The mayoral forum meeting was held at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council headquarters in Tauranga. Photo / Samantha Motion
The mayoral forum meeting was held at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council headquarters in Tauranga. Photo / Samantha Motion
A proposal to build a "model of [an] aligned system of government" and "prototype" it in the Bay of Plenty has alarmed some mayors.
A mayoral forum was held at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council headquarters in Tauranga yesterday
, with representatives from each of the eight councils.
Therewere some tense exchanges as they debated what sort of front the region should present to the new Government or in any meetings with visiting ministers.
It was the product of a workshop of the councils' chief executives - except only three (Fiona McTavish, BOPRC; Steph O'Sullivan, Whakatāne; Russell George, Kawerau) of the eight managed to make it on the day.
The paper suggested creating a new regional leadership forum, convened by a ministerial-level Government representative and drawing together elected leaders from all local government authorities as well as iwi leaders across the region to act as "design and delivery partners" with Government.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo / File
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick was the first to flag concerns, saying she "struggled with the paper" and her council's chief executive was not able to make the workshop.
She said her approach was "local first" and knowing where her council was going with Te Arawa, ahead of any regional approach or putting energy into a regional plan.
She said the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund proposed by Labour last month was only $200m.
"The last thing I will accept locally is if I have to put things through a regional lens to get a tick."
"I don't want to meet with a minister who says you must work regionally and to hell with the localism act."
She agreed the region's leaders should try to meet with the new Government as common courtesy and should show how they worked together, but said they needed to be careful about the messages sent and not being gratuitous about partnerships.
She was also concerned about how an iwi leadership forum was operating.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council mayor Garry Webber. Photo / File
"Fraught" relationships and boundaries between iwi was also a concern for Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber, who said councils should stay out of it and allow Maoridom to sort it out.
Webber, who earlier talked about the region taking the opportunity to "get together with the new Government" and make sure it was aligned, also said he agreed the group was not ready to "go regionalisation".
He said he would not accept the paper as presented and it needed more work, suggesting a matrix of topics and whether they should be approached at a regional, sub-regional or local level.
Whakatāne mayor Judy Turner said she viewed the paper as an invitation to a conversation to see if the direction was supported, not a "fait accompli".
Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder. Photo / File
Regional council chairman Doug Leeder said the paper was prepared by "the people who run our businesses" and the group "shouldn't just kick it to touch".
He said the Government could not keep up with borrowing levels so the question would be how to operate with the Crown.
"The money tree will cease to flower in the way that it has in the last 12 months."
The group discussed ways to take the issue forward, but in the end, agreed to leave it on the table.
They did agree, however, to have chief executives work on preparing regional briefings for incoming ministers.
All mayors were present bar Tauranga's Tenby Powell, with deputy mayor Tina Salisbury stepping in, and Kawerau mayor Malcolm Campbell, represented by his council's chief executive Russell George.
