Category: Local Government
The admission that the Dunedin City Council is facing significant and long-term cost blow-outs over their new $230 million covered stadium should serve as a stark reminder that in local government bigger is not always better.
Auckland’s unfortunate political experiment in having an Independent Maori Statutory Board is being held up as a model for the rest of New Zealand’s fragmented local bodies considering amalgamation into unitary authorities.
Last week New Zealanders saw yet another example of minor parliamentary parties, that secure only a fraction of the vote in a general election, having disproportionate power under MMP. In such circumstances, instead of proportional representation, which advocates of MMP argue is a cornerstone value, the system serves up disproportional representation and policy compromise.
One knows all is not well within local government when a council makes national news for something as trivial as a road sign. Here’s some of the background. In 2005 a local business person placed a sign (no larger than an election hoarding) on an existing frame on private property set well into a paddock some 30 metres from a local road.
Over the weekend, Prime Minister John Key announced a new tranche of reforms for the Resource Management Act: “New Zealand needs planning law that enables economic growth and jobs, as well as providing strong environmental outcomes. The changes we are introducing are about striking that balance between our environmental responsibilities and our economic opportunities.
Auckland City’s draft Unitary Plan (UP) juggernaut has been forced to swerve this month. Maximum permitted height limitations proposed for buildings in Panmure, Onehunga and Pakuranga were lowered after concerted agitation by local residents. Much more needs to be done yet, not least because the UP has widespread ramifications for New Zealand’s economic performance.
The political panic over falling rates of home ownership is based on figures that cannot be relied upon, with home ownership rates probably not in decline at all. The concerns over housing affordability are concentrated in just a few centres around the country, where population increases have outpaced the building of new houses.
The deadline for feedback on the draft Auckland Unitary Plan closed on Friday, 31 May. Assuming Aucklanders can navigate their way around the council’s Unitary Plan website and delve into its labyrinthine text and maps successfully, they will discover many hidden marvels such as the raft of policies that racially privilege Maori over all other Auckland residents.
A World Bank Report published in 1998 ranked New Zealand second in terms of ‘natural capital, behind Saudi Arabia. However, while we have a wealth of land, minerals, water, and good clean air, our bureaucratic planning and resource management laws have hindered New Zealand’s ability to use many of those resources effectively. The well-being of our communities has suffered as a result.
Housing affordability is shaping up as a defining political issue - probably an election issue in 2014. The problem is that housing costs in Auckland in particular are rising so rapidly that many low income families are being locked out of home ownership. While the reasons are complex, a major burden of the responsibility must lie with central government.
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