9th June 2015

Rejection of two SuperCities calls for re-examination of Auckland.

[statement from David Thornton]

The back-down by the Local Government Commission [LGC] on a Wellington SuperCity is a significant victory for that region’s ratepayers.

Throughout the submission process it was quite clear that the perceived failure of Auckland to reduce bureaucracy, and hold down rates increases, had become decisive factors in the minds of Wellington ratepayers.

The Commission itself needs to re-examine its own biased approach to re-organisation now that SuperCity proposals for Northland have also been rejected by the local population, and Hawkes Bay ratepayers are deeply divided on wholesale amalgamation.

The level of dissatisfaction in Auckland can be heard almost daily on talkback and calls for de-amalgamation are bubbling away close to the surface.

Auckland’s big mistake was to take away almost all local decision making, and then embark on major projects, most of which were to benefit the city centre.

In the five years since amalgamation many of Auckland’s outer suburbs have been rated disproportionally to fund the costs of the city and Wellington ratepayers have seen a similar fate coming their way.

Rejections of the Wellington and Northland SuperCity proposal should be a clear pointer to the Local Government Commission to immediately undertake a complete review of the Auckland Council and give its ratepayers the opportunity to give their verdict on the first five years of SuperCity.

Ends

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