Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he wants to explore the possibility of scrapping New Zealand’s regional councils as the Government reforms the Resource Management Act.
NZ First minister Shane Jones told a local government forum last week his party does not see a compelling case for maintaining regional government.
There is no compelling case for having two layers of local government in a small country like NZ.
Having local and regional councils leads to so much duplication and confusion. In Wellington the GWRC runs the buses and trains but the WCC does the bus stops and roads the buses run on. When you need consent, you often have to apply to both councils.
It would be a great day if the Government scraps regional councils, and all TLAs would become unitary councils.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
Having local and regional councils leads to so much duplication and confusion. In Wellington the GWRC runs the buses and trains but the WCC does the bus stops and roads the buses run on. When you need consent, you often have to apply to both councils.
It would be a great day if the Government scraps regional councils, and all TLAs would become unitary councils.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
5 comments:
Does TLA mean territorial local authority? If so, what is that? There is no point writing acronyms if it isn't clear what they mean?
Should all the local authorities merge into what is now the regional authorities? I live in Upper Hutt, and there isn't a single Green, Labour or Maori representative on the City Council. Maybe that is why the City does comparatively well in the region. The last thing we need is all the woke dysfunctional Wellington councilors and bureaucrats running the place wasting money with cycleways and multimillion dollars rainbow toilets.
The Northland Regional Council is a godsend and there is no other government organisation in Northland like it. Pest control/ advice training information and professional hunters employed by the regional council,possum control and poisons license training by experts. Very efficient. Water issues.Hydrographers and other scientists available to talk to and advise ratepayers. Accessible and informative. You are a city boy and not a Kiwi David. You simply don't know what the f*** you are talking about.No other government organisation does what the Regional Council does. If you were talking about the District Council then you would maybe have a case.
In its present state I think every local authority should be tarred and feathered.
These singular petty tribalist fiefdoms run by sanctimonious medieval lords are often more interested in jousting with each other than serving the common good.
Their only skill is in extorting money from rate payers without providing basic services.
The resource management act for all its promise has been a limp failure since its inception.
The whole structure of local government needs a shakeup.
It seems that dissatisfaction with all councils abounds. Perhaps the best solution is to scrap them all, and appoint trained Commissioners instead. Think of the ratepayer savings that could be made! Of course you would also need an inspectorate to ensure the integrity and competency of your Commissioners. That’s not too hard to do either. Come to think of it maybe Parliament could be converted as well. Just a thought.
You of all David Farrar should be able to source the Cabinet paper compiled by ACT MP Simon Court giving real direction to the legislation to Repeal the RMA and dilute all Local Government councils into readable , precise , black letter sentence sensibility to end the endless games of Councils protecting their vulnerable soft spots. Yes some councils will disappear and the sooner the better .
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