Nandor Tanczos

People keep asking how I’m finding it being mayor. As you can imagine, it’s been hectic.

I had a fair idea of what I was in for, but it’s definitely been a case of hitting the ground running. We’ve had a weighty induction schedule for the new council, plus a variety of mayoral activities and Christmas events.

We are almost at the end of the year, which is always a busy time as things wind up. (Thanks go out to staff who keep essential council services running while most of us are at the beach).

On top of that, the Government has recently dropped an avalanche of reform on local government which is taking a lot of my focus.

Most people agree that some change is overdue and what the Government is proposing is not all bad, but the timeframes are tight, the details are often fuzzy and there are some real barbs in there.

With some ridiculously short timeframes, I encourage everyone to speak up. We shouldn’t allow Wellington to dictate how local decisions get made, without having a say.

The “Simplifying Local Government” announcement has been touted as delivering the most significant changes to local government since 1989.  

Under this proposal the regional council would stay in place for now but the regional councillors would be replaced by the mayors from across the region sitting as a Combined Territories Board (in our spare time I guess).

These CTBs might or might not include independent commissioners, who might or might not have veto powers.

The CTB would also have a two-year deadline to design the future shape of local government in the region, which could include amalgamations, unitary authorities or other options.

The timeframe is unclear, with mixed signals about this coming from Wellington, but submissions close on 20 February.

So, there is lots of uncertainty - the batter is still raw in the middle of that particular biscuit. Still, it’s an opportunity for us all to have a think about what local government could look like, because whether under this government or the next, we can expect change.

There is a case for simplifying things.  Most people don’t understand what the different parts of local government do and it can lead to a lack of alignment across councils.

We do need to make sure that whatever we end up with has democratic representation, protects the environment and community values, and ensures tangata whenua participation.

Rates capping is another government announcement. Under this proposal annual rates increases would be limited from 2029 to a “target range” between 2 percent to 4 percent per year.

Councils wishing to exceed the cap would need approval from a central-government appointed regulator – and only in exceptional circumstances such as disaster response.  

It’s easy to see why this sounds attractive. People are hurting and double-digit annual rates increases are unsustainable, but it could backfire.

In Australia rates capping has led to underinvestment in core infrastructure with “variations” every few years to compensate, leading to massive rates spikes. It means that communities get very little say about what their councils do and at the end of the day councillors need to be accountable to our voters, not to Wellington.

The Resource Management Act (RMA) is being replaced by two bills – the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. This is not very different in principle from the reforms that the last Labour-led government introduced although some of the details differ. They centralise a lot of the planning functions, and remove several protections for things that our communities value. They also make councils potentially liable for compensation if rules protect things like sites of significance for Māori, “outstanding natural feature/landscapes” and places with high natural character.

Again, you can see the attraction. Everyone wants to do what they like on their own land. The problem is that people often don’t like their neighbours to have the same right.

A lot of the purpose of the reform is to support development and make it easier and cheaper for private landowners to do things.

That could be a good thing but it needs to be balanced. Savings to individuals at the cost of pushing those costs and compliance onto councils – which drives up rates. At the same time the government intends to cap those rates. The maths doesn’t add up.

The next column will be in 2026 – time flies. On behalf of councillors I’d like to wish residents, and visitors, a happy and safe holiday period.

Kia haumaru, kia hari ngā hararei.