northland chamber

Local Body Elections



Relative to national politics, there is apathy towards local government in this country as evidenced by low voter turnouts and poor participation in the consultative process.

Councils are also subject to much less scrutiny by the media and independent agencies than central government. This lack of interest in local government politics goes a long way to explaining the creeping growth of local authority activities and expenditure and the consequential increase in the rating burden.

Local authorities are required by the Local Government Act 2002 to consult with their communities about their Long Term Council Community Plans (LTCCPs), the financial policies that underpin them, the levels of service being delivered, and the rates that will be required

The local government sector places considerable weight on this consultative process to justify its expenditure and rating policies. However much of the consultation is not meaningful. Busy councillors have a lot of submissions to read and listen to and in many hearings submitters are given limited time to make their points.

Consequently, we consider additional mechanisms are necessary to improve accountability of local government. Complex planning documents should be presented in a transparent way. In particular, they should be independently reviewed against benchmarks to help residents and ratepayers engage genuinely in consultations on them.

In the spirit of transparency the Chamber of Commerce has sent a series of 20 questions out to all candidates standing in this years Elections in an attempt to discover who are the most business friendly candidates in Northland.

A lot of these have been returned and answered by candidates. The suprising thing is that there are a plethors of excellent candidates standing for positions in Northland. We are encouraging all responsible voters to check out the look at their candidates Business Friendly scale when considering who to vote for in this years election.

The Ratins, Candidates answers, questions and ther Northland Chambwer of Commerce Manifesto can be viewed at www.northchamber.co.nz

Please remember when voting - Business is the work engine of the Northland Economy and we mustn’t forget that. Business pays a high disproportionate amount of rate and employs thousands of Northlanders who in turn shop in Northland, send their children to local schools and keep the wheels of commerce turning.

We encourage all responsible voters to vote with a business friendly focus in mind!!