LGNZ goes eight down

17 Jul 2025 • By Mary Anne Gill

STOP PRESS

Waipa wins the Super Engaged – Tū Hononga Award for ‘Ahu Ake, Waipā Community Spatial Plan’.

Ahu Ake is Waipā District Council’s bold, 30+ year vision shaped hand-in-hand with mana whenua and the community. With World Cafés, StoryMaps and more, this inclusive engagement raised the bar and brought in voices not often heard.

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND – July 17: Superlocal 2025 LGNZ Conference Awards Ceremony. July 17, 2025 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo by Mark Tantrum/ http://marktantrum.com)

* clarifying, staff were present for the award ceremony and that Pamela Storey was never going to be attending the conference for personal reasons.

17 July 7am

Waikato Regional Council has become the eighth council in two years to withdraw from Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), the national advocacy body for local authorities.

Pamela Storey

Chair Pamela Storey was not at the LGNZ annual conference which kicked off yesterday in Christchurch because she was overseas and not because of the decision.

Waikato Regional Council voted 6–5 to exit LGNZ and save an annual $122,000 membership fee.

The councils follow in the footsteps of Auckland – on mayor Wayne Brown’s casting vote, Kaipara District, Christchurch City, the West Coast Regional, Grey District, Westland District and Western Bay of Plenty District councils.

Waikato Regional Council strategy and policy chair Warren Maher said LGNZ focussed too much on district issues and took a left-leaning approached that hindered cooperation with central government.

Susan O’Regan

Representatives from Hamilton, Waipā, Hauraki, Waikato, Ōtorohanga, Matamata-Piako and Waitomo were booked in for the conference this week.

Mayor Susan O’Regan told The News prior to the event that she would attend and participate as part of an electoral reform working group led by Nelson mayor Nick Smith.

Waipā chief executive Steph O’Sullivan was scheduled to present today (Thursday) on driving organisational performance.

*Other attendees from Waipā are Māori ward representative Dale-Maree Morgan and Kihikihi councillor Marcus Gower.

Steph O’Sullivan

Members of the Ahu Ake Spatial Plan team will not be present for the Local Government awards tonight despite being a finalist in the Super Engaged category for its World Café engagement initiative.

Ōtorohanga mayor Max Baxter and his deputy Annette Williams, who are both standing down at this year’s local government elections, chief executive Tanya Winter, and councillors Katrina Christison and Jaimee Tamaki were all attending the conference.

Waitomo mayor John Robertson said he and chief executive Ben Smit would be at the conference but no other elected members or staff.

“This is part of our cost-saving exercise. Only one elected member to go to the conference,” said Robertson.

Max Baxter

Neither Waipā nor Waitomo elected members had formally discussed leaving LGNZ.

However Robertson said he was concerned at the lack of engagement between central and local government.

“It’s not new,” the former MP for Papakura said. “I recall when I was mayor of Papakura and we met with then prime minister Helen Clark. It was a terse relationship.”

Central and local government needed to work together but local decisions were best made locally, said Robertson.

O’Regan said her council had not discussed whether to continue belonging to LGNZ.

Ben Smit

“It’s not one we’ve had and neither will we have time between now and the elections.”

The conference this year was a “pared back” event reflecting current economic conditions but still featured a wide range of speakers and sessions.

The conference included a Women in Local Government breakfast yesterday followed by a speech via video from prime minister Christopher Luxon.

Local Government and Resource Management Reform and Infrastructure ministers Simon Watt and Chris Bishop were to speak on powering the economy.

Other break out sessions included what councils needed to know about Māori wards and constituencies, unlocking the Māori economy, the role of local government in the changing landscape and managing community facility projects.