The North Island floods have caused me to sit and wonder whether or not large amalgamations are a good idea. I’m not sure the bringing together of all the Councils of Auckland served that community well or not, especially over a major event like they have experienced.
At one stage of my life I chaired the Metro Mayors. Making the Mayors of Auckland cooperate with each other was damn near impossible. The only Mayors interested in cooperating with the rest of us around the country were the Mayor of Waitakere and the Mayor of North Shore. I can see how the government got frustrated with them and forced a merger.
I’m not sure that was the correct answer.
A couple of weeks ago we had Penny Hulse from the Local Government review panel speaking to us. In a conversation before our event I asked Penny, who had been deputy Mayor of both Waitakere and later the amalgamated Auckland, whether the amalgamated city was prepared for the storms. Her answer was interesting. She said when weather events were predicted the staff at Waitakere knew exactly where the potential flooding could occur. They went and cleared the gutters and removed potential obstacles before the event.
That institutional memory appears now to have been lost. Those areas flooded and those with the knowledge have either gone or have been pushed down the council structure.
To reinforce the complexities of the city an effective PR campaign caused a non-leader to be elected as mayor who isn’t a public servant’s backside.
When I reflect on what magnificent jobs the mayors of many small districts during the recent storm I do remember the book which influenced my life “Small is Beautiful”.
When I read the attached article, my heart sank. There is little institutional memory present at CCC anymore. It’s unfortunately, “forgive them they know not what they do” territory. The “centralisation will sort everything out” mentality might work in the UK but I’m not convinced about it here.
There are models which promote collaboration. Somethings can be shared. Territory will have to be given up by staff in all three councils. At the end of the day local knowledge must be what drives local government. I support the Councillors who objected to the unitary authority for Christchurch.
My message to our city leaders is stop trying to expand and take over our neighbours. Abandon your take-over instincts and work on becoming a proper partner and collaborate. First focus on ensuring that CCC is running properly.
Hello Gary,
I agree with you entirely. I think Banks Penninsula joining the city was a very bad step. Our small communities are forced to join the one size fits all model of the city and feel quite remote from the people who make decisions about them.
The latest bad edict from the council was to get rid of our Reserve Management Committees.. In the case of the Lyttelton RMC 20 years of local management has gone down the drain. Gazetted Reserves that were under community management are now effectively under staff control and the people who know the land intimately have walked away. New advisory committees have been formed.
In this case the local knowledge has been over ridden by the EXPERTs who in my opinion know little.
I think the future of democracy lies in small local areas. You can hold people to account more and locals can have a more fulfilling role assisting their communities. I did so much community work for the former District Council because they valued me and visa versa.
That isn’t the case now and l think community and democracy are the losers.. In these years of turmoil closer trusting relationships with local government would be more unifying than what we have now. I submitted to the local government review expressing similar sentiments.
HI Wendy, rosemary here – I agree that community is key, that our democracy needs to be rebuilt from flax roots up. Do what can be done locally, work together and collaborate on bigger stuff. Not sure Banks Peninsula was viable as a full council, but our tendency to centralise has gone mad – centralising can work, as long as it is centralising with strong local input and communities.