The Local Government Commission has been asked to start again with its review of local government structure in the Far North, given that its current timetable and process is "deeply flawed and will not provide the type of councils that the communities of the Far North want or need".
This was the conclusion of a submission sent to the LGC by political economist Michael Walker, now resident in the Hokianga's Wekaweka Valley.
Mr Walker spent nearly 20 years in local government in the United Kingdom, including time as a Mayor (Council Leader). He served on both district and county (regional) councils, and worked as an adviser to local authorities prior to moving to New Zealand.
"Normally the only winners in council reorganisation are lawyers, consultants and commissioners," he said.
"Local people hardly ever get what they want, and new councils are quite often much worse than the ones they replace, with higher rates and poorer services."
The proposed LGC time-table and process was "absolutely ridiculous", he said, questioning how genuinely the LGC was interested in receiving alternative proposals. It needed to begin its review by asking the communities of Northland what they wanted from local councils, and how they feel the current ones were performing.
In his submission he suggested that the three key concerns for the Far North were the almost total lack of Maori engagement with councils, the belief that smaller councils that were closer to the people would work better, and the fact that the Far North faced a worsening economic crisis that needed urgent council attention.
He told the commission that the almost universal belief was that the local government structure prior to amalgamation in 1989 was vastly superior to the two-tier system. At many of the focus groups organised by the FNDC, and more recently the NRC, the most commonly expressed view was that smaller councils, such as the Hokianga County, were able to deliver more cost-effective services, especially for road maintenance.
They were more accessible and generally more responsive to the wishes of the communities, as they were closer to them and had smaller wards and electorates, while there was significant evidence from the UK that moving from a two-tier structure to unitary authorities did not produce economies of scale, and that the two-tier structure was more cost-effective.
He also argued that the current councils' overseeing of the economic decline was evidence that a new and better structure was needed.
Mr Walker suggested that a series of new community councils should be formed across the Far North to serve small areas with local identities, such as the North Hokianga, South Hokianga and Kaikohe. They would assume most of the current district council's responsibilities, although the district council would remain, with responsibility for rating, building consents and road maintenance contracts.
The regional council would remain as a strategic body responsible for economic planning, and would also assume responsibility for sewerage and water schemes to provide a higher level of professional management and to prevent serious cost overruns such as those that had bankrupted the Kaipara District Council.
He did not believe that the LGC is was likely to listen, however.
"No-one can seriously believe that the LGC is interested in receiving alternative proposals for local government reorganisation when it only gives the community four weeks to come up with alternatives," he said. "People believe that there's either a political fix already in place, or else the LGC is totally disinterested in what the community really thinks."
There was still hope that eventually the Far North could get better local government though.
"The Far North can vote down any proposal that the LGC comes up with later this year in a community referendum," Mr Walker added.
"We can then start again with new proposals that reflect the real needs of the community to include Maori in local councils, with smaller councils and with councils who will work to tackle the economic crisis that the Far North faces."
Contact Mr Walker (pollitix@hotmail.com) for acopy of his submission.
