The Local Government Commission has not declared its view of the unitary authority proposal lodged made by the Far North District Council in December, but believes there is demonstrable support throughout Northland for the reorganisation of local government.
The commission will now publicly notify the application and invite alternative applications, with a deadline of April 15.
The commission, which was not required to determine whether support for change represented a majority view, was satisfied that a "non-negligible" proportion of those who had responded to questions about local government in Northland had indicated that they would consider and did support some form of change. It was also satisfied that support for change from iwi and other Maori groups was evident, from people who were representative of their iwi.
A more comprehensive process of ascertaining community support will now evolve when the commission receives alternative applications, selects its preferred option, notifies any draft proposal for public submissions, consults specific parties and prepares any final proposal.
"Each of these steps involves a narrowing down of the options and the progressive development of a specified option," the commission said in its decision.
