Misunderstood Local Government

Applause from the expensive seats is reverberating around social media. Yeah. Do away with Regional Councils. Yeah, get rid of all Councils. Let's stop paying so many councillors fat salaries for doing nothing.

Maybe it's my nature but as an elected councillor  and a thinker I wanted to learn about the role and functions of a council and I took my role as a representative of my constituents seriously.

I was given a copy of the Local Government Act and the Resource Management Act from the start and must say it was a shock to the system. What do I do now?

On reflection it was a great move by the CE.I doubt many elected members these days even look at the legislation that dictates what they do.

Also being involved with many hearings involving aspects of the regions resources soon explained the value of a grasp of the law. Local Government is a creature of legislation.

So it was good to see one respected commentator write a column that in effect agreed with my assessment of the amalgamation question and also identify the root cause of the excessive rates problem.

Those who think Councils should disappear are shallow thinking, superficial, probably dominant types who lack depth in life.

Don't get me wrong about rates. I hate rates. Trouble is society has to operate and we need someone to collect the rubbish and fix potholes.

What has happened over a number of years is nothing to do with the number of councils or councillors it is more to do with the legislation and the expansion of local government into areas it should have nothing to do with. It is mainly the Territorial Authorities that have made use of the law to go on spending sprees and throw ratepayers money around like there is no tomorrow. It is mainly the TA's that have become the go to for all and sundry for funding of a plethora of projects.

Another massive impost has been (Central Government imposed and endorsed) climate departments that should never exist but model on forever and think they can change the temperature in Timbuktu. 

LG has grown into a monster and Central Government have been responsible for this happening.

I will tackle the role of Regional Councils separately because of their importance.

Changing the LG legislation to better prescribe the role of councils would be far better than creating a bigger monster that will eventuate from the proposed, forced shakeup.