  |
Village news on the net
Write
to
 |
|
|
Handout at Puhoi Forum meeting regarding Auckland Supercity courtesy Werner Fischer, Puhoi Forum: Auckland Governance Reform Some facts and definitions The government is introducing three sets of legislation regarding the reorganisation of Auckland’s governance The first establishes both the Auckland Council and the Auckland Government Transition Agency as legal entities. (This legislation has already been passed.) The second enshrines the findings of the Auckland Governance Legislation Select Committee in law (i.e. number of council members and how they are elected, number and functions of Local Boards etc.) The third empowers the Local Government Commission to set the boundaries of the super city and of individual Local Wards taking into account the findings of the Select Committee. Auckland Government Transition Agency Established under urgency in Parliament. Charged with overseeing the existing local councils until an Auckland Council is established. Will constrain the decision making powers of the present councils and their subsidiaries until the changeover. The Authority reports to the Minister for Local Government, Rodney Hide. Auckland Governance Legislation Select Committee This is the Select Committee that we are asked to make our submissions to. Its membership consists of five National MPs, 3 Labour MPs, 1 Maori Party MP, 1 Green Party MP, and 1 ACT MP. Local Government Commission Will set the boundaries of the super city and of individual Local Wards. This will be Rodney District’s final chance to stay out of the super city (if it so wishes) by persuading the Commission to retain Auckland’s existing northern boundary. Regional Parks The Bio-Security part of Rodney’s ARC rates totals $576,000.- In return the ARC spends $1,403,000.- on pest control and regional parks in Rodney. All regional parks except one on the Kaipara Harbour and one on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula are in the Rodney’s Northern Ward. Submissions close on June 26 and can be sent to: E-mail: AGL@Parliament.govt.nz Post: Clerk of the Committee, Auckland Governance Legislation Select Committee, Select Committee Office, Freepost Parliament, Wellington Suggested format for a submission: For both e-mail and surface mail, head your submission To the Clerk of the Committee, Auckland Governance Legislation Select Committee Provide your name, your postal and e-mail addresses and your telephone no. State whether you want to appear in person before the committee. Provide a simple heading for each decision you want the committee to make (e.g. “I would like to see Rodney join the Northland Region”) and then provide reasons for your view (e.g. “This would be the most simple solution administratively”, “It would be the cheapest option for Rodney”, “The Northland Regional Council could assume responsibility for our Regional parks” etc., etc. ) Assume that your reader is not very interested in what you have to say. So, make what you’re driving at easy to grasp. Use a clear layout. Venue for hearings The Chairperson, Hon. John Carter, stated on 29 May 2009 that the “committee will spend a significant amount of time hearing submissions in Auckland”. There has so far been no announcement on precisely where the hearings will take place, other than this statement. Points to bear in mind before you decide There are three basic issues we need to consider when deciding which of the four options will be the best one for the village and for each of us personally: 1. What are the costs involved with each option. The administrative costs of changing from one local government body to another or of amalgamating the existing city and district councils into one super-city are likely to be huge. Central government is unlikely to come to the party. Will we have to foot the bills which the ARC paid thus far? Will we have to pay for reorganising and rebranding a local government body? What other administrative costs will arise? And above all - what are future rates likely to be for each option? 2. Which local authority will deliver the best governance to us Puhoi has fared extremely well in the past. Both the ARC and the RDC have been sympathetic to our needs (possum control, River Park, Vision Puhoi amongst others). We need to consider very carefully whether any local government authority we decide to go with will see our historic village as a special place and look after the village accordingly. 3. Quality of representation (the following applies only if we join Auckland) With only 20 councillors region-wide, Rodney will have only one representative. Current intentions are to have 6 councillors elected “at large”. This is dangerous. No-one knows what powers the “community boards” are going to have.
There has so far been no announcement on precisely where the hearings will take place, other than this statement. So far, the committee has not said whether it will hold additional hearings in Wellington. Kind regards Suze Submissions close on June 26 Rural merger with Kaipara a positive move, says analyst VillagePRESS Analyst states... Make
Waiwera River the northern boundary of the super city or lose heritage and
rural character
VillagePRESS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||