2 April 2009

Yesterday six Auckland councils, including their mayors, met to share their real concerns over the Royal Commission recommendations, and to provide some constructive feedback to Government prior to the Cabinet meeting this Monday.

They were North Shore City, Waitakere City, Manukau City, Rodney District, Franklin District and Papakura District.
The meeting was chaired by me, Penny Hulse, supported by Deputy Mayor Julia Parfitt, North Shore City Council.

A communiqué, sent to the Government this morning, provides joint feedback from us on the Royal Commission's report, highlighting some priority issues that we believe need further consideration.

They include:

• Concerns about representation and accountability
• The significant costs of reform
• Public ownership of water assets
• Management of other community-owned assets
• Council-controlled organisations
• Rural issues
• Social development.

Essentially we believe the Commission’s recommendations centralise power and funding too much. In short, it’s a recipe for power, not unity. We want to help the Government fix that imbalance and keep the local in local government. We don’t want to lose local democracy in the reform process

There is a genuine willingness to work closely with the Government and sort out the real problems that face Auckland. We don’t want to destroy the many gains that local government has made over the last 20 years across the region.

Click Here To Read Their Letter To Rodney Hide: PDF

ENDS

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