Wellington City Council woes: Could other councils be next? - The Front Page

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown during an interview over appointing a Crown observer to the Wellington City Council, Parliament, Wellington, 23 October, 2024. NZME phorograph by Mark Mitchell

If changes aren’t made, more Government intervention in local councils could be on the cards.

A Crown observer has been sent in to sort out Wellington City Council after a vote against selling airport shares forced a rethink of the council’s long-term plan.

The move had high-ranking ministers calling the council a “shambles” and saw Mayor Tory Whanau fronting media admitting the council “must do better”.

Since the move, Whanau’s official Instagram account has liked, and since un-liked, comments suggesting Government intervention in the council is a “hit job”.

Jim Palmer is a consultant and chaired the Future for Local Government review.

He told The Front Page Wellington’s latest woes are probably symptomatic of some of the issues we’re seeing in local government across the board — and they’re more likely to recur over time given the significant challenges the sector is facing.

“Over the next 30 years, there are going to be not only significant funding pressures, there are infrastructure challenges, we’ve got geopolitical impacts, we’re uncertain how to play out extreme weather events, we’ve got persistent inequity, low social cohesion, and things like climate change.

“All of those things play out locally and they are very demanding and put extreme pressures on local communities and local government.”

Palmer said people love living in the communities they reside in and enjoy the amenities and services they have on hand.

“But, many take those for granted. Local government touches individuals every day in multiple ways, from the minute you get up and brush your teeth, through to driving, being in parks and pools, libraries and all the fabulous facilities and activities that support a community to make them great.

“All of those things generally are led or supported by local government and they have a far greater impact on people’s day-to-day lives than perhaps many appreciate,” he said.

The review, released in 2023, made 17 recommendations — among them, the idea there should be a far stronger and more genuine partnership between central and local governments.

“And that’s not the ‘command and control’ style that successive Governments, not just this one, but many Governments take a paternalistic view of local government.

“Successive Governments have taken that approach, which is difficult to respond to and local government traditionally has been an easy horse to whip.

“And to be honest, local government doesn’t help itself and provides plenty of opportunities and dead rats to be held up and examined. What happens with one many get tarred with the same brush — an unfortunate reflection on the whole sector that perhaps isn’t always warranted,” Palmer said.

Of the recommendations made, Palmer said there was only a handful being considered.

“Our panel was of the view that to make the level of change that was required, it actually needed a systematic implementation of all of the recommendations. You couldn’t cherry pick one or two.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more about what changes need to be made to better the relationship between local and central governments.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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