With only three weeks remaining before Council decides on local body amalgamation options, TCDC negotiators will need to drive a hard bargain with potential council partners if a proposal that truly benefits our district is to emerge – and if local decision-making and basic local democracy are to be preserved for the Coromandel.
As a disappointment to democracy advocates, Council decided last week to advance for public feedback only two serious options for combined unitary council configurations, both of which threaten to dramatically and permanently dilute local political control. (A third option for an all-Waikato Hamilton supercity has virtually no local or regional support and will go nowhere.) The Coromandel is on a fast track to losing its voice unless councillors around the table step up, speak out, and take a firm stand for the district’s democratic future.
Despite its ongoing “communications” (public relations) outreach to the public, the real action this month will take place behind closed doors in negotiations with mayors of neighbouring Hauraki Plains and Bay of Plenty districts. The question is whether TCDC leadership can reach acceptable terms with other councils that will guarantee strong local control and protect the district’s long-tern interests. And if they cannot, the next question is whether sitting councillors will stand up for their communities and refuse to accept anything less.
Late out of the gate in response to Government’s simplification directive, TCDC now finds itself squarely on the back foot and well behind other councils that have made their priorities and red lines clear. Handicapped by mayoral leadership that is personable, eager to please, and anxious to avoid criticism — but hesitant, unassured and lacking confidence – the Council has failed to publicly stake out any strategic agenda for local body reform. An awkward Mayor Peter Revell explained to councillors last week that he has been meeting with other district mayors, including the three other Hauraki Plains leaders, but was just “taking notes like crazy”, “hearing what they have to say and what they are thinking”, and trying to “understand what’s important to them.” The TCDC mayor assured his team he offered “nothing that has not been agreed to by full Council.” There are situations when “leading from behind” can be very effective. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.
To confirm Council’s leadership deficit, Revell departed last Friday for a four-week overseas holiday, scheduled to return only one day before Council’s critical July 28 meeting to vote on arguably the biggest issue to face local government in decades. Thorny negotiations with potential partner councils falls to the deputy mayor for the duration.
Going East or West: Not the Only Options
The council’s current “communications” exercise is both a lost opportunity to truthfully gauge public sentiment, and a transparent effort to steer discussion toward amalgamation with either the three eastern Waikato districts or western Bay of Plenty. Not included in the council’s survey shortlist is the most attractive option for many residents – a Thames-Coromandel Unitary Council that over 1,500 local petitioners (and the mayor and councillors of the day) fought to form just over a decade ago.
At last week’s meeting, Southeast Ward Cr Alison Smith urged Council colleagues to include the Coromandel Council option in their public survey. The proposal would be noted as “non-compliant” with government’s current requirements, but would help gauge real public opinion. Cr Smith cited more than 100 supportive online responses to a recent post on the “stand-alone” option, but her sensible suggestion was beaten back by the mayor and failed to attract last-minute support. Notably, including a “stand-alone” option as Smith proposed was exactly what Western Bay of Plenty District Council councillors did last month when they notified their own short list. Western Bay stated the feedback on “stand-alone” would be valuable to inform future undertakings.
There are plenty of reasons why a Coromandel unitary could eventually gain acceptance. There could be a change of government in September. The current process, widely seen as rushed and flawed, could be revised. The rules for allowable configurations could be changed by the current or a new government. The minister could make an exception or otherwise provide for a special Coromandel structure. Changed rules and guidelines could come independently from Wellington, or it might take a forceful and persuasive lobbying effort by TCDC leadership and the public. If any part of New Zealand is a unique and special case, it would be the Coromandel Peninsula – a geographically and economically separate and distinct area from neighbouring districts.
For now, if no shortlist option makes Thames-Coromandel District clearly better off after negotiations with its abutters, the responsible decision would be to hold off submitting any proposal in August, and proceed with the government’s poorly defined “backstop” option. Without express assurances that basic decisions affecting our community would be controlled by our community, and that district interests would be protected and enhanced, both TCDC shortlist options should be rejected. While several councillors have expressed fear the “backstock” process could mean a loss of control, it would be much worse to simply forfeit that control voluntarily by accepting a bad outcome just to meet an arbitrary deadline.
A Coromandel Council Could Tick All the Boxes
A Coromandel Unitary Council would meet all five of the criteria for an acceptable proposal.
• Simplifies Local Governance: Overlap and duplication of current two-tier system are eliminated – one-stop local government.
• Maintains Local Voice: Decision-making stays local and is enhanced by local control of previously regional works.
• Economies of Scale: Similar population and budget to other successful unitary councils (Tasman, Marlborough, Gisborne).
• Supports New Planning System: No disruption of in-process spatial and natural environment planning.
• Deliverability: Coromandel is ready to go. Financial modeling already shows it’s possible. No complicated negotiations are required and strong public support guaranteed.
Coromandel environment groups, kiwi-care activists, and iwi conservationists would get a special bonus. WRC does not advertise that the grants they hand out locally each year for pest control work are actually peninsula money making a round trip. This year alone, Thames-Coromandel ratepayers paid more than $425,000 in targeted regional Natural Heritage rates ($15 per household). A Coromandel Council would have this same cash available, but grant decisions would be made right here in Thames, Whitianga, and Coromandel instead.
TCDC’s public “engagement” survey runs through July 15. According to CEO Aileen Lowrie, there is space for Coromandel democracy advocates to write in their choice for a Coromandel “stand-alone” unitary council instead of the options listed.
