Local powers at whim of the top table

Local communities have been given a bigger voice in the Auckland Super City, but the Government is leaving the ultimate power at the top table.

The Auckland governance select committee yesterday fleshed out the roles and functions for 20 to 30 local boards under the Super Auckland Council.

This was the biggest challenge facing the select committee after a public backlash to an earlier proposal to give local boards narrow authority.

Local boards have been given responsibility for a wider range of community activities, such as libraries, swimming pools, community facilities, graffiti, parks, streetscapes and signage.

Many submitters, including several councils and the Auckland District Law Society, urged the select committee to enshrine the powers and functions in legislation. Otherwise, said the law society, local boards would be "entirely at the whim of the Auckland Council".

But the select committee has stopped short of enshrining the roles and functions in legislation, saying they would be different from one board to another and likely to change over time.

The Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill will spell out the roles of the Auckland Council and local boards, but leave the ultimate power with the Auckland Council to decide what functions are provided at the local and regional level. The Auckland Council will also set funding for local boards and staffing resources.

Associate Local Government Minister John Carter, who chaired the select committee, said the intention was to give as much power as possible to local boards. Where agreement could not be reached, a dispute resolution process would kick in.

Green Party local government spokeswoman Sue Kedgley said while the local boards had been given some functions, they would still be subservient to the Auckland Council.

The select committee has decided the Mayor of Auckland should have the ability to set the committee structure - not just appoint committee chairs and the deputy mayor. Another recommendation is a mayoral office budget of $2 million to $3 million to obtain independent advice from the powerful bureaucracy.

The single transferable voting system has been ruled too complex for the first Super City election next year and first-past-the-post voting will be used.

As previously reported, the select committee has not recommended Maori seats on the Super City and dropped a controversial plan to have councillors elected at large.

The proposal for eight at-large councillors and 12 ward councillors has been dumped. The Local Government Commission - an independent body - has the job of determining multi-member urban wards. There will be one rural councillor each for Rodney and Franklin.

The commission also has the task of determining the number and boundaries of local boards following public consultation.

The committee has also decided to split Rodney District Council in two, despite little support for this idea at public hearings in July. Urban Whangaparaoa and Orewa will stay in the Super City and the area north of Waiwera will be merged with Kaipara District.

Franklin District will be split in two between Auckland and Waikato.