Media Release

The Far North needs to take control of its own destiny by forming a unitary authority combining Northland Regional and Far North District Council functions, Far North Mayor Wayne Brown says.

His council is backing the move, voting unanimously to take steps to move toward a single authority for the Far North district. The council will now develop its case for the one council proposal, which it believes would have multiple benefits for the district and its ratepayers.

“It would get rid of an unnecessary layer of local government and simplify a structure that is confusing and hard for people to understand,” he said. “The fact is that many people have no idea what the regional council does.”

Mayor Brown said there was widespread public misunderstanding about the respective roles of the regional and district council and the district council was often held responsible for things that were not its responsibility. Since this was the case, it may as well take on the regional council’s responsibilities and be done with it.

“The regional council promotes itself as the environmental watchdog for the region and then spends ratepayers’ money on unrelated activities, like buying land for a rail corridor and investing in a Whangarei events centre, instead of attending to its core business,” he said.

“The Far North needs catchment management, not train sets and stadiums. We’d do a better job ourselves and that’s the point really. As mayor of this district, my sole focus is the Far North and I am committed to doing whatever it takes to help this district and its people prosper. A single tier of local government would be a good start in terms of achieving this goal.”

Mayor Brown said he enjoyed a good relationship with Whangarei Mayor Stan Semenoff but he favoured a unitary authority for the Far North ahead of a regional unitary authority incorporating Whangarei District Council as well.

“Whangarei is a city that looks south. We are a series of 19 rural towns with completely different priorities, scattered through a district so big it takes five hours to get from one end of it to another. It takes me longer to travel from my home in Mangonui to Whangarei than it takes for me to get from Whangarei to Auckland. These distances are not understood by the Government.”

Size was on the council’s side in terms of creating a single Far North council, however. The Far North district is about 50 per cent bigger than Gisborne, which has operated successfully as a unitary authority since the local government reforms of 1989.

Mayor Brown said the Far North landscape had changed dramatically since the Far North District Council was created in the local government reshuffle nearly 20 years ago, and it was time for a fresh look at the district’s governance needs.

“For example, Kaikohe was the major Far North town then; now it’s eclipsed by both Kerikeri and Kaitaia,” he said. “Our district is rapidly changing and with these changes come new challenges which the district council is at the heart of and therefore well placed to meet.

“The Far North would be best served by a single council solely dedicated to its welfare and this is what we will now work toward.”

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Page created/updated: 3 June, 2008

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