ADVOCATE COLUMN 2nd WEEK MARCH 2013

This year will prove an interesting time from a local government perspective. Not only is this a local body election year but with pending consultation in relation to local government reform, this is possibly to be the last time Northland ratepayers get to elect their representatives under the current structure. General consensus seems to be that the existing entities are unlikely to exist in their current form by the end of the next election cycle. Unlike the consultation process undertaken at the time of the Trapski Brash review, there now seems to a more widespread desire for change on how we are governed. Ideally local government reform should result in building a more productive and competitive economy and delivering better public services to Northlanders. The tension between democracy and providing sustainable and affordable governance means there are many demands from many different sectors of our communities. We have a unique opportunity to look at our aspirations – how we wish to live, grow, create employment, attract investment and interact with other regions inside NZ and internationally. There may be value in working with our neighboring councils or joining within the region to create scale in order to achieve their aspirations at a higher level or become more efficient. It doesn’t automatically follow that amalgamation will be the best response. For example voluntary collaboration could be one way that councils could provide services across a region without resorting to amalgamation. Councils could retain their autonomy with respect to identity and expenditure and rate/ revenue raising decisions but, at the same time, achieve economies of scale in service delivery and address externalities associated with service provision. Unfortunately we are all aware the difficulty that has existed in the past between our region’s councils when it comes to adopting a collaborative approach. Perhaps some other governance framework other than amalgamation might also emerge from having a conversation to identify what best suits Northland’s communities. The point is we should not start with amalgamation or some other preconceived format as the answer and attempt to make it fit – it is important to have the conversation about why we are reviewing our governance before we determine what our response will be. Finally if organisational or territorial change does take place it should be remembered that that any new organisation that emerges from this process will be just that. It will be a new organisation to meet our future aspirations not one of our existing councils in a new form.