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Regional councils need to be “at the table” as local government models are finalised, Environment Canterbury chairperson says.
Last month, government announced the Head Start reform plans to create larger unitary councils would be put on hold until after the November election.
Eighteen proposals were submitted in August to form new unitary councils, with Canterbury’s 10 councils submitting five proposals between them.
The Government has confirmed regional councillors will not be elected at the 2028 local government elections.
Chairperson Dr Deon Swiggs said he welcomed the pause on local government reform, but called on the government to now engage with regional councils, which he said had largely been left out of the process.
Swiggs said the government “now recognised the hard design questions, including representation and how regional functions are transferred and delivered, are complex, and we need time to get it right”.
‘‘The risk of rushing has always been that functions like flood protection and freshwater management end up organised around political boundaries rather than the natural environment.
‘‘Our rivers, catchments, transport networks, natural hazards and ecosystems don't stop at council boundaries. Our thinking about how we manage them shouldn't either.’’
Swiggs said Environment Canterbury (ECan) staff had decades of institutional knowledge of working across the region, while the council has a strong relationship with Ngāi Tahu and Papatipu Rūnanga.
‘‘Successful regional functions depend on specialist capability, connected systems and decades of knowledge.’’
Former ECan chairperson Craig Pauling led discussions on local government at the regional council and the Canterbury Mayoral Forum last year.
He said local government played an important role and reform should not be rushed.
“Every council is trying to do the job that previous Governments have set for them and they are crucial jobs that need to done.
“I never got it (the Head Start pathway) and I always thought it was shortsighted.
“The Government should have done the work of looking at the best models for local government to fit our current and future needs in Aotearoa, and actually worked with communities on solutions, instead of painting councils as a problem.”
Instead, councils had spent ratepayer money doing the work themselves and now faced a rates cap, he said.
There were several ways of delivering regional functions, including central Government taking back some of those responsibilities, or shared service models.
The recent flood event in Kaikōura is an example where ECan could be left carrying the cost of river repairs.
“ECan has worked hard in the flood management space over the last few years and has applied to Government for assistance,” Pauling said.
“It used to be led by government. You can’t expect small communities to fund it, especially when there’s national infrastructure impacted like roads, telecommunications and other utilities.”
Pauling is standing for the Green Party in the November 7 general election.
