BREAKING NEWS: Auckland Commission report

The government has released the Auckland Commission report. Some ideas from my submission - like many other people's no doubt - have found there way into the report. There are many recommendations I agree with - but the detail and how it fits with other objectives is uncertain and problematic esp. elected representation and the local council roles. Other ideas, like keeping the Northern boundary, I have argued against. The Commissioners have seen it another way. Note the boundary change to the South to go all the way to the Waikato river.

From the recommendations:

Chapter 14: The Auckland Council: Key Features

14A A unitary authority, to be called the "Auckland Council", should be formed to assume all local government responsibilities in the Auckland region.

14B When the Auckland Council is established, the following existing local authorities should be abolished:

Rodney District Council
North Shore City Council
Waitakere City Council
Auckland City Council
Manukau City Council
Papakura District Council
Franklin District Council
Auckland Regional Council.

14C The Auckland Council should operate and have representation at two levels: the elected Auckland Council, and six local councils.

14D All local councils should be given Māori names. These should be determined by the Local Government Commission after consultation with mana whenua, with the new Māori names used by the Commission being the suggested starting point for consideration. The interim names of the six local councils should be

Rodney Local Council
Waitemata Local Council
Waitakere Local Council
Tāmaki-makau-rau Local Council
Manukau Local Council
Hunua Local Council.

14E The Auckland Council should comprise a single organisation, with a single staffing and management structure. The Auckland Council should employ one chief executive officer, who will employ all other council staff (but not staff of council-controlled organisations) at both Auckland and local levels, including local council managers for each local council.

14F Staff from the eight abolished councils should be transferred to the Auckland Council, at least initially.

14G Local councils should share the governance of their areas with the Auckland Council but will be subsidiary to it.

14H The Mayor of Auckland should preside over the Auckland Council. The Mayor should be elected at large by the electors of Auckland.

14I The Auckland Town Hall should be the symbolic centre for the Auckland Council.

14J When the Auckland Council is established, all existing community boards within the territories of the abolished local authorities, except for the Waiheke and Great Barrier Island Community Boards, should be abolished. A new City Centre and Waterfront Community Board should be established.

14K The assets and liabilities of abolished territorial authorities and of the Auckland Regional Council should be transferred to Auckland Council. However, a fair apportionment of the assets and liabilities of the Franklin District Council and Auckland Regional Council should be made between the Auckland Council, the Waikato District Council, and the Waikato Regional Council, to reflect the boundary changes proposed by the Commission; such apportionment to be made in accordance with the Local Government Act 2002, Schedule 3, clause 69.

14L All existing interests in council organisations, council-controlled organisations, and exempt organisations held by current councils should be transferred to the Auckland Council on the establishment date.
[...]
Chapter 15: The Elected Auckland Council

Composition, role, and functions

15A The Auckland Council should comprise 23 councillors elected or appointed as follows:

10 councillors elected at large
eight councillors elected in four urban wards
two councillors elected in two rural wards
two councillors elected at large by voters on the Māori electoral roll
one councillor appointed by the Mana Whenua Forum.

Well I am against the idea of using the Maori parliamentary roll, but in favour of the Mana Whenua representation, so this is a mixed bag. Mixed all-round. The important thing was not to have single member seats for the whole council - that has been done. 23 is a very manageable number on the council.

Relationship with local councils

15H The relationship between Auckland Council and each local council should be governed by a three-yearly governance agreement negotiated in the year following each local body election.

15I The Auckland Council’s annual report under the Local Government Act 2002 should include separate sections on the operations of the elected Auckland Council and each local council.

I advocated for the community boards to be in a situation of semi-autonomy under a unitary council - however this contract agreement is about dependence rather than co-operation from my reading - and it is for very large councils - the size we have now rather than the smaller units of communities I would have preferred.

Chapter 16: Local Councils

16A The membership of local councils (including chairs) should be as follows:

Rodney Local Council – 7 members
Waitemata Local Council – 15 members
Waitakere Local Council – 11 members
Tāmaki-makau-rau Local Council – 22 members
Manukau Local Council – 21 members
Hunua Local Council – 7 members.
16B Local councils should be elected by wards, with generally two members per ward.

16C The chair of each local council should be appointed by councillors. Upon appointment, the chair will cease to have any formal role as a representative of the ward from which he or she was elected; the next highest polling candidate in the same ward will be deemed to be elected as one of the ward’s representatives in place of the chair.

Without the ability to rate property and thus to determine and allocate - and be responsible for - their own budgets these local councils risk being ineffective. The buck can be passed upwards by them if they have no funding other than from Town Hall. That makes the local council's representatives relatively toothless.

As for a new Community Board for the city area - I agree one is needed - but the boundaries are all wrong - maybe they are going on watershed/catchment areas rather than actual communities - Parnell, Eden Terrace split in half, with Freemans Bay and St Mary's Bay split from Ponsonby.

Chapter 19: Leadership

19A The Mayor of Auckland should be given the following additional powers and duties:

a) power to appoint the deputy mayor

b) power to appoint the chairpersons of each committee of the Auckland Council (other than the local councils)

c) ex officio membership of each committee of the council (other than the local council committees), with power to chair committees as he or she may determine

d) power to propose the draft long-term council community plan and the draft annual plan to the Auckland Council

e) power to propose the budget

f) power to initiate and formulate major policy for consideration by council

g) in consultation with and acting through the chief executive officer, and within the adopted budget for such expenditure, power to establish and maintain an appropriately staffed office

h) within the adopted budget for such expenditure, power to obtain independent advice.

So proposals rather than executive power per se. Interesting - but not as strong as many would have hoped. It isn't too far removed from what we have already.

Rating

20C The Auckland Council should adopt a uniform rating system for the Auckland region, to meet city-wide and local funding needs.

20D The Auckland Council should levy a rate with the following components:

a) expenditure for activities undertaken by the Auckland Council

b) expenditure for local services and activities required for local councils to carry out their functions. This would be for the purpose of funding baseline levels of service and capital project delivery, and community representation/advocacy/place-shaping.

20E The Auckland Council should also consider levying targeted rates under the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 including targeted rates for local activities.

With regard to the local councils - as mentioned above - looks like they cannot set their own rates and will be entirely dependent on the whim of Town Hall who will "target" according to their agenda - not a local council's and the needs and desires of its community.

I will post again once I have digested the material further. How will Rodney Hide fit the Commssion's main course into his banquet of Nactional ideology? We ought to have some idea next week.

Here was the map for my submission: