Whanganui is one of seven territorial authorities that make up Horizons Regional Council. Photo / NZME
Some Whanganui district councillors are not sold on a proposal to scrap their regional counterparts, one saying the move is “completely diluting democracy”.
Last November, the Government announced a plan to abolish elected regional councillors and replace them with Combined Territories Boards (CTBs), comprising regional mayors.
Regional Māori wards, or constituencies, would also be abolished.
Whanganui councillors signed off on a submission to the proposal at a strategy and policy committee meeting on February 12.
Mayor Andrew Tripe, Deputy Mayor Michael Law and councillors Glenda Brown, Ross Fallen, Kate Joblin, Peter Oskam, Julie Herewini and Geoff Hipango voted for it, and councillors Josh Chandulal-Mackay, Charlotte Melser, Philippa Baker-Hogan and Mike Hos against. Councillor Rob Vinsen was absent.
The submission said the council was “cautiously optimistic” about the Government’s proposal.
“We acknowledge that there have been longstanding tensions between territorial authorities and regional councils, which can create duplication, inefficiency and unclear accountability,” it said.
“However, whether replacing regional councillors with a CTB will meaningfully relieve those tensions will depend on the dynamics and culture of individual CTBs, and how clearly the Government defines the future role, scope and functions of regional governance.”
The submission said structural change alone would not resolve governance tensions unless the allocation of responsibilities was clear.
Chandulal-Mackay said regional councils had only just received a mandate for the next triennium.
Voters in the Horizons region had reaffirmed their support for Māori wards but now they were likely to be removed, he said.
“I’m fundamentally concerned about the precedent this sets, that the Government can just override local democracy like that.”
Mayors had not received a mandate to govern at a regional level and he was concerned about parochialism around the CTB table, Chandulal-Mackay said.
Tripe said there was “a tidal wave of change” coming the council’s way from Parliament.
“The reality is local government needs to do things differently. We’ve heard that from the public around the country,” he said.
“We can’t put our heads in the sand and hope it goes away. We have to have that discussion.”
He said he had a set of principles to guide the discussion, including local voice and representation and Treaty and hapū engagement.
The council’s submission said it supported efforts to improve efficiency and effectiveness but any reform must preserve democratic legitimacy, respect subsidiarity and uphold Treaty-based governance relationships.
“Replacing regional councillors with CTBs would remove Māori wards and Māori constituencies at the regional level, representing a material reduction in formal Māori representation,” it said.
“This concern is particularly acute in the Whanganui context.
“Whanganui District Council has statutory responsibilities under the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017.”
Whanganui forms part of Horizons Regional Council, alongside Horowhenua, Manawatū, Ruapehu, Rangitīkei and Tararua district councils, and Palmerston North City Council.
Horizons’ responsibilities include regional public transport, river management, flood control, biodiversity, biosecurity and freshwater initiatives.
Melser said New Zealand was already one of the most centralised countries in the Western World and councils were facing “incredible ministerial overreach”.
Removing a significant layer of democratically elected governance would strip environmental oversight and protection, she said.
“A healthy democracy enables decision-making as close to the impacts of those decisions as possible.”
Law said if the proposal was put to a referendum, “it would pass with flying colours, especially in Whanganui”.
“I hope we end up with the solution where Whanganui District Council is the only council our people vote for and is the only council responsible for serving the needs of our people,” he said.
Baker-Hogan said she had not supported the Government’s Local Water Done Well reform and she could not support its CTB proposal.
“We are completely diluting democracy,” she said.
“This is complete overreach by Government and I believe this council should strongly consider not supporting this.”
The Government is also proposing CTBs investigate a more lasting solution, with each CTB preparing a regional reorganisation plan within two years.
Merging territorial authorities to form new unitary councils is one option.
Herewini said removing regional Māori wards was a huge concern but there were opportunities with the proposal.
“Consenting processes via Horizons [Regional Council] have not serviced us well in the past and Te Awa Tupua provides us a framework to ensure we can bring some of those decisions closer to home,” she said.
Consultation on the Government’s proposals closes on February 20.
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.