Letter to the Editor Thursday February 13, 2014

Different song sheets

The closing date for receiving submissions on the proposed unitary plan for Northland is fast approaching. Both the Northland Regional Council and the Whangarei District Council have now completed rounds of consulting their constituents about this new idea for local government in Northland.

Very little of what they have said has been similar. I attended one of each of the meetings they held, and was surprised by the differences in their messages. The only point about which they seemed to agree was that the time-frame for consultation is far too short, and the timing over the summer holiday period is not appropriate. They joined with other mayors in the North to ask for an extension, and were granted one week.

The NRC supports a unitary plan but asks that the Local Government Commission reviews this draft and presents us with another one once they have considered their recommendations. The NRC wants to have local boards and not community boards representing each ward. They suggest having ridings where there are boundaries uniting disparate communities.

The local boards should have their own budgets and decision-making powers. The Northland councillor representing each ward should not vote on local board decisions.

The trouble is that the law enabling local boards will not come into effect until the second half of this year. Will the Local Government Commission wait until then to submit another draft proposal? The Whangarei District Council doesn't think they will.

The NRC doesn't think that the Kaipara debt should be ring fenced but rather rates across all of Northland should be equalised. This would raise Whangarei rates by about $100 per year. The WDC suggested that equalisation would raise our rates by about $400. Why the disparity in calculations? The NRC admitted that they didn't have access to all the data available to the WDC.

The WDC presented a far different take on consulting their community. They seemed to be more engaged in listening and informing, and will make their final submission to the Local Government Commission after they have considered what their constituents have said. They have also employed a company to conduct a telephone poll of householders.

Maori representation on any sort of unitary authority, just like everything else, is viewed very differently by each of our councils. The NRC says that the new law which will create local boards will give more options for both Maori representation and decision-making. No mention was made on who should decide this.

The Whangarei District Council, at Otangarei Marae, talked of Te Karearea. This is already up and running, a strategic partnership between Maori and Pakeha, with a vision of "local government that works through effective partnerships and provides practical solutions".

Our two councils have very different perspectives on the unitary plan. Where does this leave us the voters? In my view, we the people are in a crucial position because of this disparity. What we say to the Local Government Commission will really matter.

Is your submission in?

JULIE RIGGIR

Whangarei