The Government intends to disband regional councils, destroy the Resource Management Act and create a unitary council under a regime of forced amalgamation, says Bay of Plenty regional councillor Doug Owens.

'The Auckland super city is the preferred model; and recently the Local Government Commission pushed their default button and recommended the Auckland model for both the Hawke's Bay and Northland regions,” says Doug, in his speech to a recent Walk the Talk conference in Rotorua.

Doug Owens.

'There was little discussion about this but there is significant opposition and more to come. The opposition is not about reform, which we all want, as of yesterday,” says Doug.

'It is about the implementation of the reforms and primarily, the outcomes, associated costs, management and the impact on fragile communities.

'All of this detail is predictably vague. Make no mistake it is the NZ ratepayers who will foot the bill for a reform process that is clumsy in its intent and is designed to centralise control of virtually everything local – and that is where the buck stops.”

In Auckland costs have escalated in every direction, says Doug.

'By political design there will be no proof of concept or financial or systems audit data available until after the General Election. No surprises here,” says Doug.

'What we do know is that there are 2000 more people working for Auckland City now, than before the amalgamation. This is not the expected outcome and reports coming through suggest that service delivery has not improved.

'I guess those involved, including Government Ministers, will simply blame the RMA, amongst other things; and to be fair, Auckland is a special case.”

Regional councils have a regional spread and should be strengthened to become a template for change, says Doug.

'We must quickly implement a regional information technology management system for all councils to use as a common tool, re-organise service and delivery functions, minimise duplication, share our resources like capital, and streamline the RMA.

'We can do this. We know that people want progress and they want one consent door to walk through.”

Doug says this can be achieved cost-effectively and without the ‘divide and rule' politics of today.

'My preference is to retain, expand and over time merge our current decentralised Local Body model into a fully integrated system designed to support our communities and our people.

'I reject upfront amalgamation, as it simply enables incompetent politicians and costly consultants to take immediate control of the process at the ratepayers' expense.

Doug says change can come from within regional councils.

'Upfront amalgamation comes at a high price. It causes dislocation and anxiety, is inefficient and unnecessary. We must protect our communities, our leadership and purpose, which ultimately is to empower our people, grow our local economies, protect our children and confound the dismal demographics that confront us.

'There is a better way and I have to say that in Waiariki, nothing is broken, but it must be understood that all regions in NZ are fiscally-fragile and debt could be lower.

'However, capital, both human and cash, must not be burnt and wasted on the bonfire of change.

Doug says the Government is going to disband regional councils because they control the RMA.

'It is obvious to me the Government's intention is to dumb down this authority within a unitary structure and simply lose the rules and our local science, in the mire of re-organisation,” says Doug. 'This will include water; the rules for which have not been concluded or fully understood.

'The impact and cost of this process will be significant and rates will increase because the efficiencies, already identified, cannot flow without the right IT and management systems being put in place, upfront.”

'Auckland City dumped the regional council completely; and Len Brown has admitted this was a big mistake,” says Doug.

'Regional councils, Auckland City and Christchurch City, control the majority of Ports in New Zealand. It seems to me that National would prefer to have NZ Ports under central management and not be community-owned.”

'As to the billion-dollar asset contained within the BOP Regional Council; well everyone wants that and many are determined to get it, regardless of an outcome that is simply not understood.”