The North Shore City Council has extended the meaning of 20/20 well beyond the sports field.
It wants the proposed shake-up of Auckland’s local body scene to result in “20 councillors, 20 wards and 20 community councils”.
Mayor Andrew Williams says this proposal “would provide an elegant solution to the difficult issue of protecting local representation and genuine community engagement at every level”.
News of NSCC’s idea came from a council meeting this week, where a submission to the Select Committee on Auckland Governance was signed off.
Mayor Andrew Williams says that although the need to change the regional governance structure of Auckland is supported in principle, the council and the wider North Shore community have genuine concerns over a number of the provisions in the Auckland Council Bill.
“As a Council we feel that our submission fairly reflects the concerns that have been repeatedly raised with us by the NorthShore community, and offers a series of realistic and practical recommendations for the Select Committee to consider,” says Mayor Williams.
The Council’s submission on the Auckland Council Bill proposes better alignment of the mayoralty, council and community councils (local boards), and shares the powers and responsibilities between them more effectively so the new structure is more responsive to communities and individual residents and ratepayers.
The North Shore City Council submission recommends the following:
- the Mayor of the new Auckland council should be elected at large under the STV or single transferable vote) system;
- the Mayor should have fewer powers than those outlined in the Bill;
- the Auckland council should have 20 councillors, all elected by wards, not at large;
- services in each ward should be delivered by a community council (referred to in the Bill as local boards);
- the duties and powers of community councils (local boards) should be clearly defined and enshrined in law;
- there should be a legal obligation for the Auckland council to provide adequate resources for community councils, and to work effectively with them;
- there should be a legal requirement that all roading, water/wastewater and other community assets remain in public ownership;
- the issue of Maori representation should be revisited by the Government.
Mayor Williams says that under the proposed ‘20 councillors, 20 wards and 20 community councils’ structure, each and every councillor would be a strong representative of their community, and be held directly accountable to the people who elected them.
“Each councillor would have responsibility for their respective community council which would, in turn, be responsible for the decisions about and delivery of local services at the local level.”
The Mayor, elected at large under STV, would have the mandate and authority to speak for the entire Auckland region. Mayor Williams also says his council is concerned the current Bill allows for too much power to sit with one person – the Mayor of the new Auckland council.
“While we accept that the Mayor will sometimes have to make hard decisions and needs the powers to do that, we have proposed a more democratic process for choosing committee chairs and for the preparation of long-term council plans.”
Mayor Williams says his council shares the deep concern of the NorthShore community regarding the future ownership of Watercare and roading infrastructure, in particular.
“Local Government Minister Rodney Hide has said publicly that if it was his decision, he would sell Watercare to private enterprise. Our council and our community are sending a strong message in the submission that these assets must remain in public ownership in perpetuity, and be protected from sale in law.”