NRC has its chosen format

The Northland Regional Council is proposing to the Local Government Commission that local government in the region comprise seven local boards with real, legally-protected powers, supported by a single unitary authority, as an alternative to the Far North District Council's proposal for two unitary authorities.

The proposal, approved on Tuesday, makes special mention of strong community support for the retention of the status quo, however.

Chairman Craig Brown said a series of public consultation workshops and meetings convened by the NRC in Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Kaikohe, Whangarei, Dargaville and Mangawhai over the previous fortnight had attracted 167 participants. Of those who were willing to express an opinion, the two most favoured options, by a considerable margin, were either an enhanced version of the status quo or a single local authority underpinned by strong, legally-empowered local boards.

An extraordinary meeting in Whangarei on Tuesday was told that opinion between those two alternatives had been split virtually down the middle.

Given that the status quo was already one of the options the commission was legally bound to investigate, the council had decided to indicate the level of support for the status quo in its alternative proposal, but had specifically introduced the single unitary model as a new option.

Under the proposed single unitary model, the region would have seven local boards with yet-to-be-determined "but very real" enshrined powers and budgets to enable local decision-making at a grassroots level. (A law change would still be required to allow those boards to be established in Northland.)

In turn, the boards would be supported by a single regional body, made up of nine councillors (elected from seven wards) and a single Mayor, elected from across the entire region.

"We believe this model would deliver truly local decision-making and efficient delivery of local services, but also allow Northland to effectively speak with one collective voice on issues of regional significance when required," Mr Brown said.

The council acknowledged that many opportunities for the existing arms of local government to work together over the years had been squandered due to disagreements between them.

Meanwhile, although the NRC had recently changed its constituency boundaries for this year's local body election, with the commission's blessing, it was important to take into account that those wards were not necessarily the same that would come into play under any single unitary model.

The final shape of any proposal recommended by the commission, including potential ward boundaries, was up to the commission and the commission alone to determine, albeit taking into account the public's wishes.

Similarly, the commission had already made clear that the issue of Maori representation on any new council or councils would be up to those new bodies themselves to determine.

"We believe, and our consultation to date has reinforced this, that the Maori representation issue is a matter of real significance that any new council would be required to address as a matter of priority once any transition to a new structure was underway," Mr Brown added.

And while while he believed the councillors, and indeed many in the wider Northland community, would have liked more time to better research the implications of any reform, the commission had been adamant over its April 15 deadline.

"Despite this tight deadline, we're grateful to all those who have taken part in the process to date at what was reasonably short notice. It's now effectively over to the commission to lead the process from here on in," he said.

If the commission decided it did want to change the current model in any way, it would put forward a proposal and invite public submissions over the coming months.

"If that happens, we will continue to seek input from the public to ensure any subsequent submission we make on their behalf is as robust as possible," he added.

Staff would now make final edits to the alternative proposal ahead of Monday's deadline.

Once completed, it would be available at www.nrc.govt.nz/LGreform