Change needed but Simplifying Local Government proposal risky
Environment Southland strongly opposes the suggested timing of the Government’s Simplifying Local Government proposal and has serious concerns about several aspects of it.
In its submission, Environment Southland agrees that local government reform is needed to better integrate work and increase efficiency, but that the proposal undermines democratic legitimacy, underestimates the workload on mayors, dismisses the contribution of regionally elected councillors, and risks institutional instability.
Environment Southland Chair Jeremy McPhail said Southland’s four councils are currently engaged in a Local Government Commission review into a future structure for local government in the region and this needs to conclude first.
“This review is really important for setting up Southland for the future. We’re asking the Government to delay the implementation of its local government reform until the next election cycle so the findings can be taken into account.”
Chair McPhail said the Government’s expectation that the proposed interim Combined Territories Board would govern regional functions, without regional governance involvement, in addition to running local councils while wider local government reform is underway, with imposed financial constraints, is unrealistic and risky.
“Trying to implement all the reform changes at once will put huge pressure on local government and risk less-than-ideal implementation, when the aim is to do what’s best for Southland, and do it well.
“It’s hard to fathom why regional council governance expertise would be removed at a time of major natural resource management reform, when it’s needed most. If a Combined Territories Board is established, it should have the provision to appoint people with regional governance experience and knowledge to support the change.”
Chair McPhail said the Government’s proposal also weakens democratic legitimacy by removing elected regional representation and replacing it with potentially indirect, diluted, or discretionary forms of authority.
“Our submission is calling for ‘democratic legitimacy’ as a core principle of the reform.”
