16 July 2007

Urgent need for action over Auckland governance reforms

Manukau mayor Sir Barry Curtis says it’s clear there’s widespread agreement on the need for change on Auckland’s local government structure, and he is urging the Government to quickly bring about the changes necessary.

Manukau City Council is a long-time advocate for reform of local government in Auckland and for the past 12 months has been working with six other territorial local authorities, the Auckland Regional Council and the Government to create a new regional structure in the Auckland region.

A set of proposals has been presented to the Government. Sir Barry hopes that final decisions could be made and changes introduced in time for the local body elections in October.

“This is a vital issue for the progress of the Auckland region, and it’s time for the Government to push the “go” button.

“But I believe the proposals would be even better, and achieve more, if they also included changes such as shared services, and establishing new organisations to run services.

“One of the best ways of achieving the improvements and efficiencies we’re aiming for is by setting up arms-length Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) with their own boards to run services such as regional facilities, parks and an economic development agency.

“There’s also huge financial savings to be made by bringing in shared services, to reduce duplication. Auckland and Manukau City Councils are already investigating the possibility of having shared services, including valuation data bases, call centres and financial systems. I believe all councils in the region should be doing the same thing.

“I also strongly urge the government to support the obligatory funding of regional functions such as Tourism Auckland, and other functions which benefit the whole region, and not to leave them on a voluntarily funding basis.”

Sir Barry says he prefers a three-city structure for the region, but there are also benefits to be gained from having a one-city structure, so long as there is adequate democratic representation to represent communities at a local level.

ENDS

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