Forcing Ratepayers

I'm surprised there has not been more pushback from ratepayers over a Government threatening to force councils to amalgamate in some form or face the wrath of a Minister who is driven by some ideological dream that has convinced him that bigger is better and Central government knows better than the people on the ground.

It was telling this last week when a former  National Minister,  now Councillor , admitted that after supporting the Auckland Super Council he now sees it as a failure.

The touted savings never eventuated and in fact have increased by 25% and staff numbers keep growing.

This is what will happen around the country if the dictates of the current minister occur.  

Local Government is just that , local. That's the way it should stay . The bigger is better argument does not apply in this situation because of the roles of councils and the variation of situations throughout New Zealand.

The worst part of the equation is the elimination of Regional Councils.

The role of Regional Councils is critical in maintaining an infrastructure around catchments that has been only too critical in recent times. 

If they are absorbed in to unitary authorities the importance of regional issues such as pests, catchments ,water , air , TB, transport and others will be diminished by the urban clamour for dollars for never ending desires of never been in business busybodies who expand their expenditure like a ratepayer bungy .

There will also be small councils that are fiscally responsible and have little or no debt that will get swallowed up in the quest for council perfection.

That's without getting in to the ownership of assets like ports that were deliberately given to regional councils in the 1998 restructuring. 

That's another big argument.   

 An End to 2C

Those in category 2c following Gabrielle have had a long wait to finally see the tag removed.

It was like a mark on your life as though you had done something wrong. Now the work that is being done or will be done to theoretically make us safer has proven enough to authorities to shift us all back to the land of normal.

No one out there in wider society will have any idea about the effectiveness or not of a reaction that has cost millions in questionable expenditure.

It is amazing what can be done with modelling but all the modelling in the world will not replace accumulated  experience and logic of learned engineers and long term residents that  could have been instrumental in injecting solutions for the people that did not cost a fortune and maintained our  long term prospects.

It has been sad to see a community go from an area where it was sought after, a prime location, thriving,  productive and busy to a shadow of itself and now being eyed up by some who have no respect for the potential that still exists in the surrounding land.           

 Amalgamation Mess

The more examples of proposed  amalgamation plans that are gaining media attention , the more it explains the folly of the move to force local government to travel down a path no one really wants.

It is highly likely the wrong people are in charge of coming up with these plans in the first place and the politics behind the scenes must be extraordinary.

It really is a mess.

To solve a problem first one must understand what one is trying to solve. Local Government is a strange beast as there are so many variables in the best country in the world and trying to fit all these variables in to the same box is a task fraught with difficulty .

Aside from the complexity is the raft of legislation that dictates the course of local government .So many dictates that guide the people through their complicated lives.

Options appearing include total amalgamations, part amalgamations , unitary authorities, halving authorities and some saying no to any change.

I think this reflects the stupidity of government trying to force ratepayers into a corner. 

The problem with local government was never properly identified thus the dire situation we are in ow and it will get worse if there is follow through.

There was at least one Mayor or former Mayor who identified what were the problems and how to approach them.

Hooray.

We are going to end up with a terrible model of local government and at a time when water is being corporatised along with other major legislative changes the future is looking extremely challenging.       

 Reforms Agenda

What is the agenda of those pushing the RMA reforms?

The agenda is supposedly aimed at making Local Government more efficient , less costly to ratepayers and to have less regulation to allow more development.

During the week it was apparent again from the proponents  that they were working in this void where they were oblivious to historical events and as well they were deaf to any advice from experienced operators who understand the past performance of legislation and reasons why there were reactions and actions played out in case law and  events that had a shaped a path to deal with managing resources.

Young Ministers sit in the house and spout as though nothing significant  has happened historically in the area of responsibility.  

It is hard to comprehend.

Simon Upton had made some sensible comments in response to what is happening and the response from the Minister of unnecessary reforms was scathing in his put down of  a once respected Minister.

Around the country we have reports coming out with similar themes. Oh there will be savings by reducing the number of administrative staff . Millions and millions but surprise surprise the council activities will still be required and in no time a new setup will expand and we will be back to square one.

