Rotorua's interests vital in local government reform
Chief Executive Peter Guerin's 'Council Talk' column from today's Daily Post.
Rotorua District Council is keeping an open mind about the government's proposals for local government reform. However our council does have a very clear position on one thing: keeping the local' perspective in local government' is vital and should be non-negotiable.
Central government is signalling to local authorities that we should ready ourselves for local government reform and that's reasonable advice given that the government is pushing ahead at some speed with the introduction of changes to the Local Government Act. Those changes involve two legislative phases, the first of which is underway through the Local Government Act Reform Bill 2012. I will cover these changes in more detail in a future column.
Over recent months our council has been having constructive conversations about local government reform with councils from throughout the Bay of Plenty region. There is a mix of views among those councils and to some extent those views reflect the different physical, geographical, socio-economic and geopolitical make-ups of those authorities.
For our part here in Rotorua our council is not unhappy with the existing district council arrangement although there are some elected members who favour our becoming a unitary authority, as is already the case with councils in Gisborne, Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough, and more recently of course in Auckland. These councils combine the functions of a city or district council with those of a regional council, in a single authority.
At this stage nothing is certain about changes to local government structures and boundaries. But in the future size may matter more than in the past, especially in terms of how infrastructure is provided, how we respond collectively to complex issues like deprivation and hazard management, and in developing strategic capability and capacity.
So right now we individually and collectively are examining what's best for our districts, what's best for our region, and what value different structures might hold for our communities.
Of course Rotorua also has to consider that it actually straddles the boundaries of two regions - Bay of Plenty and Waikato - so we have two directions to turn at the same time while we put our minds to the complex issue of how local government will look in the future.
Local authorities of the Bay of Plenty, along with Taupo and South Waikato councils, are appearing jointly before the Local Government and Environment Select Committee on Thursday to present our submissions on the government's proposed Bill.
We will be presenting a picture of unity and collaboration in arguing that reorganisation of local authorities is not necessarily the only way to address key intra-regional issues for local government. Many of these matters can in fact be addressed through shared services initiatives and other corporate structures.
Whatever recommendations may ultimately come out of the various submissions, forums and other discussions on these complex issues, Rotorua residents can be assured that Rotorua District Council will be advocating strongly along the lines of what's best for the people of Rotorua.
Peter Guerin
Chief Executive