Cr Michael Laws, who has been on the Otago Regional Council since 2016, said there would be an announcement from the government, probably today, that would spell the end of the country’s 11 regional councils.
Prime Minister Chris Luxon said on Sunday that there was ‘‘no doubt about it, there is going to be a shake-up in local government as well [as Resource Management Act reform]’’.
When asked for comment on regional councils being shut down, Minister of Infrastructure and RMA Reform Chris Bishop said yesterday people would have to wait and see.
But Cr Laws was adamant the regional councils were going out of business.
‘‘As a result of the resource management law reforms — there are 11 regional councils — these will probably be the last regional councils that will exist,’’ he said.
‘‘All the leadership of all the regional councils in New Zealand know it’s due as well.
‘‘Regional councils are a tier of government this country does not need. And they have covered themselves with inefficiency, with an inability to make a difference.
‘‘There won’t be too many people lamenting the end of regional councils.’’
He said much of the work done by regional councils would be picked up by district and city councils.
‘‘They have brought this end, because of their uselessness, upon themselves.’’
Cr Laws said the government would be much more involved in environmental standards and there would be fewer plans.
Cr Laws was putting a notice of motion to the council meeting tomorrow to seek a working group on the strategic directions of the council.
He said the directions were set up by a left-leaning council, but he wanted to return them to a more straightforward and simple strategy — getting value for money for the ratepayer and improvement for the environment.
‘‘But they will be a moot point as councils will be out of existence in a couple of years.’’
Council chairwoman Hilary Calvert said that, reading the tea leaves, the government might look at taking some things away from regional councils, but she could not speculate on what exactly would happen.
With a stroke of a pen, some duties looked after by a regional council could be passed on to other territorial authorities.
The public transport system in Dunedin and Queenstown was one obvious example of that.
She said the government was looking at a rates cap and would be worried about rates rises.
The council was in the process of finishing its new building in Maclaggan St, constructed at a cost of $45 million, and council staff were expected to move in early next year.
Cr Calvert declined to comment yesterday on the building.
Dunedin MP and Labour environment and RMA spokeswoman Rachel Brooking said the loss of regional councils would be an enormous change for the government to enact.
Regional councils looked after water and air quality and there was a lot of pressure coming on to those sectors. It was not an easy job, she said.
She said most people were not hugely interested in air and water quality, but it was very important.
Waikato Regional Council chairman Warren Maher said he was also expecting an announcement today and was apprehensive about what would be revealed.
‘‘Oh look, I think it’s a shame, you know.
‘‘For one, it’s going to affect jobs without a doubt if we do go completely,’’ Cr Maher said.
‘‘Two, I just can’t see how they’re going to work the mechanics behind it.
‘‘If you’re going to push stuff down into district councils then you’ve got to resource them.
‘‘So what does that look like? How are they going to get that overview? Quite often the best regions aren’t always what comes out of Wellington.’’
NZ First MP and Minister of Regional Development Shane Jones said in June he doubted regional councils had a future.
Mr Jones told a Local Government New Zealand conference there was ‘‘less and less of justifiable purpose maintaining regional government’’.
‘‘After the upcoming changes to the RMA, I doubt — well, certainly in the party I belong to — that there’s going to be a compelling case for regional government to continue to exist.’’
