The mood for change to the structure of local governance in the region appears to be growing.
Earlier this week we were given a heads up that a poll commissioned by the WCC showed the majority of Wellingtonians are wanting change. While WCC sits on those results we thought it was important to share the information we had been leaked from within the organisation as it captures where the thinking is at amongst the voters.
The results of that poll appear to have been reinforced by the response to the Regional Working Party’s call for submissions.
Working Party Chair, Ken Douglas, said they received over 1800 submissions – around 1200 long-form, and 600 other shorter subs (split between 300 ‘short’ subs and 300 ‘comments’) . The Working Party calculated that of the long and short subs 60 per cent say there was a need for change.
One of the criticisms of the Working Party we have seen in the comments from Labour Regional Councillor, Daran Ponter, is that it is only considering the two options for change – either a single-tier structure or a two-tier structure that features the local boards that are used in the Auckland model. This is a valid point, but you do have to draw the line somewhere and it is hard to say what the right amount of options are.
Depending on your perspective, you could say the Working Party has shown some leadership by cutting to the chase and offering what Auckland has adopted, a slight variant of that or the status quo. Or you could argue they have imposed their view of what the ideal outcome is and limited the options accordingly. Either way, the Working Party has driven the discussion and shaped the debate – and that’s politics.
When it came to choosing between the two-tier or single tier models, the result was decisive. Of the 1500 long and short submitters, 52 per cent backed a two-tier model featuring a single council with local boards underneath it. 27 per cent said they supported a single-tier option of a super-council and 18 per cent did not respond.
What is clear from these results and the leaked WCC/Colmar Brunton poll, is that people want change. We could continue consulting in the hope of finding a magical nirvana where consensus is reached, but that seems incredibly unlikely. So maybe it’s time to get on with it and start working towards the goal of delivering reform in time for the 2016 local government elections.
The two-tier model was clearly chosen by submitters so the real issue is ensuring the second tier or local boards are properly empowered to connect and represent their local communities, while still ensuring the benefits of a unified over-arching council are delivered.
The Working Party needs to put effort into building a broader coalition to drive the change. The Hutt Valley will always provide resistance and so will the many of the current crop of councillors and mayors throughout the region who are unlikely to survive the election. To be effective, this campaign will have to rise above those groups and speak to the voters. The voting public are saying they want change, and our region needs it – so how about we get on with it.
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All that we can really take from the submissions and the polls is that there us an appetite for change. And that’s a good thing. It is a stretch however to think that there is universal support for a supercity in either of the two guises put forward.
My concern is that unless there is a significant change towards the idea of a supecity, the proposal will fail when put to a poll of voters in 2014. If this occurs it will effectively mean that we have lost five years to get better cooperation and collaboration across local authorities and pulling as one for the region.
So if Fran Wilde and Nick Legott are going to commit to a Supercity they need to be dead sure that the public are going to support the proposition when it most counts – at the poll of voters in 2014.
You live by the sword, you die by it. Like any politician, they will be voted in or out based on their stances. I think they and Jenny Rowan should be commended for pushing the debate along. At least we know where they stand.
As I said, I don’t believe we will ever reach consensus on this issue and saying we should keep consulting to try and get it just feels like another way of slowing or even stopping reform.
I have no difficulty with that. My concern is that the alternative options were effectively and expertly stifled at the outset. The SuperCity is a single mission for some people whereas mine is change, which could include amalgamation in any number of forms.
The people who talk to me about local government reform generally see a need for change….but a SuperCity might just be a bridge too far. Perhaps the biggest issue here is how the Local Government Commission responds to a Wellington-Wairarapa SuperCity proposal, and how they endeavour to temper their model to reflect the types of concerns that have particularly being coming through from the Wairarapa and the Hutt Valley, and which are also felt across many parts of Wellington City.
Of course, if we held off this mad rush for an Auckland style Super City, we could well negotiate a more customised solution with the Labour-Green Government in 2014 – a model that might better suit the Wellington-Wairarapa region.
So after a couple of years of discussion you want change… but you don’t know what that change should be, and any poll that supports a particular type of change should be taken with a grain of salt. But you also think the needed change is definitely not any option that is on currently the table…
Um. If this is the sort of decisiveness we can expect from a Shearer/Robertson/Norman/Turei administration then I wouldn’t hold your breath for any reform in the first term!!
How on earth do you decide what socks and tie combo to wear each day? Must be torture.
Very funny. I know what I want….but I do not presume that that is the same that the rest of the community wants. And, as a Labour Councillor, sometimes what I personally want is hardly the point.
What I would prefer to see is greater consolidation of regional functions in the Regional Council (including vertically integrated water supply, all transport and responsibility for economic development and regional promotion). But the Local Government Act does not provide for this.
I think that the three Wairarapa Councils combining as a single T/A is common sense, and any moves for T/A amalgamation in the Hutt Valley and between WCC and the Porirua should be welcomed. The Local Government Act does provide for this.
And actually no, for the vast bulk of the community we have actually done a very poor job at educating and consulting on potential options for change. Yes, there have been a lot of reports and noise, but the structural options really started flying around before the robust rationale…..and even that I would suggest, that the rationale is still being formed on the hoof – the same type of approach that led to the sale of Capital Power.
I have no difficulty choosing my clothes combinations in the morning thanks.
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