Far North unitary authority bid
A few brief comments from Northland Regional Council Chairman Craig Brown in the wake of confirmation the Local
Government Commission is to consider the Far North District Council’s application for unitary authority status:
• The Northland Regional Council is pleased that from this point on, the Far North District Council proposal will
be overseen by an independent body. We look forward to the commission’s investigations/findings and will assist it in
any way we can on behalf of ratepayers.
• We’re pleased the Commission has recognised the implications the Far North’s proposal would also have on the
Whangarei and Kaipara District Councils, the Northland Regional Council and their respective ratepayers.
• With that in mind (and while willing to work co-operatively with the Local Government Commission as it processes
the FNDC application), the Northland Regional Council intends to continue with plans announced late last year to embark
shortly on a broader fact-finding exercise to see what form the public thinks local government in the wider Northland
region should take. Once again, we will reserve our collective judgement until those views are known. We also note a
potential opportunity exists to undertake this important consultation collaboratively with both our Whangarei and
Kaipara District Council counterparts.
• The Northland Regional Council’s position for a number of years now has been that any local government reform in
Northland should be driven by Northlanders themselves and that any moves by Northland’s local authorities to implement
change/s in this regard should be done collaboratively and with the full engagement of the many communities which make
up our region. We believe any change that provides more effective local government for ALL our ratepayers would be
welcomed.
ends