Paula Thompson BOP Regional Councillor www.envbop.govt.nz

There are 78 councils in New Zealand. In 1989, there were 700 bodies doing the work the 78 now do. Of the current 78, there is one Super Auckland City Council that provides local government for 1.5 million people.

That leaves the rest of New Zealand to be governed locally by 77 councils. Local government employs about 24,000 staff; contributes four per cent to NZ's GDP and oversees more than $90 billion of assets.

It is both a regulator and a service provider. Rodney Hide, as the former Local Government Minister, was responsible for the creation of the Auckland Super City. He also asked officials to look at how the rest of local government might be reformed. The baton for that reform thinking has been passed to the new Local Government Minister, Dr Nick Smith, who is also the Environment Minister.

We are waiting to see where the central government reform thinking has got to. My pick would be that there will be further change – particularly with changes proposed to the Resource Management Act and there being plenty of indications that there is an expectation of enhanced regional planning and regulatory functions around the management of natural resources.

To enable sound public investment decisions in infrastructure, a region should have robust planning that justifies investment. Hence the call for regional spatial planning. As we all know, fresh water – its quality and allocation – will also be very big issues both at central and regional levels.

As New Zealand grapples with balancing economic progress with environmental protection, I expect regional government to play vital roles in getting the balance right at local level. Does this mean fewer councils or a changed form of local government to what we have now? The answer to that lies with government, local government and most importantly, the communities. My pick is that there will be, but that having done and dusted Auckland reform, the rest will evolve as needs must. Please feel free to contact me to discuss any council matter, phone 027 222 2419 or email [email protected]