Fears for grassroots democracy in Auckland

Rodney Hide has concerns about adequate representation for Auckland's communities. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Concerns are mounting that the local in local government has been overlooked in the report by the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance.

The proposed model of one super city and six local councils has got politicians from the left and the right - and even big business - anxious about grassroots democracy.

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide is one who has concerns about whether the report provides for adequate local representation in the city's diverse communities and wants to look more closely at the issue.

Papakura Mayor Calum Penrose said splitting that council into two larger local councils would reduce residents' access to decision-makers.

Auckland City councillor Richard Northey said the abolition of most community boards and the creation of local councils removed local decision-making and would lead to many local decisions being made at the regional level.

New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development chief executive Stephen Selwood said local councils representing up to 400,000 people were far too big to be local.

"What's required is a larger number of local councils that represent genuine communities of interest."

The report recommends abolishing all but the Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island community boards, and the creation of a City Centre and Waterfront community board.

The six local councils, with two councillors representing each ward of about 40,000 people, would be responsible for "place-shaping", or making their communities great places in which to live or work.

Last night the commission chairman, retired High Court judge Peter Salmon, QC, said the plan was different from anything that had happened in New Zealand local government before.

He said it was a shared governance arrangement with two levels - the Auckland Council, whose primary role was looking after regional matters, and six local councils, whose only role was looking after local matters.

The Auckland Council would have the full powers of the Local Government Act, such as setting and collecting rates. Local councils, on the other hand, would have limited functions, power and duties set in a new law. They could also have powers delegated from the Auckland Council.

The report said local council powers would include dog control, gambling, liquor licensing and brothel policies, hearing and deciding resource consents, building consent processing and looking after local parks, roads, footpaths, events and graffiti removal.

"They will do everything that needs to be done at the local level," Mr Salmon said. Local councils would not have the power to set rates, but would be funded by the Auckland Council.

However, they could ask the Auckland Council to set local rates for special projects in their communities.

Asked if there was anything to stop the Auckland Council starving local councils of funds, Mr Salmon acknowledged that ultimately local councils were at the mercy of the super-council. But that was no different from Government departments being allocated funds to do their job.