Canterbury mayors brace for plan to scrap regional councils

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon. PHOTO: JONATHAN LEASK/LDR

By Jonathan Leask, Local democracy reporter

Canterbury mayors have "a lot to digest" in the proposal to scrap regional councils.

District council leaders are processing the potential impacts of a Government proposal announced on Tuesday to replace elected regional councillors with interim governing bodies, comprising the region’s mayors.

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon described it as "a bold shift".

"I’m working through what this looks like for Selwyn," she said.

"Right now, my focus is simple - that local voice must not be diluted, people’s needs must stay front and centre, and any new model must genuinely improve outcomes, not just restructure for the sake of it."

She said the big questions will be how councils look to share the regional functions - such as emergency management, river management, public transport and resource consenting - to find efficiency and what the potential cost implications will be.

Ashburton Mayor Liz McMillan

said there "is a lot of information to digest" in the Government proposal.

"We’re going to take time to understand the proposed changes and what they mean for our district," McMillan said.

Ashburton Mayor Liz McMillan. PHOTO: JONATHAN LEASK

"In the end, we want what is best for our district and key to that is improving efficiencies and being responsive to local needs.

"I’m looking forward to catching up with other Canterbury mayors to hear their views and discuss the best way ahead.

"We already have a good regional relationship with them through the Canterbury Mayoral Forum."

The forum is set to meet for the first time in the new council term this week, and the Government’s proposed shake-up will now be the big topic.

Environment Canterbury chairperson Dr Deon Swiggs said the

proposed changes will reshape how Canterbury manages

its environment, economy, and community resilience for decades to come.

With the Government signalling changes, ECan has been working on different governance models.

What the Government has proposed is "not unlike some of the options we had put forward, but this is not the way we would have gone about (it)".

Swiggs believes "regional decisions need regional accountability".

"They work best when made by people elected by and accountable to the whole region, not committees primarily representing individual districts.

"I'm committed to working constructively with Government on reforms that deliver better outcomes."

ECan will take the time to understand what the proposals mean, assessing the impact on their communities and Treaty partners, Swiggs said.

They expect to outline their position in the coming weeks while keeping their focus on delivery, he said.

"My concern is what happens to the services and functions of the regional council in the interim?"

There were no plans to change staffing levels at ECan in the meantime, as "the work our staff do still needs to be done".

Consultation on the proposed restructure closes on February 20.

A final proposal will be confirmed by March so legislation can be drafted.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air