Forum organiser Margaret Evans, left, with panellists Mary Anne Gill, Warren Maher and John Robertson.
John Robertson
For all the debate about council structures, one word keeps resurfacing: localism.
That was the clear message from a public forum at Waikato University on the Government’s Head Start proposals. Structure matters less than people’s ability to have a say in what happens where they live.
Waitomo mayor John Robertson described the process as difficult and rushed. He said many councils were struggling to determine what future arrangements should look like before they even knew how wider government reforms, particularly around resource management, would affect their responsibilities.
