WRC and its Chair Warren Maher are doing what would be expected — clinging to power and trying to avoid the grim reaper that is coming soon for regional councils across New Zealand.
A massive Hamilton-based Waikato Supercity council is precisely what Maher has proposed with his “Single Unitary Authority” modification of the Auckland Council experiment. Instead of ridding regions of an unnecessary level of local government sitting above district councils, Maher proposes to “simplify” by doing away with the districts instead. It does not take an expert in local government to see that the WRC proposal would be the ultimate democracy disaster, not only for Thames-Coromandel District, but for every other council in the region.
The Waikato Supercity disaster scenario boils down to two fundamental changes – severe dilution of real political power for the districts and removal of the most fundamental levers of power (planning, budgets, rating) from the districts to Hamilton HQ.
The idea that functions like economic development, regional transport, infrastructure strategy, or harbour management for the Coromandel are more effectively delivered from bureaucrats in Hamilton than by professionals in our district is laughable. Regional management in all these critical areas has been less than deficient, and in some cases non-existent. WRC has earned failing marks for years. Meanwhile, small unitary councils like Marlborough, Tasman, Gisborne and Nelson have shown that these so-called “regional” responsibilities can be handled well, and within budget, for decades. The benefit for these unitary councils is that priorities and planning are established locally, by locals and for locals, and not hours away in a big-city office tower.
As for Maher’s claim to “fair representation”, the Waikato Supercity proposal would indeed deliver “fair”. The only problem is that under his complicated multi-level Auckland-style setup, that representation would be heavily diluted. If 12 people are each offered one apple from a box of a dozen, that is certainly fair. If those 12 people are each offered 1/12 of an apple, that is also fair. Under the Waikato Supercity plan, the citizens of districts like Thames-Coromandel will be getting that “fair”, but very small fractional share of real decision-making.
A look at the “Single Unitary Authority” graphic tells the whole frightening story and all our community needs to know. At the top council level where all real decision-making power resides, Thames-Coromandel together with three other Hauraki Plains districts would elect just two representatives, who together would have just 25% of the voting power. And there is no guarantee any council member would in fact be from the Coromandel. Meanwhile back in Paeroa, according to Maher, a four-district 10-member local board would handle libraries, pools, and Christmas parades.
If it were not such a looming disaster for truly democratic local government, the WRC “Single Unitary Authority” plan would draw laughter from any civic-minded community member. But since it appears WRC will be lobbying hard to put in place their democracy dystopia, residents and ratepayers must take it seriously – and seriously reject it.
