NSCC oral submission presented to select committee today

The submission and survey report are available - along with background information - on www.northshorecity.govt.nz

13 July 2009

Strong local political representation, all councillors on the new Auckland Council to be elected by wards, and no asset sales were the main themes of the North Shore City Council submission to the Auckland governance select committee today.

Mayor Andrew Williams told the committee that North Shore ratepayers had made it very clear that they did not want vital services such as water supply privatised as a result of the Government-driven amalgamation of eight Auckland councils.

Over the past two weeks, the North Shore City Council’s Colmar Brunton survey has asked the opinions of 800 ratepayers spread evenly across the North Shore.

The council commissioned the survey to gauge and quantify public opinion in preparation for the presentation of the council submission.

The survey showed that 89% of North Shore ratepayers supported continued public ownership of water supplies.

When respondents were asked about the political structure of the new Auckland Council, 80% wanted all councillors to be elected by ward rather than at large.

A substantial 81% believed that the new Auckland Council should focus on Auckland-wide issues, leaving the Local Boards to make important decisions at community level.

The survey results, said Mayor Williams, are clearly aligned with the council’s submission, and reflect the views already expressed by the community in public meetings.

“In our written submission, we emphasised that all 20 Auckland Councillors should be elected by wards, that local community councils should be bulk funded and have real powers, clearly defined in law. We also said that publicly owned assets should not be sold.”

The North Shore City Council also told the select committee that the proposed powers of the Mayor of the new Auckland Council should be reduced, and asked that the Government review its position on Maori representation in the new council.

Mayor Williams said that the survey results showed that the views on the formation of the new Auckland Council were polarised, with 14% strongly in favour and 14% strongly opposed. Overall, 47% were in favour of the new council and 36% opposed. Sixteen percent had no opinion.

Overall, respondents raised concerns about a number of issues. The most common themes were a loss of local identity and influence, the speed of change and lack of consultation, and the risk of increased costs under the new structure.

Those who supported the reforms said that it was time for a change and many said that they expected faster and better decision-making processes as a result.

Mayor Williams said that the survey of 800 North Shore ratepayers was undertaken because his council wanted an unbiased assessment of the views of the community.

“Since the Government plan for Auckland was announced, our councillors and staff have actively sought the community’s views, attending meetings and listening to public opinion through personal conversations, and through the news media.

“We also went through a wide public consultation process when we prepared the original submission to the Royal Commission in 2007/2008

“We felt that we had enough understanding of the community’s views to be able to prepare our recent submission to the select committee, but the survey enabled us to quantify public opinion in a way which we had not previously been able to do.

“As a result, when we spoke to the select committee today, we were confident in the knowledge that our council was presenting the views of the majority of our ratepayers and that it offers realistic and practical recommendations for the Select Committee to consider.”

ENDS

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