Selwyn_Times: June 28, 2023

Selwyn Times Wednesday June 28 2023
10
OPINION
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Growth creates opportunities if
‘we work together as a region’
Mayor Sam
Broughton
talks about
the Future
for Local
Government
Review and
what it means
for the district
WAIKIRIKIRI Selwyn District is
an amazing place of opportunity
with diverse and strong communities.
People want to live here
and over the past 12 years our
population has doubled. Keeping
pace with that growth and
the provision of infrastructure
and public services is the job of
a complex web, including the
district council, our Canterbury
Regional Council and central
government. The current relationships
and structures can be
challenging and confusing while
delivering variable outcomes.
This current structure is not sustainable
for our future. Last week
an independent panel released
the Future for Local Government
Review, which seeks to address
these and other issues holding local
communities back. I welcome
the report and its insistence that
we require a matrix of change to
see improvement. Communities
deserve a stronger voice in the
matters that affect them, and
we must look to work together
as a region to create the scale
to simplify central government
relationships and allow the development
of decisions and funding
for our region.
The smallest district council
in Canterbury serves about 4000
people, while the largest city
council serves almost 400,000,
GROWTH:
The Selwyn
District’s
population
has
doubled
over the
past 12
years.
PHOTO:
RNZ/NATE
MCKINNON
with Selwyn in the middle. We
all have the same responsibilities,
accountabilities, and local community
expectations to meet, but
our current structure can be too
big for meaningful local participation
and too small for coherent
large infrastructure planning.
The review expects
communities to work more
collaboratively. I totally agree
and through the Greater
Christchurch Partnership, we
are already taking steps with our
neighbours. The trouble is with
the backwards and forwards
between councils, everything
happens so slowly. A simplified
regional or sub-regional
decision-making body could
streamline future infrastructure
needs, provide long-term
transport solutions and support
co-ordinated climate change
responses.
We also need to shape
ourselves to be more local than
our current structure allows.
Enhanced local community
boards, perhaps each with a
local mayor and real funding
and decision-making powers
with direct influence on
regional matters would ensure
we don’t repeat one-size-fitsall
philosophies. How we get
there needs community input
to ensure the right outcome and
that we don’t throw the baby out
with the bath water.
I also support the
recommendation to use more
participatory and deliberative
democracy tools. This would
support proactive planning
rather than reactive spending.
Local government collects
less than 10 per cent of public
money, with central government
responsible for the other 90 per
cent. This over centralisation
is way out of kilter with the
rest of the OECD and leaves
us with an over reliance on
people in Wellington making
calls on our behalf. I support
recommendations that allow a
greater share of decisions and
funding to be determined locally,
including the government paying
rates on their land and returning
$1 billion to communities.
So let’s crack on and get some
of the panel’s recommendations
implemented now – starting with
a four-year electoral term. Some
other recommendations require
fine-tuning locally, particularly
as we think about the future
shape and governance of our
region. Sadly, neither National
or Labour have yet committed
to implementing the review’s
recommendations and will need
to ‘buy in’ if we are to see the
range of improvements envisaged
by the report that require
legislation to change. Until then,
we start locally. I will work with
our councillors, communities,
and neighbouring districts to
influence any changes so Selwyn
continues to be a future-focused
thriving place of opportunity.
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