Kaitaia and Mangonui were particularly miffed because they had already gone a long way down the road to amalgamation under their own steam. They had formed a joint administration, with Earl Reid filling the dual role of County/Borough Clerk, and although not without the odd hitch it was working well. When the prospect of amalgamation on a larger scale was mooted, they argued that they could form an effective authority of their own, but that was never going to be allowed. Too small, apparently, although in 1989 some believed that they had been lumped with Whangaroa, the Bay of Islands, the Hokianga and Kaikohe out of spite. All these years later it is still difficult not to give that theory some credence.
Perhaps Kaitaia and Mangonui would have been a bit small, albeit bigger than the Kaipara District of 2013, but having said that, have we seen the economies of scale that were promised? And even if benefits have been gained from the size of the Far North District, they have come at a cost.
Two Local Government Commissioners heard in Kaitaia last week that the Far North had still not become a single district, and that's true. Kaitaia/Mangonui might have become one, but already were, and the Whangaroa County has probably been erased from our collective memory, but one doesn't have to scratch very deep to find divisions between the wards. More importantly, as the Commission also heard, the advantages of bigger, if any have in fact been achieved, have come at the expense of Kaitaia and Kaikohe in particular, their business communities being the big losers in the illusion of efficiency.
And then there is the concept of democracy. There is more to local government than financial efficiency. People still like to think they have some control over their lives, and their local government. Cliff Colquhoun said last week that 20 years ago the prospect of Kaitaia amalgamating with Kaikohe would have filled the Far North Community Centre. Last week, with the potential for a much larger amalgamation at stake, 18 people trickled into the Banquet Room. Whatever else the FNDC has achieved over the last 24 years, disengagement would be on the list.
It would also be difficult to argue that the FNDC has been successful in financial terms. The one council now does much less than six once did - everything remotely involving maintenance is now contracted out, where once it was done by locals - and it would be possible to argue that rates and charges, especially for sewerage and water, would not have risen faster had Kaitaia and Mangonui formed a council of their own.
Now, ironically, we are talking about democracy. One correspondent to this newspaper said last week that the Commission could not be relied upon to deliver it; another today says the FNDC is in no position to talk about democracy given that it has taken us to this point in its total absence. All a bit reminiscent of 1989, when the LGC made it clear (according to Kaitaia's then Mayor Des Bell) that it would not consider arguments based on communities of interest.
But this is not 1989, and the environment within which the current debate is taking place is very different, as is the process itself. The LGC has not adopted the dictatorial demeanour of its predecessor, and the process really is a democratic one.
Commission chairman Basil Morrison said last week that if the Commission decides that the status quo would serve Northland best, everyone will "go home," until such time as another reform proposal is mooted. (So much for the FNDC's mantra that if the Far North doesn't move the government will move for it; requests for evidence of that have been ignored).
If it favours another system, 10 per cent of electors within any of the three Northland districts - the Far North, Whangarei and Kaipara - will have the right to demand a poll. Commissioner Anne Carter said she was expecting a poll, and most would probably agree with her.
If there is a poll, every enrolled elector within Northland will have the right to vote. If the proposal is rejected by a majority of those who vote, as opposed to those entitled to vote, the status quo will remain. End of story. That process is a truly democratic one in that the final decision will be made by the people of Northland, not the Local Government Commission, not central government, and not the existing councils.
For what it's worth, this newspaper predicts that the LGC will propose one unitary authority in Northland, with community (or preferably more influential local) boards, that a poll will be demanded and that the proposal will be defeated. That is based on the view that while the district councils have arguably not served Northland well, the establishment of two unitary authorities is unlikely in that a Far North authority would be seen as too expensive and impractical to contemplate.
Whether or not that comes to pass, the important point is that it is the people of Northland who will decide. Three cheers for that. The process in 1989 was totally undemocratic, as was the doomed bid by Kaitaia/Mangonui to secede from the Far North, when, contrary to the specific intent of then MP John Carter's legislation, the vote was taken over the entire district as opposed to the ward that was seeking to secede.
Everything that has been said so far suggests that the Far North, and Northland, can have faith in the LGC of 2013 to leave no stone unturned in doing its job with an open mind and a determination to reach a conclusion that its members genuinely believe will be best for the region. Whether or not Northland agrees will be up to Northland, and that's the way it should be.
