Peter Guerin: Working together to help businesses

As with any commercial business, the business of local government is constantly under review to see where customer service can be improved and the cost of doing business minimised.

With this in mind Rotorua District Council and other councils in the Bay of Plenty have been meeting regularly to discuss how we can work together more collaboratively.

We see opportunities to become more aligned in policy development which could potentially make life easier for developers who invest across the region. Having to deal with up to seven separate district plans and a regional plan in the Bay of Plenty must be somewhat frustrating for the likes of infrastructure and utilities companies. Even just a consistent approach to definitions in these plans would be a start to making things more straightforward for developers.

Amendments proposed to the Resource Management Act should help in streamlining district plans and regional policy statements, but that will take some time to gain cut-through.

But all local council chief executives agree a more co-ordinated approach to regional 'spatial planning' is needed. This is about having a shared vision that reflects the aspirations of the people who live here. We've already observed the benefits of the Auckland Plan providing a compelling case for a central/local government partnership on key issues such as transportation and education.

So Bay of Plenty local authorities are proposing to work closely together to achieve a more aligned approach. This has already happened with our regional transport strategy and regional land transport plan. Incorporating these into a co-ordinated relationship with NZTA will lead to better outcomes across the region.

A recent example is NZTA's decision on a designated route for the Rotorua Eastern Arterial. This project's placement at the top of a priority list of region-wide transport projects was a collective decision of all councils in the Bay of Plenty. So NZTA's announcement now means some certainty for a number of private, business and iwi development projects that have been on hold until now.

It's clear to me decisiveness and certainty are among the most valued services that local authorities can offer businesses making investment decisions. Clarity around major infrastructure will undoubtedly be strengthened over time through sound spatial planning.

This type of co-ordinated and collaborative approach to planning can only lead to better business outcomes for us all.

Peter Guerin is chief executive of Rotorua District Council.