Mayor's message to Kaipara

Kaipara could be controlled by politicians in Whangarei if ratepayers don’t lobby its council to join a debate about the future of local government in Northland, Far North Mayor Wayne Brown says.

Mr Brown says there is a risk that the new government in November will look at restructuring local government to reduce bureaucracy and save money.

“The government was talking consolidation before it got tangled up in the Auckland super city.

“I would say that the local government minister will want to do something straight after the election.”

There is a chance the minister will consider a one-council model for Northland unless the region’s district councils propose an alternative first.

“The easiest thing will be for them to say, ‘why don’t we reduce a layer of government, because everyone says there are too many layers of government’.”

Mr Brown says replacing Northland’s four councils with one unitary authority headquartered in Whangarei would be as disastrous for Kaipara as it would be for the Far North.

“Dargaville would just become a forgotten satellite of Whangarei.”

He and acting Whangarei Mayor Phil Halse believe that Northlanders would be better-served if their councils were given the powers and resources of the Northland Regional Council.

“We are busy saying we want to have two unitary authorities up here.”

Kaipara District Council needs to think about where it would fit into this governance model, given that its population of 18,132 is short of the 50,000 needed for it to become a unitary authority.

“They thought if they combined with Rodney they would be big enough to be a unitary authority, but that didn’t happen because Rodney became part of Auckland.”

Merging Kaipara with the Far North would give a combined population of about 74,000 to Whangarei’s 74,430 and create two demographically balanced districts that could be served by two unitary authorities.

“It makes sense for the people of Mangawhai to join Auckland or Whangarei and the Dargaville people to join Whangarei or us.”

Mr Brown says he isn’t seeking to increase his council’s territory, but people in the Dargaville area may decide they would be better off being part of a mainly rural district.

“Whangarei thinks like a city and looks to Auckland. We think like three regional towns but we could easily be four regional towns.”

Mr Brown has a good relationship with Kaipara Mayor Neil Tiller, but is disappointed that Mr Tiller’s council isn’t taking steps to safeguard local government services and political representation in Kaipara against an uncertain future.

“They need to be having a debate with their people, but they’re not.”

He wants Kaipara ratepayers and politicians to start talking about what governance model would suit their needs.

“They can do nothing and wake up one day and read in The Herald that they’re part of Whangarei or they can start having a debate about what is best for Kaipara.”