Council mergers delayed
A government climbdown on forced council mergers has been blasted by councillors up and down the country.
By Bronson Perich - Local Democracy Reporter
After sending councils into a sudden frenzy of forced marriage-like proposals, the Government this week deferred making decisions on council amalgamation until after the election.
Tūrangi Ward councillor Sandra Greenslade’s statement said three months of council time had been wasted.
“All for nothing," was her blunt assessment.
She said this came when the council should have been doing other work, like the Long-Term Plan. Instead, staff worked “night and day” to meet the Government’s deadline.
RMA (Resource Management Act) Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts issued a letter to council chief executives and mayors yesterday, saying the Head Start proposals needed more work.
“Particular areas that require further development include ensuring fair and effective representation with streamlined governance, and the transfer and delivery of regional functions,” the letter said.
While some lamented the change in Wellington's deadline, the delay suits Taupō Mayor John Funnell nicely.
He said the three months working on Head Start had delayed other essential community projects.
“This pause allows us to get back to our day-to-day business of running the council and attending to all the other things we now have to catch up on,” Funnell said.
“That includes preparing for our 2027-37 Long-Term Plan and understanding all the new legislation coming in and what we have to do to accommodate it.”
Two of those new incoming laws are the replacements to the Resource Management Act, namely the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. They have passed their third readings in Parliament and are set to receive Royal Assent shortly.
In a statement reacting to the Head Start delay, Mangakino-Pouakani Ward councillor Hope Woodward recalled the Government refused Taupō’s request for more time, only to now say it needed the same thing.
“You cannot make councils make generational decisions at speed, at a cost to ratepayers, and then discover afterwards that some of the most important questions need answering,” Woodward said.
Ministers Watts and Bishop have pledged that the Government is still committed to simplifying local government, and regional councillors would not be elected in the 2028 local elections.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.