PM considering 'Super Auckland' report

Friday, 27 March 2009

The Government is considering its position on today's recommendation to form a 'super Auckland' with one all-powerful mayor, Prime Minister John Key says.

In its long-awaited report, the Royal Commission on Auckland governance proposed scrapping the Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities serving Auckland and called for the establishment of a single unitary authority called the Auckland Council.

For the first time, a single mayor will preside over the entire city - and they will have powers greater than those currently allowed.

Mr Key said the Royal Commission report was very detailed, including 2500 submissions.

'The Government is now going to go away and consider its position … and give Aucklanders a bit of time to digest its findings.'

Mr Key has not given any hint as to whether he endorses the report. A formal response - after the Prime Minister and a team of MPs and officials considers the report - is expected within two weeks.

The Royal Commission says the transformation of Auckland's councils should be done within 18 months to meet a deadline of October, 2010, when new elections will be held. However, despite the emphatic recommendation, the final decision still rests with the Government.

In its recommendation, the Commission is pegging its hopes on an 'inspirational leader, inclusive in approach and decisive in action' filling the Lord Mayor type role. It says their new powers will include the ability to appoint their deputy and committee chairpersons, propose budgets and initiate policy and establish and maintain an appropriately staffed mayoral office.

The new Council would have all the powers and responsibilities of a regional council and territorial authority across the region, including the sole ability to set rates, their report says.

'There will be one-long term council community plan, one spatial plan, one district plan, one rating system, one rates bill, oine voice for Auckland,' the report says.

Six elected local councils would operate underneath the new super city umbrella, but would operate in a way not seen before - providing services and acting as an advocate for residents, ratepayers and their communities while lacking the general powers held by local authorities elsewhere.

A shake-up of Auckland boundaries is also proposed; while those in the north and Hauraki gulf will stay the same, Franklin will be shifted into Waikato,  while Tuakau, Pokeno and Mercer will be shifted out of Waikato and brought under the Auckland super city umbrella.

In its report, the Royal Commission says Auckland needs a single, region-wide unitary authority for strong and effective Auckland governance and to overcome fragmentation and coordination problems.

The three commissioners, David Shand, Peter Salmon and Dame Margaret Bazley spent more than 16 months hearing submissions and pulling together the report released today – an epic 3,200 pages long.

Becoming a super city will make Auckland the biggest singe municipal city in Australia and New Zealand, just ahead of Brisbane with 1.2 million people.

It will stretch more than 100km from Papakura in the south to Wellsford in the north, taking in a population of around 1.4 million.

Greater Auckland currently has four city councils, three district councils, one regional council and community boards. The councils  are:  the ARC, Auckland City, Manukau City, Waitakere City, North Shore City, Rodney District, Papakura District and Franklin District.

Together those councils employ more than 6000 full-time staff.

RATES

Perhaps the most important change of all is the proposed new system for levying rates.

The Royal Commission has recommended the new Auckland Council be given the right to set and collect rates for the entire region.

This means residents of the Auckland region will no longer receive two rates bills - one from the Auckland Regional Council and one from their local council.

'The Auckland Council will also provide administrative services for itself and local councils for all back-office functions, including setting and collecting rates, accounting, treasury, asset management and other financial functions, human resources, payroll, and computer systems.'

Further, Watercare - Auckland's water management body - will become the central authority over the management and levying of water for the region, replacing each local system currently in place.

RUGBY, BROADBAND TOP ECONOMIC PRIORITIES

The Royal Commission says a special Auckland Committee of Cabinet needs to be created and a new Minister of Auckland named.

'The Commission wishes to highlight two areas for immediate action'.

The first is the 2011 Rugby World Cup to 'maximise its long-term legacy benefits'.

It also wants ultrafast broadband quickly for the Auckland region.

PRAISE FROM AUCKLAND CITY MAYOR

Auckland City mayor John Banks is very complimentary of the report, saying the commissioners' plans were 90 percent in line with what he himself was advocating for and were 'sound, sensible, worthwhile and visionary'.

