Western Bay of Plenty's new mayor welcomes the review proposing extensive changes to local government to 'fix a few issues” the sector faces.

The Future for Local Government review proposes allowing 16-year-olds to vote, mana whenua appointees potentially sitting alongside elected Māori ward councillors, changing council terms from three years to four years, and more money for councillors.

Set up 18 months ago by Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta, an independent panel has now come up with 29 draft recommendations and a number of questions before its final report due in June 2023.

Strengthening relationships between local and central government as well as looking at the scope of what councils do in the community are also key parts of the review.

Western Bay of Plenty mayor James Denyer told Local Democracy Reporting: 'There's a few issues in local government that need fixing and a little bit of clarification on where we as a sector are going”.

This was 'particularly” with the Government mandated Three Waters reform and council 'potentially losing” its three waters functions, he said.

As well as the repealing of the Resource Management Act (RMA), which Denyer said; 'will profoundly change how, and why council does things.”

'The review has the potential to tide that direction.”

When asked if the review would help, seeing the reforms are underway and the Future for Local Government review is still in draft form, Denyer replied: 'The trick will be to align everything”.

'Ideally you would've done the review and then done Three Waters and the RMA review, but we are where we are.

'I'm hopeful that the review gives a little bit more guidance to council.”

Denyer is 'very keen” on extending council terms to four years because three year terms were 'too short” and it is 'out of step with most other western democracies”.

Councils are required to do a long term plan every three years, which takes two years to do, so it is a 'continual tread treadmill for staff,” he said.

Elections are also 'expensive and disruptive” in terms of their cost as well as inducting and training new councillors.

With a background in finance, Denyer says: 'I was hoping to see something a little bit more transformational in terms of local government funding.”

The report recommends retaining rates from home and landowners as the 'principal mechanism for funding local government”.

It also recommends central government developed an 'intergenerational fund for climate change” and enabled councils to introduce new funding mechanisms.

Denyer agrees with the strengthening relationships between local government and central government and said they 'need to work closer together”.

Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby had 'deep concerns” the final review 'sits on the shelf”. Photo: Supplied.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) president Stuart Crosby told Local Democracy Reporting the review is 'designed to put the local back into local democracy”.

'There's been a lot of commentary that that has been eroded over a number of years by a number of governments.”

Crosby, a current Bay of Plenty Regional councillor and former mayor of Tauranga, says: 'The key issue is how central and local government delivers services to the community more effectively and efficiently.”

'Unfortunately in this country we have siloed governments.

'So central government do their thing, local government do their thing

'There's a huge opportunity to have a seamless delivery of services to the community through local and central government.”

He says he had 'deep concerns” that the review would be shelved, as the final report was due in June 2023 when parliament went into 'election mode” ahead of the general election later in the year.

'The risk is Three waters goes ahead in some shape or form, the Resource Management Act [reform] goes ahead in some shape or form, and this piece of work sits on the shelf.

'But in saying that, the panel are very clear that a lot of their recommendations do not need a legislative change.”

Future for Local Government review panel chairperson Jim Palmer says: 'The reality is because our report lands in June next year, it will be a new government that actually takes the recommendations forward and considers them.”

Both Crosby and Palmer are keen for councils and the public to share their thoughts on the review.

Submissions on the draft report are open until February 28, 2023. They can be made via the Future for Local Government website.

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