“We anticipate good agreement on more than 50 per cent of them,” Tripe said.
“One example is the funding of local government, which is very much broken. That’s the crux of many issues.
“Next year isn’t looking great, either.”
Two council structures are recommended in the report - a unitary model (one council for a region) or a combined network model that would retain local councils and mayors but have an additional combined council.
Tripe said local government needed to think differently about the shape it took and how it collaborated.
“What I realise from discussions with mayors is that everyone is doing things so differently around the country.
“We aren’t really looking over our neighbour’s fence to see what they do well and what they don’t do, how they run their meetings, little things like that.”
Phase two would be equipping mayors and chairs with necessary resources to build support with elected members, Tripe said.
Once councils had developed their positions, they would be taken to mayoral forums for further discussion.
“In our [Whanganui’s] case, we get consensus around the [council] table, then we take that to the mayoral forum around the Horizons group, then we join dots with the rest of the country,” Tripe said.
The group has until October to complete its work.
It would then be taken to “whoever is in government”, Tripe said.
“We don’t think it’s the right time to badger them right now, when they’re distracted by campaigning and closing down Parliament for this year,” he said.
“In saying that, I’ve already had conversations with both major political parties.
“Change needs to happen and I think there is sympathy towards that. At the recent LGNZ [Local Government New Zealand] conference, Chris Hipkins and Chris Luxon both agreed on that.”
Other mayors in the group are LGNZ president Sam Broughton (Selwyn District Council), Anita Baker (Porirua City), Max Baxter (Ōtorohanga District Council) and Tim Cadogan (Central Otago District Council).
There are 13 members in total.
Tripe said it was a surprise to get the nod for the group.
“I have been quite vocal in this area and I think that’s been recognised across the country, really.
“Being new means I’ve got a fresh perspective as well.”
Collaboration was important and it was one of his strengths, Tripe said.
“They wanted a group of people that wasn’t going to alienate and divide the LGNZ network.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change what local government looks like in the future.”
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and 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 the Whanganui District Council.