'I am quietly optimistic we now have the architecture to redesign Auckland so we can lift it back up into the top half of the OECD,' he said.

He was particularly pleased that the powers given to the new mayor of the greater Auckland council would be executive, meaning the mayor would have more say in how the city was run. 

Commenting on the increased power of the new mayoralty, and the position's ability to propose councillors and budgets, Banks said since the mayor was responsible for decisions taken by local authorities it was fair for mayors to have more say.

'Having said that, you'd have to be crazy to step outside the consensus process of other elected members and take decisions on your own.'

In response to speculation over his application for the new executive position, Banks remained coy.

'This is about New Zealand, its about lifting Auckland's game, it's about singing from the same song-sheet and the same tune, and if I got the opportunity to be that conductor, well, that would be something very challenging indeed.'

MANUKAU MAYOR DISAPPOINTED

Manukau's Mayor Len Brown expressed disappointment at the Royal Commission.

Its recommendations meant it was 'taking away the control of local councils to provide for local communities,' Mr Brown said.

 'We can only hope that the government realises that these recommendations may not be in the best interest of the people who live in this region, and does not adopt them without sufficient input from local councils or reflect the diverse needs of our residents.'

Mr Brown says Manukau will take time to analyse the commission's significant recommendations and changes and feedback its response to the government.

'There is no doubt there is a mood for change, but we have got to get this right,' he says.

'The Auckland region is the powerhouse of New Zealand and if we get it wrong, then the national economy could suffer as a result.'

**WAITAKERE MAYOR IN TWO MINDS

**

Waitakere mayor Bob Harvey was in two minds about the report, saying on the one hand he was not wildly enthusiastic about the changes, but was happy his city would retain its name and area.

'I'm not disappointed.  I think in many ways Waitakere is a winner in this, and the Commissioner Peter Salmon pays a great tribute to Waitakere and the Waitakere way remains very strong,' said Harvey.

'I don't know if we feel good about this, but hey, I'm sure we don't feel as bad as some of the others here,' he added, referring to the major changes that have been slated for Manukau and Auckland.

HUGE ASSET BASE

An Auckland super city will have a bigger asset base than Fonterra and Telecom combined.

Figures from the councils' 2008 annual reports show the combined the seven councils (we exclude Franklin since it is being chopped in two) control about $28 billion worth of assets.

That compares to the $26.1 billion worth of assets of dairy giant Fonterra and Telecom combined.

But the Auckland super city plan has been criticised by experts, who say it risks creating a bureaucratic black hole.

In a cover story in Unlimited magazine to be published on Monday, the Super city concept is panned by a group of experts as all but unworkable.

John Robertson, the former mayor of Papakura and now Dean of the Faculty of Business at Manukau Institute of Technology, is quoted as saying: 'The super city implies a huge bureaucracy.'

And that implies increased inefficiency, not improvements, he says.

Also lining up with criticisms in Unlimited are Peter McKinlay, director of the Local Government Centre at AUT University and Phil McDermott, adjunct professor with the Institute of Public Policy.

McDermott says a Super city will have too many layers of management.

Unlimited has also identified the New Zealand Public Service Association, the trade union representing the staff of the existing councils, as a major stumbling block to a Super city – the intention of a Super city would be to make savings by reducing staff, but the PSA would campaign to keep all staff.

TIMELINE TO TRANSITION

The Royal Commision report says the anticipated 18-month time frame for the establishment of the new super Auckland council is ambitious but achievable.

'The deadline of October 2010 must be met. The main advantages of achieving reform over this time frame will be to maintain focus and momentum for change. Existing council staff will be concerned about their future,' the report says.

'The public will want to know that council services will continue to be provided at usual locations and that democratic processes are to be maintained. For these reasons, it is essential that the whole process is well managed and the transition work gets under way quickly.'

- By TRACY WATKINS, MICHAEL FIELD and ADRIAN CHANG