Hamilton City Councillor Andrew Bydder has written a lengthy and detailed article for the Good Oil to help readers concerned about our local councils to get prepared for the next LGNZ elections. This is part one. [Ed.]
I spent 30 years working with councils from the outside as an architectural designer and property developer before being elected to Hamilton City Council in 2022. I fought the ever-increasing bureaucracy that transformed resource consents from simple one-page applications to expensive year-long 1,000-page multi-consultant battles having no discernible benefit other than covering staff butts.
Frustrated, I started looking into council structure, joining the Hamilton Residents and Ratepayers Association, and writing a weekly column for the Waikato Times on council failures. Since getting elected I have dug deeper into the internal organisation, working out where the problems are and how to fix them.
You have been hit with the first round of massive rates rises. There are more to come. You have read worrying figures of exploding council debt. You have noticed cost blowouts on everything the council touches. You have certainly been affected by speed bumps and realised that the worsening congestion is being deliberately caused by council roading projects. And if you have ever had to deal with council directly on any building consent or resource consent, you will share my frustration! You know your council is no longer working for you. You know the system is broken.
The good news is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Ask around and you will find many people who are also wondering if they are the only ones who can see the madness and wondering why nobody is stopping it. Most good people, the practical and common-sense workers, are too busy keeping New Zealand functioning, paying taxes and employing others, with little enough time for our own families, to take much interest in council politics. This is why the bastards are winning.
This guide is to help YOU take on councils with whatever time you can spare. It is based on a team of good people sharing the work.
The October 2025 council elections are our best chance to fix councils. It is also our last chance. Another three years of woke indoctrination, rates rises, debt blowouts, speed bumps and red tape will cripple our country. We need to work together to stop the rot and turn councils around.
I have written this to share my experience so that you don’t have to waste time working out the system. There will be follow-up information shared from experts working with me.
Those of you who can spare the time to stand for council will need to read and understand all of this and form a network with like-minded people. Some of you will prefer to help in the background within your own areas of expertise. Take from this guide as much as you need and link up with the good candidates. Most of you just need to support the network. You will know who to support because they will acknowledge this manual. Support can be financial, spare time, connections, marketing and simply inspiring people to vote this time. It will be hard, because most people have given up on councils listening to them, but we need you to try.
Even the National-led coalition Government has realised the need for councils to get back to basics. That’s great, but we can’t rely on politicians to fix politics. We have to do it ourselves.
OVERVIEW:
The parts are:
A. INTRODUCTION – why we need to do this.
B. BACKGROUND – how we got where we are.
C. WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS? – the root causes.
D. WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS? – the policies the team needs to implement.
E. HOW DO WE MAKE THE CHANGE? – getting a team elected and what supporters need to do.
If you can’t spare the time to be part of the team but you want to support us, then the last chapter is the important one for you. Skip the candidate bits and consider the external experts if you have relevant skills, but read the education campaign and really try to help there.
PART A – INTRODUCTION
The singular purpose of councils is to allow local people to pool resources (e.g., money collected through rates) to work for the greater good of the local community. Acting together at a large scale is more efficient and productive than individuals doing separate systems for roads, water, libraries and rubbish collection.
It has become clear that some aspects of council work are no longer achieving greater efficiency or productivity. Spending $700,000 to move a bus stop[1] is wasting communities’ limited resources. There are too many other examples to list. The bureaucracy is out of control.
It has also become apparent that other aspects of council work are no longer being done for the greater good. Speed bump ‘traffic calming’ is intended to frustrate people out of cars, which is social engineering by unelected officials with their own agendas. Councils are using your money against you.
Our elected representatives seem to be incapable of managing finances, holding staff to account or even listening to the people. Rates rises are consistently higher than inflation, which means we are becoming worse off every year. For many, especially those on fixed incomes, it has reached breaking point.
Successive governments have recognised parts of the problem. The Key Government tried to fix Auckland with the ‘supercity’ amalgamation in 2010. A major part of that process was the establishment of Auckland Transport as a separate organisation – recognition that the councils had failed to manage roads properly. The Ardern Government started the process to remove water services from councils for the same reason. The Resource Management Act is administered by councils issuing consents, which has stifled essential infrastructure development needed by the same councils, along with crippling delays and expense to private enterprise. These are the core services of councils, so failure in these areas demonstrates a fundamental failure in the system.
