Having trouble understanding the fuss about unitary authorities? You're not alone. Hopefully this guide will help you understand what they are, and why they're a hot topic right now...
What's the current set-up?
After the last big shake-up of local government in New Zealand in the 1980s, the country was divided into two types of councils - district or city councils (we'll stick to district councils here) and regional councils.
District councils are responsible for all the day-to-day things you associate with local government, such as roads, footpaths, water, sewerage, libraries, parks, building consents and dog control.
Regional councils cover a bigger area but have a narrower range of responsibilities. They're like another layer of government on top of the district councils, looking after air and water quality, flood protection, harbours, public transport and some resource consents. In some areas (Northland included) they are also involved in economic development and tourism. Regional councils also act as a kind of environmental watchdog, making sure, for example, district councils' sewerage schemes are up to scratch.
In the current two-tier system Northland is divided into three district councils (Far North, Whangarei and Kaipara) while the regional council covers all of Northland. The district councils collect rates but a chunk of that is collected on behalf of the regional council and passed on.
What is a unitary authority?
That system of two-layered local government isn't the only show in town. Some parts of New Zealand are governed by unitary authorities (also called unitary councils), in which a single council does all the jobs traditionally done by regional and district councils. The best known example is the new Auckland Council, which was formed by merging the Auckland Regional Council with a whole bunch of city and district councils. Other unitary authorities include Gisborne (which covers most of East Cape), Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough.
What are the pros and cons?
Needless to say, this depends on who you ask.
The most common argument for unitary authorities is that they reduce duplication and increase efficiency because they remove a layer of government. They may also save money, though the experts don't all agree on that.
People planning big projects would only have to go to one council to get consents, instead of two.
Unitary authorities reduce confusion and buck-passing. Few Northlanders fully understand the different roles of district and regional councils; the district council is forever being blamed for things the regional council is responsible for, and vice versa.
A small unitary authority, like the one Wayne Brown wants, would be closer to its constituents than a Whangarei-based regional council.
Another obvious attraction (from a district council's point-of-view) is that regional councils usually have healthy balance sheets and big assets. District councils are invariably cash-strapped and in debt; merging with a regional council would help fix that.
The concern most often raised about scrapping regional councils is the loss of their environmental watchdog role. A unitary authority would have to issue itself resource consents for its sewerage plants and monitor its own performance. Presumably it would also have to prosecute itself if it broke the rules.
And if Northland was split into a number of unitary authorities it could lead to more duplication in some areas, not less. Currently Northland has one chief harbourmaster, but if the region was split into Whangarei/Kaipara and Far North unitary authorities, each would need its own system for managing harbours and marine navigation.
Who wants what?
Far North Mayor Wayne Brown is determined to get a unitary authority for the Far North. If he gets his way, Whangarei, Kaipara and what's left of the regional council could stay as they are, but the logical outcome would be a Whangarei/Kaipara unitary authority.
The Whangarei District Council came out this week in support of two unitary authorities for Northland, a proposal which is surprisingly similar to Wayne Brown's.
The Northland Regional Council this week came out in favour of a single unitary authority for all of Northland, albeit one with local boards with real, legally-protected powers.
Iwi (through the Tai Tokerau Iwi Leaders Forum) support Wayne Brown's proposal, which includes three seats set aside for Maori. The Local Government Commission says, however, it can't make that happen. Maori representation would have to be decided by the incoming council.
The Kaipara District Council is currently being run by government-appointed commissioners so it isn't saying anything.
As for what the people want, that is notoriously difficult to judge. However, the most popular option at consultation meetings organised by the regional council was an ''enhanced status quo'' - in other words, sticking to the current system but making it work better. The second most popular option was a single unitary authority.
The least preferred option was three unitary authorities, followed by two unitary authorities.
Why change now?
The reason this is all happening now is because last year the government changed the Local Government Act to make it easier for councils to amalgamate (a fancy word for 'merge'). The government isn't saying so publicly, but it seems to want fewer and bigger councils. It thinks the current set-up - where one third of the population is governed by one council (Auckland), and the remaining two-thirds is split up among 77 different councils - is madness.
Councils in the Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay areas are all thought to be considering mergers, but the Far North District Council was the first out of the blocks in its request to go it alone as a unitary authority.
Because the Far North proposal affects the three other councils in Northland they have been told to get their own ideas in to the Local Government Commission. They have until Monday, hence their rush.
Whats's the process?
If the commission decides Northland local government really does need a shake-up, its final proposal wouldn't be ready until March 2014- well after the upcoming elections. The process is as follows: