Mike Reid: It's about time Auckland residents cared

Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

Opinion

So do Aucklanders care about local government? It's time they did.

In spite of the good work done by the seven councils in Auckland over the past 20 years, the Government has decided it is time for a change.

A new Super City council, the Auckland Council, will come into being in November next year and the Auckland Transition Agency has begun work on the changeover.

"So what?" I hear many Aucklanders say, "Many of us didn't get involved with our councils before. Why should we bother now?"

There is a strong reason to take notice now. They are about to experience the biggest change in the way our councils have operated for at least 20 years.

The new governance arrangements in Auckland will affect 1.4 million people and have control over assets worth $27 billion.

This new Auckland Council and its local boards (with their role still to be exactly defined) will decide how much people pay in rates, how much money is allocated to sports fields, how the transport system works, how the parks and the natural environment are looked after, and how the region develops and grows, to name only a few of its tasks.

The council will be led by a new group of elected officials.

In October next year, as the legislation currently proposes, Aucklanders will elect a new mayor and 20 new councillors for the Auckland Council and between four and nine local board members for up to 30 boards.

Voters will be choosing people to represent their interests locally, and within the greater Auckland area.

At the moment most other centres have a larger voter percentage turnout than for the Auckland councils. Surely it's time that Aucklanders cared more about local government.

So why should they care? Because local government exists to allow local citizens to have a say about how their communities are run in order to improve their collective well-being. Councils all over New Zealand have a key role in making our communities better places to live, work and play.

Local government is about local democracy and representation - reflecting people's views to elected officials and developing local and regional solutions.

Local government is designed to be more accessible to its communities than any other institution and citizens can easily become involved in local-government processes - in fact, their views are sought out frequently during the year.

The fact that they are actually based in our communities helps to ensure the issues councils deal with are much more relevant and local. It also increases the ability of citizens to influence the direction of council decision-making.

Many of the things New Zealanders hold dear to their hearts have been a result of strong community involvement with local government.

Auckland citizens across the region have a lot to thank their existing councils for.

The new Auckland Council and its boards will enforce laws, manage the provision of services and be tasked with improving our economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability. All of these things require collective action and choices, many of which will be binding on the whole Auckland region.

The new council will be responsible for many of the services people take for granted - for example, essential services of water, wastewater, rubbish, street lighting.

It will also be responsible for the activities which make our communities great places to live, such as economic development, parks and recreation and community events.

The new council will have to make difficult decisions, balancing the needs and priorities across the whole region. Each decision is a judgment. It involves trade-offs and is likely to involve tensions created by competing priorities sought by different groups of citizens. This will be even more pronounced within the new Auckland Council. The new council will be, in fact, the only one charged with the overall stewardship of the region and its local boards.

Its role will be to shape the community based on the expression of collective needs and opinions. This will be a significant change for the whole region.

Residents need to be involved or, at the very least, be informed about the developments happening in their region.

The Government has set up an information website (www.auckland.govt.nz). Residents should monitor it and watch how the things they value may be affected by the changes.

Key matters now under consideration in the legislation include representation issues, local boundaries and the role of the local boards. The bill provides for the governance structure of the council, including the high-level framework (structure, functions, powers, duties and membership), and the powers and functions for the Local Government Commission to determine the boundaries of Auckland, the names and boundaries of the wards and local boards, the number of local boards and their members, and to develop a reorganisation scheme for the division of the Franklin District, and its council, between the Auckland Council and the Waikato District Council.

If you care about Auckland, keep track of the progress of the developments and send in a submission to the Auckland governance legislation select committee by Friday.

Our role is to support and enhance local democracy and local decision-making. It is your new council. You need to care.

* Mike Reid is governance manager for Local Government New Zealand.