LEADER COLUMN AUGUST 2012

The local government reforms announced by central government in March are intended to address two of their priorities; continuing to build a more productive and competitive economy and delivering better public services to New Zealanders. It is not necessarily about amalgamation of existing councils but is intended to enable this to happen if there was a belief that doing so would assist in achieving these outcomes. Determining what a council should or should not do is not an easy task. The tension between democracy and providing sustainable and affordable governance means there are many demands from many different sectors of our communities. In some ways this is the strength of the four well-beings and the way they provide a council with a degree of flexibility as to what their role is. It allows them within a framework of financial prudence to cut their cloth according to the needs of their community. However this is often easier said than done. Economic development is a case in point. It operates on a continuum of those tasks that are solely the responsibility of central government to those that should be left solely to private sector. Along this continuum there are likely to be gaps or grey areas that no one is willing or capable of taking responsibility for. Council’s have a genuine role in economic development - mainly through facilitation and making the council more business friendly and open through providing secure, reliable infrastructure, accommodating business requirements, keeping barriers to doing business low, and ensuring rates are kept competitive - and in which local business organisations are identified as ‘potential’ partners. Establishing successful partnerships to harness economic development initiatives is the key. They have the potential to achieve economic development outcomes that would otherwise be unattainable. Partnerships focussed on meeting the needs of business are important for many reasons, not least of which that in the past with a few notable exceptions, EDAs have not been as successful as they could be. This may well change in Northland with the restructuring currently being undertaken by Enterprise Northland. The Chamber believes local government can make an important contribution to grow local economic activity by providing ‘business friendly’ services – responsive regulatory and consent regimes, low competitive rates - efficient infrastructure, positive promotion of the local area, attracting tourists and events. Partnerships can create a more innovative, commercially successful community. Strong-community based business organization such as the Chamber of Commerce can have a role in organizing and convening the partnership processes.