Northland let down by reorganisation proposal

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Source: Green Party – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Northland let down by reorganisation proposal



We should have a consistent national approach to reorganisations with local variations to work out the ideal structures for local councils in New Zealand

Today’s proposed reorganisation of Northland councils signals another ad hoc council reorganisation which will reduce local democracy, and the Green Party is calling for a more strategic approach to local government reorganisations.

“There is scant evidence that big is necessarily better for local Government, including in Northland,” Green Party local government spokesperson Eugenie Sage said.

“We need a much more strategic approach that identifies whether change is needed and what the ideal structures are.

“Northland is one of four reorganisation proposals being considered by the Local Government Commission and the Minister has agreed on a pool of six additional commissioners to consider them.

“We should have a consistent national approach to reorganisations with local variations to work out the ideal structures for local councils in New Zealand.

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“The unitary council option is not proven, and the potential loss of environmental protection has not been properly considered,” said Ms Sage.

Northland based Green Party MP David Clendon has some specific concerns about what this proposal will mean for Northland.

“This process was started by a controversial Mayor who undertook a very dubious ‘consultation’ and has since been voted out by the people of Northland,” said Mr Clendon.

“This proposal will see us lose existing experienced councils close to their communities and replace them with weak community boards.

“The Local Government Commission said that the current council arrangements are viable in the short term, so we should give the newly elected mayors and councils a chance to enact their policies on which they were elected.

“We have questions about how, in practice, the debt incurred by Kaipara District Council will be ring-fenced when in fact it will be just one council that still has the debt on their books.

“The proposal talks about any savings made by amalgamation needing to be balanced against one-off costs of making the change, but this cost needs to be quantified if the community are to be able to make that comparison ourselves,” said Mr Clendon.

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