I acknowledge the establishment of HB LASS (Hawke's Bay Local Authority Shared Services) which is a joint commercial venture between the region's councils to provide shared services. HB LASS has had some minor victories. It has created savings through bulk purchasing of insurance. Although applaudable, this is business management 101.
Over the past 10 years we have had Vision 20/20, Hawke's Bay Inc and HBRC Economic Strategy. All these entities have attempted -- but failed -- to achieve a regional plan with political support or deliverable KPI's. They have effectively been "all talk -- no do".
The reaction to recent reports show we cannot even agree on the state of our regional infrastructure. In essence, the findings of many expensive ratepayer funded independent reports, including the Winder Report, which terms of reference were agreed by all councils, are simply being ignored. This independent advice, effectively the findings on the status of our region, lacked local political buy-in and resulted in an utter waste of ratepayer funds.
Despite the talk, the fact remains we are no closer to achieving a region-wide development strategy that focuses on increasing employment, decreasing crime rates or addressing the very important issue of poverty.
My critics may claim I could have done more. I am the Mayor of Hastings, but I have no mandate to develop a plan for Hawke's Bay. I am, however, very proud of some of the work we have done in Hastings. Being successful with the Kiwibank call centre proposal is an example of what a council can do to help lift the local regional economy. The shame of this exercise was that Napier and Hastings competed for the same business in complete secrecy and isolation from each other.
In Hastings we are on target to achieve our goal of 1000 new jobs in 5 years. Imagine what we could achieve if we worked together to lift this goal to 5000 jobs for the region.
I want to give full credit to Business Hawke's Bay and their leaders. They have identified that the current Local Government structure is divided and yet they have simply "got on with business".
'Shared services' gives those defending the status quo something to crow about. Set against the challenges we face, this is merely window-dressing. Little progress has been made -- nor will be made -- under the current system of five councils with five chief executives and four mayors. The only way to make progress is by amalgamating into one single council with the interests of the whole region at its core.
* Lawrence Yule is Mayor of Hastings.
* Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. Views expressed here are the writer's opinion, and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz.
