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 social license and that New Zealanders have lost faith in local government – this is borne out by the fact that over half don’t bother to vote in local elections.”
The Government’s first solution, to the surprise of our 11 regional councils, is a draft proposal to replace them with 11 Combined Territories Boards (CTBs), made up of the mayors of city and district councils, that will take over the duties of regional councils.
These mayors will meet regularly to decide on regional matters, in addition to what they are already tasked with. They will have to come up with a “Regional Reorganisation Plan” that includes a region-wide spatial plan chapter and a national environment plan chapter with responsibilities under the Government’s Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms.
Each CTB’s ‘Regional Reorganisation Plan’ will also have to set out how participating councils work together to deliver regional services – an idea that will form the basis for future decisions on how local government is organised. This could involve an amalgamation of territorial authorities and new unitary authorities.
Any final RRP plans are to be approved by the Minister of Local Government.
These proposals are up for consultation until 20 February, with legislation expected to be launched mid-next year and passed in 2027. The Department of Internal Affairs has set up a website to provide information: Simplifying Local Government.