Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Resources Minister Shane Jones have suggested regional councils could be abolished as part of the Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms.
Speaking at Wednesday’s (June 25) council meeting, Canterbury's regional council (ECan) chairperson Craig Pauling said the recent commentary was unhelpful.
‘‘There has been some discussion over the last week on scrapping regional councils, and I don’t think the conversation in the way it is happening is very helpful,’’ Mr Pauling said.
‘‘But it is a conversation which needs to happen and we have been doing it.
‘‘We agree the current structure and funding is unsustainable, but it is not simple and it is not just about scrapping regional councils and creating unitary authorities.
‘‘As a regional council, our job is to strike a balance between environmental and economic considerations, along side our treaty partners.’’
Mr Jones, a New Zealand First MP and Minister for Regional Development, repeated his warnings to Local Democracy Reporting this week that regional councils are on borrowed time.
"Regional councils in my view have reached a very low ebb."
With the abolition of the Resource Management Act, he said he believed regional councils did not have a future.
“Which is why after the next election there will be local government rationalisation and the very strong stance we’re taking is that there is no longer a purpose for regional councils."
With the RMA split into two new Acts, people working for Regional Councils would no doubt end up playing some kind of role in a reformed level of regional governance, the Minister said.
The Prime Minister has said there were too many layers of government and the question would be considered as part of the RMA reform.
There are 11 regional councils throughout New Zealand, which are tasked with managing natural resources such as land and water, supporting biodiversity, providing regional transport and building resilience to natural hazards and the effects of climate change.
In some parts of the country these roles are taken on by unitary authorities, which combine the functions of a local and a regional council.
Mr Pauling said debate around the role of regional councils is not new.
The Canterbury Mayoral Forum, which represents local mayors, has been exploring what the future of local government could look like and ECan has a workshop planned for next month.
‘‘There needs to be a partnership between local, regional and central government and we (ECan) are good at bringing people together.
‘‘If you are in Kaikōura, your main focus is Kaikōura, but at a regional level my focus is Canterbury.’’
A single regional plan has been signalled as part of the RMA reform.
ECan is already working on an integrated regional plan which would bring together seven regional plans, four river plans, the 10 District Plans and the various spatial plans developed by local councils.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has expressed support for establishing a unitary authority.
However, North Canterbury mayors Dan Gordon (Waimakariri), Marie Black (Hurunui) and Craig Mackle (Kaikōura) have previously expressed support for Environment Canterbury continuing to have its regionwide functions.
It is unclear how public transport and other Greater Christchurch issues would work, if the Christchurch City Council became a unitary authority.
The future of local government was the subject of a review led by former Waimakariri District Council chief executive Jim Palmer and presented to Government in 2023.
The panel proposed a greater role for regional councils.
Local Government New Zealand has also been pushing for changes.
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
