2018: Northland reorganisation

Jump to final development of the Northland reorganisation application

History of the reorganisation application

Receipt of application

In late 2012 the Far North District Council in association with a Far North District Local Government Working Group lodged a reorganisation application with the Local Government Commission. The application was for that council to become a unitary authority, a council with the powers of both a regional and district council.

The Commission decided that the applicant had supplied sufficient information for the application to be accepted and assessed. It also determined that the area, and its communities, affected by the application was the whole of the Northland Region.

Original Application: Northland Reorganisation - December 2012 (PDF, 0.9 MB)

Process stages

The Commission then went through the subsequent process stages:

• • Publicly notifying the application and calling for alternative applications
  • Assessing all of the alternative responses, the original application, the status quo and an option developed by the Commission against criteria in the statute in the process of selecting four reasonably practicable options to further consider
  • Assessing these four options against other statutory criteria to identify a preferred option. This preferred option was a single unitary authority in the region and the abolition of the four existing councils
  • Releasing a draft proposal based on the preferred option
  • Consulting on the draft proposal, receiving submissions and carrying out hearings
  • Continuing to consult statutory parties, analysing feedback and investigating existing local government arrangements
    
    

Decision not to proceed with unitary proposal

In June 2015 the Commission announced it would not proceed with a proposal for a unitary council in the Northland Region. It said it would return to the community and work with it to identify major challenges and the options for dealing with them.

On 9 June 2015 the Commission published a media release covering the amalgamation decisions of the Wellington Region and Northland reorganisations.

Media release: Amalgamation decisions - Wellington and Northland (9 June 2015)

The Commission considered the matters affecting existing local government arrangements in Northland were still ‘live issues’ and potentially continued to prevent the delivery of ‘good local government’. Its decision was therefore, in consultation with the affected councils and other statutory parties, to reconsider other options for change before coming to a final decision.  

The Commission's decision was to abandon its proposal to create a single unitary authority in the region because of a clear lack of “demonstrable community support” and instead return to review other possible options. The Commission said it had listened to the Northland community and responded accordingly

The Commission’s main reason to not release a final proposal at that stage and also not abandon the process at that stage was that the Commission felt that the trends affecting local government in Northland may not be best managed by the current arrangements and the Commission would like to explore other options before making a final decision. The Commission accepted that there was insufficient support for its draft proposal, but it had no other preferred option in mind at that stage. It wished to consult further with the affected councils and other statutory parties. 

Background document: Questions and answers on Wellington and Northland reorganisations (PDF, 114 KB)

Northland submissions and hearings

The Commission released its draft proposal for a single unitary authority 12 November 2013. The submission period closed 21 February 2014. Hearings were conducted throughout Northland in April of that year.

The Commission received a total of 1,894 submissions on the draft proposal. There was significant opposition to the draft proposal as shown below:

• • 142 (7.50%) supported the proposal to some degree, including one submission with a petition attached signed by 283 people
  • 1710 (90.28%) opposed the proposal, including 348 submissions on a standard form
  • 42 (2.22%) were neutral on the proposal or they focused on particular aspects and did not specify their overall position.
    
    

Those submissions able to be sourced to a particular district in the region were classified as the following:

*The percentages are based on the 1808 submissions that were from identifiable Northland districts. Those not listed in the table are either neutral and/or not able to be categorised by area or were from outside Northland. Note there were a number of organisations who submitted from outside Northland.

Analysis of submissions

Analysis of the submissions and the hearings that followed gave the key issues listed below:

• • Local democracy – concern was expressed that the proposal would result in the loss of local decision making and specifically that there were too few community representatives in the proposed unitary authority.
  • Costs and efficiencies – some submitters expressed a concern that the proposal would result in increasing costs and that there was no proof of efficiencies from amalgamation.
  • Size of the council – some submitters felt that smaller communities would be marginalised and region was too large to be governed by one council.  This view was heard most from Far North and west Kaipara submitters. Submitters from the Hokianga wanted local government in the region to revert to smaller entities similar to the pre 1989 county councils.
  • Community boards – most submitters opposed the use of community boards and either preferred local boards with more powers or wanted the draft proposal abandoned. The inability of a local board or community board to levy rates was cited as a significant reason to oppose changing the status quo. There was also comment on changes to boundaries so that they better reflected the communities of interest.
  • Māori representation – there were mixed views on this. Some opposed special treatment while some commented that they supported current Māori representation. Some Māori groups and individuals emphasised the importance of the Treaty and its principles (notably partnership) and wanted a stronger statutory basis for Māori to participate.
  • Debt and rating - Whangarei submitters in particular placed emphasis on the Kaipara debt situation and rating risks arising from the proposal, including the potential under a new authority for cross subsidisation to occur. There was discussion of the relative merits of capital versus land value rating. Concern was expressed at the inability of ratepayers on low incomes to pay more in rates. There was discussion of the current rates arrears in some council areas, particularly the Far North District.
  • Ring fencing of debt and assets – there was discussion as to whether ring-fencing of both debt and the income from assets in each area was realistic and questions as to how long a future council would be required to keep the ring-fencing in place.
  • Alternatives to a single council – some submitters suggested a transfer of functions
  • Status quo – a theme of the submissions was that there was nothing wrong with the status quo or that while it “wasn’t perfect” there was no need to change to the extent proposed.
  • Regional council – there was some support for the retention of the regional council given its independence and ability to monitor the environment and the district authorities.

Working with Northland councils: Milestones 2016-2017

While the Commission had decided not to proceed with the original reorganisation application, it did decide, however, to continue to work with the Northland councils to support their efforts to improve local governance and service delivery in the region and agreed it may in future issue further recommendations to the councils on how they might improve outcomes for their communities through better collaboration. The Commission noted it would do so under its general powers to consider and report on issues affecting local authorities and to promote good practice in local government.

The Commission agreed its further work should fit into the Northland councils’ existing strategic and shared services project. Councils would remain sponsors of the work streams, with the Commission looking to add value where it could. In this vein, the councils agreed to a four-waters (waste, storm, potable and flood management) study funded by the Commission, to arrive at a joint and agreed understanding of the state of the region’s, and each council’s, assets.

Milestones:

April 2016:

• A Memorandum of Understanding between the Commission and councils was agreed around how the parties would work together across the shared services area and the Commission’s reorganisation process.

September 2016: 

• Reports from consultants on the current state of water assets, covering drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and flood protection, and on the councils’ ICT architecture were presented to the Northland Chief Executives' Forum. 

October 2017:

• Local Government Commission decides to not issue a new draft reorganisation proposal bringing the formal reorganisation process to an end.

Formal closure of the Northland reorganisation application process

Having worked and liaised with Northland councils on shared services projects over the previous two years, the Local Government Commission decided in October 2017 not to issue a new draft reorganisation proposal for the region. While the Commission will continue to support councils’ efforts to develop such shared arrangements, this decision formally closed off the reorganisation process which started with the lodging of an application by the Far North District Council in December 2012.

Decision paper: Northland reorganisation deliberation (PDF, 188 KB)

Working with Northland councils: Recommendations

Commission's recommendations to Northland councils

While the formal reorganisation process had concluded the Commission continued to work with the Northland councils in support of their efforts to enhance regional collaboration and explore the development of shared services.

In May 2018 the Commission made a series of recommendations to the Northland councils.

Recommendations report: Enhancing Local Government in Northland (PDF, 321 KB)

Northland councils' response to recommendations

The four Northland councils responded to the Commission's report 'Enhancing Local Government for Northland' on 12 July 2018. 

Response: Northland councils' communication (PDF, 58 KB)