Regional councils replaced by boards of mayors in radical Government push

Tuesday, 25 November 2025

Regional councils are to be scrapped and replaced with boards made up of local mayors under a radical new proposal from the Government.

This would change who makes decisions on public transport, the environment, emergency management, managing assets, rivers, lakes, the coastal marine area, air quality and implementing Treaty settlement commitments - responsibilities which generally sit with regional councils now.

The changes, announced by RMA Minister Chris Bishop and local government Minister Simon Watts on Tuesday, would be the biggest reform to local government in decades, and would open the way to more councils amalgamating into unitary authorities - as Auckland did in the 2000s.

The changes were first reported in The Post on Tuesday morning ahead of the official announcement.

The proposal is not final and could shift ahead of final implementation in 2027, but has been agreed to by the Government.

Regional councils would be replaced with 11 Combined Territories Boards made up of the mayors of those cities.

Mayors would have their votes weighted to population somewhat, so that the mayors of larger cities would have more power than their fellow mayors of small towns. But some protection would be built in for small towns to make sure large city mayors didn’t dominate - meaning voters in small towns would have more power than those in large cities.

The legislation would likely not be passed before the election and changes would not take place until 2027, alongside the resource management reform.

Bishop said there was a “strong lobby” for more unitary authorities to emerge under the reforms, reflecting the Government’s greater drive to amalgamate councils.

The changes could see a Crown observer have complete control over local decision making, with one of the options giving power to the Crown to override decisions made by the board.

Bishop said there was no guarantee regional councillors would keep their jobs for the entirety of their elected term.

System ‘tangled in duplication’

Bishop said the Government’s push to change the system was driven by a lower voter turnout, and the belief that New Zealanders had lost faith in local government.

“Right now, the system is tangled in duplication, disagreements and decisions that defy common sense,” Bishop said.

He said the system was out of date and “heaving under its own weight … It's confusing and duplicative, costing ratepayers too much, too often”.

Boards would be required to develop regional plans against a Government criteria within two years of being established. The plans would be approved by the Local Government Minister and informed by public consultation, with an aim to lower rates.

“They must support national priorities like housing and infrastructure, offer financially responsible arrangements that keeps rates manageable and deliver better services at lower cost,” Watts said.

There would be no iwi representation on the board but any commitments established as part of a Treaty settlement would remain in place.

But the Government is consulting on potentially putting a Crown agent on each board who could vote themselves - representing the central government view.

Despite this, Bishop rejected the idea that the move was a “power grab” from central Government.

He said streamlined processes and simplifying roles would put a downward pressure on rates. Regional councils account for 10% of staff operating in the broader local Government system.

He said it would put a stop to the “back biting and infighting” that sometimes occurred between regional councils and local councils.

Watts said putting mayors in charge of regional decisions would mean more efficient services, greater accountability and driving smarter use of ratepayer funds.

The reaction

Regional Sector and Environment Canterbury chair Dr Deon Swiggs, said he felt for his colleagues, who were elected six weeks prior and now had a question mark over how long they would stay in office.

Regional councils and local councils had different functions, he said, and where the city council wanted to drive down costs, the regional council wanted to drive environmental outcomes.

“Those constructive tensions should not be looked at as a failure of the system.”

He urged that decision-making stay local and that the work already undertaken be preserved. “We cannot drop the ball on biodiversity.”

He urged the Government to remember that one size did not fit all. While the approach might suit Southland, which was already undergoing reorganisation, it would be far more complex in the Waikato, where numerous territorial authorities and cities would be affected.

Central Otago District mayor and LGNZ National Council member Tamah Alley said while the change represented a “curve ball”, she did see the opportunities in it.

“Local government has been talking about change for a number of years now. We have been cognisant of the fact that some form of system change is needed for us to evolve and be sustainable and be fulfilling the needs of the community into the future.”

Mayors already under the pump with a range of Government reforms underway could find it challenging to pick up additional work, she said.

She felt for her regional colleagues. “I put my hand up to serve three years for our community, and if I was not able to serve that three years, I would be pretty challenged by that.

In a statement, Labour local government spokesperson Tangi Utikere said Labour supported simplifying local government, but not at the cost of losing the voice of local communities.

“Replacing regional councils with Ministers or appointed commissioners shifts power further away from communities, not closer.”

The Green Party’s spokesperson for Local Government, Celia Wade-Brown, said the Government was weakening environmental management and local democracy with its planned changes.

“Not content with starving local government of resources, Luxon’s Government now wants to undermine regional councils and let the environment burn,” she said.

Meanwhile, Federated Farmers cautiously welcomed signals that a major shake-up of local government was on its way.

'This discussion is long overdue and will be welcome news for farming families and rural ratepayers,' says Federated Farmers local government spokesperson Sandra Faulkner.

“This would allow the efficiency of a single layer of local government while maintaining connection with the people and communities they serve.“