Waikato Regional Council
I said repeatedly on the campaign trail that if I did a good job, I would be a one term councillor. I have always been an advocate for a restructure but never in my wildest dreams imagined it could be a matter of months before I was handed my notice. The government announced last week that it wants to abolish regional councils and instead have the region’s mayors form a board to decide how our district and regional councils could structure their business and operations. It’s hoped this would drive efficiencies, improve productivity and reduce overall rates.
Garry Reymer
This is a major overhaul of local government and not just a scrapping of the Waikato Regional Council as the headline suggests. In my opinion this will ultimately deliver unitary councils or territory authorities.
Ratepayers will need to think long and hard and provide feedback at every step if we want to get outcomes that will improve how we fund, structure and provide services.
In particular, we need to think about urban and rural needs and how these are best controlled. Where the urban population is probably not as concerned about issues of drainage, the rural community has little concern for public transport. Do we need to take Hamilton and Cambridge out of the rest of the Waikato to form a council of its own? Do we want just one big council that covers from Pokeno across to the Coromandel, down to Taupo, across the King Country to Mokau then up the coast to Port Waikato? Or should we have three – east and west of the Waikato River with the Hamilton-Cambridge urban centres the third.
Once that is decided, you need to turn your focus to what functions stay inside council control and what central government takes over. Waikato water done well has already been set up, shifting a lot of debt off the council balance sheets. Roading is another major asset – should that be put into a separate entity with public transport?
Transport is the biggest single cost at WRC and a major expense for all district councils. Could NZTA take this back off councils?
Two Waikato regional buses pass each other en-route. Photo: Michael Jeans
Issues of drainage and flood protection could be put back under the care of farmer controlled boards as they were before the regional councils were set up. Most of that infrastructure has stood the test of time which indicates this is well within the capabilities of a local farmer board.
Once you strip out those major assets and cost centres you can have a council focussed on the likes of Civil Defence, consents, parks, museums and pools. None of this is to suggest I have the answers – I don’t. But I want to highlight the complexity of the change ahead and ask that you stay informed and have your say. I can assure you that your current regional councillors will be vocal and provide the necessary leadership on the debate going forward.
Waikato Regional Council building. Photo: BCD Group
