Unitary experience in line for councils

Rural heartlands like the Wairarapa have to weigh up the pros and cons of council amalgamation and whether their interests are best served joining with the city or staying out.

At least three regions this year will experience defining debate on the future structure of their local councils.

The Local Government Commission, after a short respite for the general election, is moving forward with consultation on proposals to reorganise and amalgamate councils in the Northland, Hawke's Bay and Wellington regions into single unitary authorities.

This is a major situation. When the amalgamation of the Auckland councils first got underway, many found it hard to believe change would actually occur. But change did come, big change, and it would seem that other regions are now motivated to catch up.

The impetus to amalgamate councils arises from recent changes to legislation and the long-held view that local government is in some trouble meeting the needs of its communities.

Some councils face growth challenges, others depopulation. Rates are high, but money is tight. Major environmental issues such as water management and infrastructure demands are challenging the capacity of councils in their current form.

The conclusion is almost inevitable -- bigger councils means more capacity and a region-wide approach to these things.

In theory, that is. There's also the risk of unwieldy out-of-touch local government focussed on the demands of its population centres and deaf to the concerns of outlying communities.

For agriculture, the stakes are high. Not many farmers would describe local government at the moment as efficient and effective, but there are reservations about the risks of having a bigger outfit with regional and district council powers combined.

Federated Farmers is maintaining a close watch on things. We're encouraged by our experience with Auckland thus far.

There's a better alignment between urban and rural rates, rural input into council affairs is meaningful, and the much larger capacity of the Auckland Council has helped with rural infrastructure that would have been unaffordable for the old districts. Remembering that about 80 per cent of Auckland Council's land area is rural, these are useful insights.

The Federation submissions on the Northland and Hawke's Bay proposals have taken a cautious view though: interested in the simplicity of one council for the region, but needing reassurance, particularly on representation and rates.

Within all of the proposals, a system of local boards is introduced to sit alongside the governing council and manage local amenities and services, but we're wondering whether this is enough.

We've sought the establishment of a rural advisory panel, a system working in Auckland, to communicate our specific industry concerns to the governing council.

We've opposed some curious measures on rates, like the restriction on Northland to land value rating.

In the Wellington region, the submission process is underway and Federated Farmers will be seeking members' views.

The proposal for a Greater Wellington Council takes in all of the Wairarapa, so there's a lot of farming involved, and New Zealand's capital city to contend with.

Farmers need to consider whether their interests are best preserved going in with the city or staying out.

Besides Auckland, the lessons of history on these sorts of changes are few.

The last major amalgamations were in 1989. Rural rates in a lot of places went through the roof in the aftermath, but the world, and local government, was very different then.

The current reorganisation process is also piecemeal and somewhat haphazard, in that a Local Government Commission reorganisation in a region can only be triggered by an application for change and there can be a poll at the end that might put an end to it.

While the commission's reorganisation proposals are turning out to be similar in nature, the communities and geography involved are different. Each needs to be taken on its merits. Federated Farmers will be looking for those merits.