Prime Minister Luxon has criticised councils and is demanding a ‘back-to-basics’ approach. Legislation will follow in mid-2025 to strengthen this. While this is hugely positive news, it is an example of the old adage, ‘If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.’ Parliament’s only tool is to pass laws. Changing attitudes of staff embedded in councils is a different problem. The Local Government Act 2002, section 100, requires councils to ensure income covers expenses. Yet most councils run deficits every year and cover the shortfall with borrowed money. It is like a family living off a credit card and any business director doing this would be prosecuted for operating while insolvent.
The level of anger in the community about outrageous project costs – plenty of asphalt for speedbumps but none to fill in potholes, fake consultation for predetermined decisions and gaslighting media releases – is boiling over. The apathy that has marred previous elections (e.g., just 29 per cent voter turn-out in Hamilton) due to the public being ignored post-election, is transforming into activism by people demanding change.
There are many other groups, such as resident and ratepayers associations, Challenging Councils and CityWatchNZ.org who are looking at other ways to push back. I commend anyone who is trying to do so for the good of the community. Councils are resistant to change, so pressure from both inside and outside is needed. The reason councils have become corrupted is that the public has been divided. We need to work together on common ground, while recognising that we all have differences, interests and areas of focus. This guide does not touch on issues such as fluoridation or regional councils using 1080 poison. These are important, but I am not an expert in them and will leave this to others to advise on. The structural change I am highlighting will allow communities to make decisions on these and much more later. My own desire is to fix the building consent system, but that will happen much further down the track after we have formed teams and fixed the core problems.
To achieve this will mean taking political control of councils. This requires a team with a majority of councillors to vote for the necessary change. The team needs to replace many of the current incompetent councillors with new candidates aligned to our goals. I know from experience that first-term councillors need support, so the team needs experts outside council to support elected councillors with advice to counteract the manipulation by council staff.
Most of the information in this guide is to prepare the whole team with a common understanding of the problems and solutions so they can work together. The final part of the guide is an outline of what is necessary to run a successful campaign. I am working with my own team on the details and I will share our recommendations when we have developed them fully.
[1] https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/nz-news/350125753/700k-move-sex-shop-bus-stop
Andrew Bydder is a is a Hamilton City Councillor, a professional problem solver, a designer, and a small business owner. This article was first published HERE
You have been hit with the first round of massive rates rises. There are more to come. You have read worrying figures of exploding council debt. You have noticed cost blowouts on everything the council touches. You have certainly been affected by speed bumps and realised that the worsening congestion is being deliberately caused by council roading projects. And if you have ever had to deal with council directly on any building consent or resource consent, you will share my frustration! You know your council is no longer working for you. You know the system is broken.
The good news is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Ask around and you will find many people who are also wondering if they are the only ones who can see the madness and wondering why nobody is stopping it. Most good people, the practical and common-sense workers, are too busy keeping New Zealand functioning, paying taxes and employing others, with little enough time for our own families, to take much interest in council politics. This is why the bastards are winning.
This guide is to help YOU take on councils with whatever time you can spare. It is based on a team of good people sharing the work.
The October 2025 council elections are our best chance to fix councils. It is also our last chance. Another three years of woke indoctrination, rates rises, debt blowouts, speed bumps and red tape will cripple our country. We need to work together to stop the rot and turn councils around.
I have written this to share my experience so that you don’t have to waste time working out the system. There will be follow-up information shared from experts working with me.
Those of you who can spare the time to stand for council will need to read and understand all of this and form a network with like-minded people. Some of you will prefer to help in the background within your own areas of expertise. Take from this guide as much as you need and link up with the good candidates. Most of you just need to support the network. You will know who to support because they will acknowledge this manual. Support can be financial, spare time, connections, marketing and simply inspiring people to vote this time. It will be hard, because most people have given up on councils listening to them, but we need you to try.
Even the National-led coalition Government has realised the need for councils to get back to basics. That’s great, but we can’t rely on politicians to fix politics. We have to do it ourselves.
OVERVIEW:
The parts are:
A. INTRODUCTION – why we need to do this.
B. BACKGROUND – how we got where we are.
C. WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS? – the root causes.
D. WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS? – the policies the team needs to implement.
E. HOW DO WE MAKE THE CHANGE? – getting a team elected and what supporters need to do.
If you can’t spare the time to be part of the team but you want to support us, then the last chapter is the important one for you. Skip the candidate bits and consider the external experts if you have relevant skills, but read the education campaign and really try to help there.