What will happen to democracy? 

New large authorities will be more distant from the ratepayers and there will be no more 'local' in local democracy.   

We are in for a rough ride in the next few years.

Authorities

They came and wrecked our houses

ripping them apart

tearing out the organs 

the kitchen , showers and bath.

Nothing stood in the way

It was a target

holding tight held no sway.

They could rip it from the hinges, rip it from the floor,

prise it from its brackets

going door to door.

It didn't take long

for the ghosts , unseen , to leave a shell.

An  unwelcome response, at a time of living hell.

Reinventing the Wheel

The ongoing discussions around a politicians dream are costing thousands of dollars and hours of time going around and around issues that have been before us not too long ago and bypassing solutions that astute observers are already aware of.

I have mentioned catchments previously and over the last week have listened to discussions by people that have finally discovered these things called catchments and that they are real and you can't divvy them up in some great deranged attempt at cutting costs foist upon us from bureaucrats and politicians that live in an alternative universe.

Catchments are the crutch of the issue and one of the main reasons that regional councils were formed.

To listen to a new raft of  parties trying to reinvent what we already have is frustrating and disappointing.

This is coming about because of the loss of institutional knowledge. Local government (and other bodies) have gone through a period where the experienced engineers, on the ground operators and a raft of  knowledge carrying staff were quietly moved on to retirement and other areas of endeavour.

The impact on this has been drastically underestimated as the new crew of know it alls have been left floundering and bereft of ideas when it comes to dealing with problems.

It was obvious following Gabrielle but three years down the track it is apparent that the whole country is suffering from knowledge neglect.

So we have commentators and even politicians discovering things like riparian planting and wilding pines as though they have just appeared out of the woodwork.

  Listening to a new crop of MP's in the house is concerning as many are young and have not had the benefit of working with experienced MP's and it shows in answers at question time. It's pretty sad.

I am hoping that there will be some changes after the election that will see wiser heads prevail but given some of the players involved  I am losing hope.

Ratepayers will be losers next year. 

    

Catchments Key

Perusing more reports from various regions  tackling the forced reforms I note a common theme that is not a surprise.

Historically New Zealand has always had a body responsible for catchments .It's not half obvious why given the last few years and the challenges thrown at the country by natural forces.

It is critical that NZ understands how important catchments are in the development of our regions as they have a major impact on water and it's path to the sea. Catchments  have been understood for many years but lately have not had the understanding of politicians or the community as they have become lost in the political desire to build flash facilities instead of  infrastructure that protects and provides.

The new crop of politicians are like Johnny come latelys with their approach to dealing with headaches such as why Local Government has become top heavy and dictatorial .

They need to look in the mirror and ask who created the problem.

Shucks I find myself agreeing with the latest from the NZ Initiative who have correctly identified the crux of the Local Government largesse.

A senior fellow with the NZI has said the current problem with local government is not too many councils but that too much power has been taken away from local communities and moved to central government .He says council staff have too much power and councillors are effectively rubber stamping decisions made by staff.

I have been saying for some time that central government is responsible for the increasing workload of councils and issues such as the climate scam have a band of merry advocates all around the country trying to change the temperature. The only temperature change is occurring to ratepayers that are paying for a dream.

Jones and Watts and Bishop have wrongly identified the reason why rates are forever rising and the rude attack on local government misses the target completely.

The worst part of the bullying is the forced removal of regional councillors. Regional councils are critical in regional responsibilities such as the control of rivers and water. Water allocation needs to be with a body separated from main users of the resource , urban populations.

It is a classic poacher game keeper situation but it is misunderstood by most ratepayers.

Proposals emerging to address the bullying see catchments split down the middle, boundaries being played with and representation  resets that will cause major problems in the future.

Hawkes Bay rural sector should be shaking in their gumboots if a Mayor of an urban area is in control of regional rural issues.

Leave the dam situation as it is and stop causing so much angst and cost to ratepayers.