What I hear listening to local councillors’ chatter is that Government Ministers are clueless about the actual workings of local government.
It seems like every time a Government Minister opens his/her mouth to address local councils, it’s a command to do something that costs money … none of which is to be reimbursed by the Crown.
- Consolidate your ‘Three Waters’ systems and meet new water quality standards while you’re at it
- Create and implement a local climate adaptation plan
- Conduct a referendum on Māori wards
- Then complete the ensuing ‘Representation Review’ legally required when Māori seats are abolished
- While you’re doing that, prepare a reorganisation plan (itself a ‘representation review’), pay for that process, then pay for the transition costs
- At the same time prepare and have audited a new Long-term Plan for your councils that will cease to exist – because of reorg – in the first year of the plan
- Replace the spatial plan you just completed with a new one, to our specs
- Change your speed limit signs
- Move your homeless off the streets
- Speed up your resource consenting
- Upgrade your civil defence and emergency management operations
- Submit detailed Performance Reports to us on all of these tasks
And of course do it all with a 4% cap on rate increases!
But boy do they love flying into the region for the local photo ops with spades and scissors in hand to break ground and cut ribbons!
What would our local MPs do without spades and scissors?
