Federated Farmers local government spokeswoman Sandra Faulkner says it is time to streamline and modernise the local government sector.
The structure of local government has become an increasingly messy patchwork, and Federated Farmers says it’s time to clean it up.
The rural lobby group’s local government spokeswoman, Sandra Faulkner, a former Gisborne district councillor, said the way councils were organised was a big factor in how effectively they served their communities.
“The number and type of councils, and the logic behind their boundaries, can really make or break their ability to deliver quality services at a reasonable cost.
“With dedicated water organisations being formed because of three waters reform, things are even more complicated and messy, and the structure is failing ratepayers.
“We think the time is ripe to streamline and modernise the sector.”
Federated Farmers has laid out its blueprint for local government reform in a proposal paper.
“Preserving a strong local say on council matters while driving better efficiency is at the heart of our proposal,” Faulkner said. “Our model will likely also halve the current number of councils.”
Late last year, the Government proposed abolishing the country’s 11 regional councils. Mayors would take over the work of regional councillors and be tasked with putting together reorganisation plans in each region.
Faulkner said Federated Farmers, which had a long history of engaging with councils on rates, infrastructure investment and District Plan red tape, had stepped up with a simpler and less disruptive way forward.
“City and provincial areas have different priorities, infrastructure and land use. We’re saying the most effective way to streamline local government is by separating provincial governance from governance of urban areas with populations of around 50,000-plus.”
The country already had six unitary authorities, which performed the functions of both district or city and regional councils.
“We’d like to see that model expanded across New Zealand,” she said.
We’re saying the most effective way to streamline local government is by separating provincial governance from governance of urban areas with populations of around 50,000-plus.
Under Federated Farmers’ proposal, councils would take on the responsibilities held by regional councils, which would no longer exist as separate entities.
Many district councils would amalgamate, but to maintain strong local input, a second tier of empowered community boards and catchment committees could help bring decision-making closer to residents and draw on local knowledge.
“Councils consolidated along regional and city lines would be better able to focus on local, place-based decisions,” Faulkner said.
“It would also simplify relationships with central government on issues like roading, public transport, environmental management and emergency management.”
Attracting and retaining high-quality elected councillors and paid council staff could be challenging under current settings, especially for smaller councils, she said.
“We think the increased scale and clearer core responsibilities with our model could help tackle this.”
Faulkner said environmental and natural hazard workloads benefited from scale, with unitary authorities better able to plan and deliver flood management, drainage and environmental infrastructure more consistently.
“Exposure to climate-driven extreme weather highlights the fragility of the current system.”
The separation of provincial and urban unitary councils also made sense in terms of geography, predominant land use and the types of services residents and businesses wanted.
“It fits well with the ‘communities of interest’ concept that drives Local Government Commission (LGC) reorganisation decisions.
“Instead of substantial upheaval, rewriting legislation, and mayors taking over regional council responsibilities during a lengthy transition, our approach fits with the LGC’s existing way of managing and investigating amalgamations,” Faulkner said.
“During that tried and tested process, issues such as the service relationships between metropolitan and provincial councils, treatment of debt and assets, and crossover matters can be addressed.”
The Feds believed fewer and more logically aligned councils would also make government co-funding arrangements for roads, bridges, public transport and urban growth simpler, with lower compliance costs.
“City and regional deals with central government could be easily negotiated, and with new water organisations taking over storm, drinking and wastewater services, many district councils are left with local roads as their only major infrastructure task.
“That’s risky. Councils will have fewer cost centres to allocate overheads, and balance sheet downsizing as water assets are taken out may cause other disruptions,” Faulkner said.
“There’s a clear case for consolidation to achieve economies of scale and prevent local roads from deteriorating.”
The Feds’ paper also suggests shifting compliance and enforcement, and state-of-the-environment monitoring, from councils to central government or centralised science and regulatory agencies.
“That would ensure consistency, objectivity and efficiency,” Faulkner said.
“Regulatory enforcement should not be political once policy is set. Its role is to enforce the rules and standards fairly, consistently and predictably.”
While the debate might unsettle councils, she said she was struck by the broad agreement that reorganisation was now essential.