Councils present ‘Northland vision’ to government ministers

Northland’s four councils are working hand in hand to present a shared vision for the future of the region to central government.

During a meeting with the Minister of Local Government Simon Watts last Friday, CEOs, Mayors and Chair from Kaipara, Far North and Whangārei district councils and Northland Regional Council shared their preference for a proactive “by Northland, for Northland” approach to the many challenges facing local authorities.

Those challenges include major legislative reforms, the impacts of weather events and delivering affordable infrastructure and services to ratepayers.

Minister Watts heard that Northland councils are eager to engage together early with the government. The aim is to demonstrate that, as local leaders, they can be trusted to deliver solutions that work on the ground and pointed to successful joint responses to recent severe weather events, and the Local Water Done Well reforms. They said that these are examples of Northland councils getting ahead of the 'bow wave' of change by working effectively together.

“Te Tai Tokerau - Northland is mindful of the guiding principles and outcomes the government is seeking from its reforms. We support change, but we believe this must reflect Northland’s geography, our unique communities and iwi relationships. The focus must be on outcomes rather than structure,” says Far North Mayor and Chair of the Northland Mayoral Forum, Moko Tepania.

“We want to avoid a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to local government reform and are keen to start working with the government now on a collective response that works for our communities.”

Local Government Minister Simon Watts valued the opportunity to learn more about the vision that Northland’s four councils have for their region and praised them for showing initiative.

“These early conversations around the Government’s proposals show that regions are ready to lead. It’s exactly the type of joint thinking the reforms are intended to support,” said Minister Watts.

“Northland is demonstrating there is a real opportunity here for regions to chart their own path and start shaping practical solutions that work locally. I welcome the initiative shown by Northland’s councils and encourage other regions to follow their lead and start engaging around these issues early.

“As a government we are committed to working with local government to make it happen.”

The approach proposes partnering with the government and government agencies to ensure alignment across both central government and local government. The aim is to proactively lead local government reform in Northland. This will ensure that Northland, is well prepared and proactively advancing local government reform that best meets the needs of Northland communities.

District council mayors, the regional council chair, and chief executives from each council got the ball rolling on Thursday 5 February by hosting a ‘meet and greet’ event for ministers while they were in the North for Waitangi Day. The aim was to share views on legislative reforms, regional resilience, the planned Northland Expressway, energy resilience and much more.

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Photo: Hon Shane Reti, Hon Shane Jones, Mr Grant McCallum MP, Mayor Ken Couper, Hon Tama Potaka, Chair Pita Tipene, Hon Simon Watts, Mayor Jonathan Larsen, Mayor Moko Tepania.