KEY POINTS:
There are many diverse suggestions as to how Auckland should move forward to become a world-class city.
So diverse, in fact, that many have been downright contradictory and are more the cause for tension than co-operation.
Many of those suggestions, and much of the tension, surrounds the issue at the core of this question of governance of Auckland - land use. In particular, who should have the over-riding authority in determining the zoning, use and application of what is fast becoming the region's most valuable and rarest commodity - land. Should it be local communities through a consultation process facilitated by their local council? Or should it be vested with the more remote Auckland Regional Council (ARC)?
Under the present structure of the ARC we can have either/or - but clearly, it seems, we cannot have both.
We already have the ARC taking the Rodney District Council and the Auckland City Council to court because it does not agree with the outcomes from the councils' district plan process that gave communities a say in how their respective areas would develop.
In Rodney's case, the ARC is unhappy that we, in response to our community's requests, approved minor household dwellings and flats becoming legal attachments to houses. In Auckland City Council's case, the ARC wants to force higher buildings than the community wants.
Court cases. Demands. Interference. No wonder there are tensions.
So, are we missing something here? Other regional councils in New Zealand have nothing to do with land use. Their concern and responsibility, justifiably, are environmental issues. The Northern Regional Council, for example, has an excellent working relationship with its district councils, because they largely leave it to those councils to get on with the job and determine the most appropriate use of land within each of their areas.
Not so, it seems, in Auckland.
So, what is the answer? How can we overcome this? How can we become more efficient, more effective, and more cooperative? How can we co-ordinate the Auckland region so that we are all at least on the same page?
That's what central government wants, that's what business wants, and there is no doubt that's what the community wants. So, what's the problem? More pertinently, and positively, what's the solution?
I think that a simple way, one that would be not too expensive and would be easy to apply with minimal disruption to anything but ego, would be to change the way politicians are elected to the regional council.
Would it not be simpler, less expensive, less confusing and a whole lot more sensible to have the representatives we elected in the first place - the mayors - on the ARC to do the job they are paid to do, not only for each of their constituencies, but for the entire region.
That could be our new ARC. Seven mayors, plus seven elected councillors to the ARC, one from each of the region's cities and districts, to give a balanced, fair and unified local and regional representation on our region's single most important decision-making authority.
And what about this Lord Mayor suggestion? Let's just elect a chairperson, either by and from the sitting mayors, or by public vote. But let's not waste money on an essentially honorary position. Let's pay for someone who actually does some work.
With this structure, we could have a streamlined local government that gets processes moving and cuts costs. We would also have one set of regulations, such as for building and resource consents, and one set of by-laws - that would be a huge leap forward for a start.
Such a regional council would also be more accountable to - and conscious of - community expectations. And we could get rid of a proliferation of committees and talk-fests such as the Mayoral Forum that could be absorbed into the new and improved ARC. That's another benefit.
Such a model already exists in Canada, and it works well there. I'm not saying we necessarily take up their ball. But at least let's grab a ball and have a try, and not kick it for touch before we even start.
The time has come for Auckland governance to lift its game.
* John Law is the Mayor of Rodney District.
