Andrew von Dadelszen Former Regional Councillor

For the last couple of years, the debate has been brewing as to whether we need a double structure, (district and city councils as well as regional councils) in local government. With the introduction of the Super City (Auckland City Council) we now have a situation where 50 per cent of New Zealand is governed at a local government level by a single structure (unitary councils). Is it now time to cut the bureaucracy and expand this structure New Zealand wide? In the Western Bay, we have been discussing this informally, but there doesn't appear to have been any serious SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of this proposition.

This is no simple proposition, as we not only have to consider the effectiveness of the various roles of local government under the unitary model (gamekeeper versus poacher), but any change would also address the age old issue of council amalgamation and where these boundaries should be. Once we talk about amalgamation, we get into ‘patch protection', but ratepayers are fed up with unsustainable staff and cost increases forcing up rates, so let our local government politicians be brave and make substantive progress on analysing the options. Without sound analysis we can't have a serious debate.

It seems to me there is a high degree of urgency to have this debate, because it would be much better that this region finds a solution, rather than it being enforced upon us by central government. The obvious agency to instigate this research is our regional council –in collaboration with all the territorial authorities – so let's get this work done so that we can have a transparent and rational debate on all of the issues.

If you have a view on these or any other local government issues, I invite you to email [email protected]