PART A – INTRODUCTION
The singular purpose of councils is to allow local people to pool resources (e.g., money collected through rates) to work for the greater good of the local community. Acting together at a large scale is more efficient and productive than individuals doing separate systems for roads, water, libraries and rubbish collection.
It has become clear that some aspects of council work are no longer achieving greater efficiency or productivity. Spending $700,000 to move a bus stop[1] is wasting communities’ limited resources. There are too many other examples to list. The bureaucracy is out of control.
It has also become apparent that other aspects of council work are no longer being done for the greater good. Speed bump ‘traffic calming’ is intended to frustrate people out of cars, which is social engineering by unelected officials with their own agendas. Councils are using your money against you.
Our elected representatives seem to be incapable of managing finances, holding staff to account or even listening to the people. Rates rises are consistently higher than inflation, which means we are becoming worse off every year. For many, especially those on fixed incomes, it has reached breaking point.
Successive governments have recognised parts of the problem. The Key Government tried to fix Auckland with the ‘supercity’ amalgamation in 2010. A major part of that process was the establishment of Auckland Transport as a separate organisation – recognition that the councils had failed to manage roads properly. The Ardern Government started the process to remove water services from councils for the same reason. The Resource Management Act is administered by councils issuing consents, which has stifled essential infrastructure development needed by the same councils, along with crippling delays and expense to private enterprise. These are the core services of councils, so failure in these areas demonstrates a fundamental failure in the system.
Prime Minister Luxon has criticised councils and is demanding a ‘back-to-basics’ approach. Legislation will follow in mid-2025 to strengthen this. While this is hugely positive news, it is an example of the old adage, ‘If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.’ Parliament’s only tool is to pass laws. Changing attitudes of staff embedded in councils is a different problem. The Local Government Act 2002, section 100, requires councils to ensure income covers expenses. Yet most councils run deficits every year and cover the shortfall with borrowed money. It is like a family living off a credit card and any business director doing this would be prosecuted for operating while insolvent.
The level of anger in the community about outrageous project costs – plenty of asphalt for speedbumps but none to fill in potholes, fake consultation for predetermined decisions and gaslighting media releases – is boiling over. The apathy that has marred previous elections (e.g., just 29 per cent voter turn-out in Hamilton) due to the public being ignored post-election, is transforming into activism by people demanding change.
There are many other groups, such as resident and ratepayers associations, Challenging Councils and CityWatchNZ.org who are looking at other ways to push back. I commend anyone who is trying to do so for the good of the community. Councils are resistant to change, so pressure from both inside and outside is needed. The reason councils have become corrupted is that the public has been divided. We need to work together on common ground, while recognising that we all have differences, interests and areas of focus. This guide does not touch on issues such as fluoridation or regional councils using 1080 poison. These are important, but I am not an expert in them and will leave this to others to advise on. The structural change I am highlighting will allow communities to make decisions on these and much more later. My own desire is to fix the building consent system, but that will happen much further down the track after we have formed teams and fixed the core problems.
To achieve this will mean taking political control of councils. This requires a team with a majority of councillors to vote for the necessary change. The team needs to replace many of the current incompetent councillors with new candidates aligned to our goals. I know from experience that first-term councillors need support, so the team needs experts outside council to support elected councillors with advice to counteract the manipulation by council staff.
Most of the information in this guide is to prepare the whole team with a common understanding of the problems and solutions so they can work together. The final part of the guide is an outline of what is necessary to run a successful campaign. I am working with my own team on the details and I will share our recommendations when we have developed them fully.
[1] https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/nz-news/350125753/700k-move-sex-shop-bus-stop
Andrew Bydder is a is a Hamilton City Councillor, a professional problem solver, a designer, and a small business owner. This article was first published HERE
3 comments:
The councils became corrupted when they became "for profit corporations", welded to the state and not to the locals of the district they were meant to represent.
I wonder if we should have more elected members who had previously worked inside council… So they know the issues and possible solutions. My experience is too many elected members are absolute Pollyannas and just go with the flow
Anonymous 9:46. This is not so much a solution, as part of the problem. Many of the issues stem from overpaid council staff, most of whom seem to be "managers", operating independently (and often covertly) outside of the sphere of the elected reps. I think it's called " the tail wagging the dog"
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