Supercity scheme 'flawed' - Bright

VOCAL: Auckland activist Penny Bright will speak in her Carterton hometown next week, opposing a Wellington supercity.PHOTO/FILE

It hasn't worked in Auckland and it won't here, says activist

A former Carterton woman and self-proclaimed activist, Penny Bright, who has been at the forefront of many battles, especially in Auckland, is campaigning to have the Wellington supercity proposal, which includes Wairarapa, thrown out.

Ms Bright has written to all mayors and councillors in the greater Wellington region saying the Draft Reorganisation Proposal should be dropped forthwith.

She regards Auckland's supercity as a failure that has not achieved any savings for ratepayers, and claims there is no evidence to show the Wellington concept would either.

In an open letter to all the elected representatives in the Wellington region, Ms Bright, a former pupil of Kuranui College who has lived in Auckland for years, said during the Christmas break she had studied many documents pertaining to council reorganisations, particularly the Wellington supercity idea.

She believes there should be no further amalgamations of councils "anywhere in New Zealand", until a full, thorough and independent audit of the Auckland supercity is done based on "facts and evidence to confirm how cost-effective it has really been for the majority of Auckland Council citizens and ratepayers".

She said the draft Wellington proposal was fundamentally flawed. "The people are not being given detailed facts and information showing exactly where councils in the Greater Wellington region are spending citizens' and ratepayers' money on council services and regulatory functions. That information is needed in order to establish a factual datum, upon which to measure existing or future cost-effectiveness in the provision of council services and regulatory functions.

"There is no information of this type in the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal, so people simply cannot make an informed submission," she said.

Ms Bright, whose activism began in the days of anti-apartheid campaigning, has twice stood for the Auckland mayoralty - in 2010 and 2013 when she secured 12,000 votes, or four per cent of votes cast.

She also contested two parliamentary seats, Epsom in 2011 challenging MP John Banks and Helensville last year, the seat held by Prime Minister John Key. She will be visiting Wairarapa next week and will speak at a public meeting at the Carterton Memorial Club on January 23, on "Why Auckland supercity is a super mess".

She told the Times-Age she would be speaking against the proposed Wellington supercity "based on facts, evidence and my personal experiences of Auckland supercity".

Ms Bright calls herself an "investigative activist" who uses the electoral process as an effective way to campaign for open, transparent and democratically accountable local and central government.

She has refused to pay rates since 2008 because, she said, Auckland City and now the Auckland supercity could not tell her how her rates were being spent " which is a legal requirement under the Local Government Rating Act".

"Auckland rates and debt have skyrocketed, while services, transparency, accountability and democracy have plummeted," she said.