It must be that time again…
As regular as a royal visit, every few years the issue of local government reorganisation rears its head – and then quickly fades away. Reform is...
Category : Local Democracy
Our way or the highway
The Government, through RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts, has given councils a three-month ‘Head Start’ ultimatum to...
Council faces impending community job losses
The Hastings District Council, already facing debt and ongoing storm repairs, discusses the community implications of the McCain and Heinz Wattie’s closures in January as...
Defending local democracy
The Buller District Council’s submission on the Simplifying Local Government reform proposal exemplifies why a central government ‘one-solution-to-fit-them-all’ won’t work. Buller District Council Mayor Chris...
A logical district merger
Image: Diagram of possible Unitary Authority boundary. Bill Foster, Chair of the Northern Action Group, explains the reasoning behind merging the Kaipara District with North...
Regional Governance – asking the right questions
By Dr Deon Swiggs Chair, Environment Canterbury & LGNZ Regional Sector. Regional governance is the capability to plan, fund, and deliver decisions and services that...
Realities of water reform
Will the water reforms fix council metrics, or simply shift the pressure, asks David Hammond, the Head of Consulting and Public Sectors at Tribe Executive....
Government knows best
Regional councils have worked for almost four decades, but now the Government, in its second year of office, has decided, “local government has lost the...
Sharing the pain
Reports from Australia indicate the local government sector has reached a crossroads, where federal and state funding no longer covers the extra services and responsibilities...
They just don’t care
Local Government in our new Aotearoa is only ‘local democracy’ in theory and not in reality, reflected in the small percentage of eligible voters who...