No ‘Regional Deal’ for HB?

It doesn’t appear Hawke’s Bay has been invited to participate in the initial round of the Government’s ‘City & Regional Deal’ (CRDs) initiative.

The CRDs are touted by the Government as an innovative way for central government and a given city or region to negotiate a long-term funding programme mainly around economic growth and housing. In theory, a negotiated ten-year plan would ensure continuity of central/local collaboration, planning and delivery of key strategic initiatives like housing and infrastructure that enables growth. The local government entity would be more empowered to deliver programmes tailored to its needs, with cross-agency support from central government agencies.

Although the CRDs are under the purview of Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, Minister Bishop described the thinking to Local Government NZ as follows: “I view City and Regional Deals as about the Crown and councils sharing their aspirations, agreeing on shared objectives, and looking at long-term funding and financing arrangements centred on economic growth, productivity and housing.”

However the Government has signaled not to expect much Crown cash for CRDs, rather perhaps more local financing tools and incentives for public/private partnerships. Says one HB mayor: “Regional deals are not going to solve the funding and financing issues we have for local infrastructure.”

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown signaled that five local/regional entities would be invited to participate in the first round … and Hawke’s Bay would be happy to go to the dance.

However, in an exchange on the matter between HBRC Chair Hinewai Ormsby and HB Regional Recovery Agency CEO Ross McLeod during an HBRC meeting on Wednesday, it was implied (and since confirmed to BayBuzz) that Hawke’s Bay had not made the initial cut, and was advised instead to continue focusing on its heavy cyclone recovery workload … its ‘Regional Deal’ chance would come.

Since Minister Brown has said the first Regional Deals would not be formalised until mid-2025, it would seem that Hawke’s Bay will have quite a wait before getting on the Government’s dance card.

That said, by all accounts HB has fared well in terms of securing post-Cyclone support from the Government and indeed there’s plenty more work to do. “We’re still in the thick of delivering on that,” says one HB mayor, referring to the original Crown deal. And our regional leaders are confident the PM and key Government ministers have been impressed with what HB Recovery Agency Chair Blair O’Keeffe refers to as our “singularity of voice”.

Thus, another interesting exchange during the HBRC meeting occurred when Councillor Sophie Siers asked O’Keeffe in effect whether he thought his outfit and its role was fit for purpose going forward. Consummate diplomat O’Keeffe responded, if I may paraphrase, ‘We serve at the pleasure of the five councils … we don’t make any decisions or implement anything … when you decide you don’t need us, we’ll happily fade away.’

Councillor Neil Kirton asked more politically pointedly, and again I paraphrase, ‘Do we really need a whole bunch of councils futzing around when we have you guys to sort things out?’ He was reprimanded by his colleague Xan Harding for asking such a political question (in the reign of HBRC Chair Rex Graham, that was the job of Councillors), but unflustered and equally political O’Keeffe gave the same answer … ‘We are your creation and servant’.

Watch this space. Officially HBRRA exists, at Crown expense, through June 2025. But, in the absence of amalgamation, it’s hard to imagine a more irrational move than our five councils deciding they didn’t need an institutionalised entity like HBRRA to manage issues of truly regional import.

In the interim, perhaps one step toward simplification would be to disband HBRRA’s ‘Oversight Board’. HBRRA is directed by the elected leaders of our councils and a posse of iwi reps. That’s where the Agency’s accountability lies … and should.

What’s the point of a redundant powerless ‘Oversight Board’? Nice people one and all, but no visibility to or mandate from the community. Ditch ‘em and save the fees.