The Coromandel’s long quest for truly local government could finally become a reality, following Government’s decision to do away with the two-tier system of regional and district councils.
Soon, district residents and ratepayers will have their say as they face a stark choice between a smaller, closer-to-home council reflecting and responsive to local needs, culture and aspirations – or the purported higher efficiency of an urban based all-Waikato supercity.
Local Government Min Simon Watts and RMA Reform Min Chris Bishop last week gave districts and cities exactly three months to present proposals to restructure as unitary councils – combining the functions of regional government and territorial authorities. Under the directive, regional councils will cease to exist as of the 2028 election. The ministers’ announcement followed public consultation on a pathway to local government simplification that was floated in November but widely deemed unworkable. The ministerial notice directs districts to present their high-level restructure plans by August 9 – or have the government do it for them.
HOMEGROWN SUPPORT FOR SIMPLIFICATION
For residents on the Coromandel, the prospect of forming an eastern Waikato unitary council has historically enjoyed strong public support on both coasts. Individuals, businesses and councillors have cited chronic responsibility overlaps, duplications of work, delays, needless costs, and out-of-touch decisions as reasons for change. Peninsula residents have paid millions for Lake Taupo cleanup, financing a Cambridge velodrome and covering Maungatautari debts, while awaiting permissions from Hamilton on harbour mangrove removal, coastal erosion management, or rural road slip disposal here.
Dissatisfaction with regional governance came to a head in January 2012 with launch of the “Campaign for a Unitary Coromandel Council” – single-tier local government for the Peninsula and neighbouring Hauraki Plains. With mayoral and councillor backing from TCDC, the proposal advanced through several stages, with staff analysis demonstrating financial viability.
At the same time, Hamilton City Council, with strong backing from business, advanced plans for a complementary “tight-five” unitary council in the west. Supporters said New Zealand’s fourth-most populous city (and SH1 corridor) represented a single “community of interests” — economic, social and geographic — and should be governed accordingly. The eastern Waikato, with the largely rural and remote Coromandel and its hundreds of kilometres of coastline, smaller settlements, tourism-dependent economy and older population, comprises another “community of interests” – completely different and distinct.
But despite strong public backing for both, the dovetailed Coromandel/Hauraki and Greater Hamilton amalgamation plans failed to get across the line. Like a goose with a preview of Christmas dinner, Waikato regional councillors had commenced groundwork for a single, all-Waikato supercity council instead. Political opposition from WRC and elected officials protecting their respective district patches stymied plans for change.
Apart from the politics, technical requirements of the Local Government Act have rendered council reorganisations virtually impossible for decades. Last Tuesday’s press announcement and “Head Start Pathway: Simplifying Local Government” documentation, however, made clear the government’s intention to sweep away the legislative hurdles that have stymied unitary council proponents in the past.
THE MAYOR’S VIEW AND NEXT STEPS
In an interview with this reporter on Friday, Mayor Peter Revell acknowledged there have been consistent expressions from current and former governments that change is needed. There has been a widely held view that “it’s expensive, it’s confusing, that there are double-ups… I don’t have any trouble agreeing with that,” he said. “I think the narrative that comes out of Wellington, and has done for a number of years, is fair enough and that we need to find a better way for local government…For us, it has not come as a surprise.”
“The second thing I want to be clear about, and feel very strongly about, is that this is a decision that impacts our communities,” the mayor said. “So our communities have to have an absolute say in what happens, whatever direction we might choose to go. We absolutely have to have the communities’ understanding and support.”
Noting that councils are required to work together in developing plans, whether regional or sub-regional in scope, the mayor said it is “really very important that we do understand what our local communities think and feel about our district being part of, or involved with, another local authority. Our communities need to be front and centre.”
Revell noted, “As a council, we have an initial decision to make, which is whether we want to just wait until 2028 and let the government do what they want to do, or do we want to put something on the table by August 9. We haven’t had a chance to have that discussion, but we will be doing that in the very near future.”
A LOOMING CHOICE
Looking ahead just a few months, the Thames-Coromandel District will be on its way to single-tier local government. But what that will look like is an open question reflecting two sharply different visions.
On one hand, the unitary Coromandel proposal of 2012 remains an attractive option and is seen by many as the best way to preserve (and even increase) local democracy, citizen involvement and community participation. Logical council partners might include all or part of Hauraki District, and possibly Te Aroha and/or Waihi Beach. River catchment management would remain intact. And, importantly, boundary delineations would largely coincide with and reflect Hauraki iwi rohe. There are many options for refinement.
Also possible is an option quickly mooted by WRC last week. WRC’s vision is a sweeping all-Waikato unitary supercity council based in Hamilton, encompassing all 10 districts, covering an area five hours drive top to bottom, with existing district representatives serving much like community boards. No specifics offered, but likely to follow an Auckland Council model.
(Geoffrey Robinson covered local body reform efforts for the Hamilton News and other Waikato publications from 2011-2014)
