranaki success speaks volumes

Deputy Mayor of Napier Faye White

There is a saying, "It ain't over until the fat lady sings" and thankfully, on the 15th of September 2015, the fat lady gets to sing her final aria and the curtains close on the long drawn out opera called, "Amalgamation".

There has been a lot of dialogue about Hawke's Bay's need for "focused leadership" and that it's time to move on from the current local government model. Why then are our west neighbours, Taranaki, a region with four local authorities, one of New Zealand's most successful regions with strong economic growth, good infrastructure, high quality amenities and a desirable lifestyle? The answer is to be found in last week's Local Government New Zealand newsletter.

I quote from the Taranaki Mayoral Forum report: "Taranaki is a successful region with a history of strong regional unity. Its local government works as well as anywhere in New Zealand. Its councils are noted for the way they come together, when necessary, to speak with one voice (often combined with its local MPs). The unity that Taranaki consistently brings to the table has provided great strength.

A key reason why Taranaki consistently out-performs other parts of New Zealand across a whole range of economic, cultural, social and environmental measures, is the strong leadership and successful functioning of its local authorities over the past two decades. Taranaki is a successful region partly because local government works.

"All four local authorities in Taranaki are efficient and effective in carrying out their roles and responsibilities. This is recognised by external audits and confirmed in everything from community surveys to credit ratings, strength of balance sheets and financial and operational management."

Taranaki's four local authorities believe in collaboration and shared services and it works - the success of the region speaks for itself.

It is great to see our region's economy showing strong signs of improvement, with our pip fruit and tourism leading a jobs boom. This would suggest Bruce Bisset's recent Talking Point hit the nail on the head when he said, "That putting our councils together will not drive our economy."

Councils can facilitate and enable and the Hawke's Bay Business Hub is a fine example of the direction being taken by our region. If Taranaki's local government model of four local authorities works extremely well for their region and they don't have one leader but a focused group of leaders, how does this substantiate the statements being made by Alastair Scott, MP for the Wairarapa (and others) that our region needs "focused leadership"?

It would appear Taranaki's local authorities have the right mind set to make things work which brings me to ask the question, "Is there a power game going on here in Hawke's Bay?" I will leave that for you to figure out. Bring on the fat lady and let her sing her final song! We have work to do!

-Faye White is Deputy Mayor of Napier

-Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz. -Viewpoints on the amalgamation debate can be submitted for consideration and will be used as long as no council resources, money, time or expertise are used in their preparation. This is a requirement of the Local Government Act 2002.