Horizons Regional Council’s Rachel Keedwell: Why I’m optimistic about the future of local government

Horizons Regional Council recently held a community planting day near Shannon as an investment in the future.

Opinion

After almost two years of work, the report into the Future For Local Government is finally out. For those of you who don’t spend most of your waking moments in local government land like me – and that is probably almost everyone – let me try to convince you of why this report makes me optimistic about not only the future of local government, but the future for our communities.

We all know there are issues with local government - the under-investment in infrastructure over time resulting in our woes around Three Waters being the most obvious one; and the ever-increasing rates burden being an unavoidable and unpleasant reality, particularly for those on a fixed or low income. However, local councils have direct day-to-day impacts on our lives, and understand what our communities want and need far better than central government ever can.

It is essential we make local and central government work in partnership for the betterment of our communities, rather than in the disjointed manner currently in place.

As the report authors say, the current local government system is not set up for future success. They note decisions by successive governments have marginalised local government and left it in a precarious position in terms of focus, resourcing and viability.

This means our communities are not as well-served as they could be, and if the appallingly low voter turnout in local government elections is anything to go by, our communities are becoming increasingly disengaged with local government.

The panel makes 17 recommendations across five areas, ranging from resourcing and structure to strengthening democracy and working with iwi. There are clear recommendations for improving funding for local government, with the acknowledgement it is an unsustainable model to rely solely on rates to fund an ever-increasing burden of work.

Currently, central government does not consider how its decisions impact local government. As part of a regional council, it has been a massive source of frustration when the Government develops policy that we are expected to implement, without funding and without input into the policy. The report has a strong focus on making these two parts fit together so we get the best possible outcome for Aotearoa.

Other recommendations delve into the structure of local government, and this is welcome news given our 1989-designed system is no longer the most effective set-up. A critical part of this system redesign is to assess the functions of central government at the same time. The report suggests ways to ensure the “eventual reshaping of local government is cohesive and purposeful” rather than the current ad-hoc reform.

Minister of Local Government Kieran McAnulty has made it clear the Government will take no action on the report prior to the election. However, he has encouraged Local Government New Zealand to work with councils to pull together a position or proposition to put to the incoming government for action after the election.

As councils, we need to be able to put aside any semblance of patch protection and think about what the best system for the future of our communities is and ensure they are best equipped to cope with future challenges.

This report is an in-depth look at the problems facing local government, the implications for democracy, and importantly, provides clear suggestions for solutions. The task ahead of us now is to ensure those solutions are enacted and the report does not just gather dust on the shelf while our system of government becomes more and more dysfunctional.

Dr Rachel Keedwell is chairwoman of Horizons Regional Council.