Richard Steele
The government has given councils three months to come up with plans to amalgamate, or else.
The “or else’ is where the central government makes decisions for communities unable to come up with reasonable solutions.
Sounds all a bit big brotherish, doesn’t it? I’ve thought of little else since the proclamation was made – well meant, I’m sure , except there are too many unknowns, too many ifs and buts.
I’ve been thinking of the positives for the proposal and have been unable to come up with many. That there are too many councils is a given, there always have been, but that’s just evolution. There were too many dairy companies once. But as roads and transport systems improved, we needed less. Same with communications.
So you fix the “too many” problem by forcing them to join together with like-minded, similar adjacent communities, to drive efficiency. Don’t mention the Auckland super city as from where I sit it looks like the biggest muck up since Dunkirk.
From the outside looking in, the Auckland experience leaves a huge amount to be desired. Just this week they are talking of their new rail network costs being double what they should have been.
And therein lies the trouble. They have overspent by a quiet two or three billion dollars on their railway system into a deserted inner city. No heads will roll, nobody will be called to account, and the long-suffering tax and ratepayer, will as always, pick up the cost.
If you like me believe that big is not necessarily better, what are the real advantages here? Regional councils sounded like a good idea in 1987.
I see them as a failure, out of touch, moribund, too far away from the assets they were designed to protect, and more interested in empire building than looking after the environment.
District councils lack business acumen and seem to run on a model whereby prudence gives way to the effortless annual ability to raise the rates.
How does making councils amalgamate solve any of these problems?
In my lifetime I have seen the electricity network reformed – what a cock up. I’ve seen the health service decline so badly, where if you can afford to, you go private to save your life.
Councils have got so bad that not only is no one accountable, no one is checking that the infrastructure is being maintained.
Sixty per cent of Doc’s budget is spent in their head office, where there are no kiwi – birds that is.
I’ve never heard of the railways making a profit in 100 years, Landcorp have made a profit once in a 100 years.
So how can I get enthused when the Government wants to make every council it can bigger?
Auckland and Wellington councils pour sewage into the sea every time it rains, yet ratepayers in those cities have paid to have their services kept up to scratch.
And here’s a final burst. Every new council will need a new state of the art building.
