Published 7 December 2009
Franklin District Council has formally asked Local Government Minister Rodney Hide to exercise his powers to initiate a proposal for Franklin to become a unitary authority.
On top of that, in a letter to the minister on Friday, mayor Mark Ball outlined just how the Government & Local Government Commission had dismembered communities of interest along the southern regional boundary.
The Franklin council wants to keep its southern boundaries intact as a unitary authority.
Mr Ball’s primary message can be seen as self-serving. Read on, though, and you will find a message which should alarm the rest of the region’s million citizens: Costs will rise.
Mr Ball wrote: “We understand that neither the Select Committee on Auckland Governance, nor the Local Government Commission have formally considered Franklin District Council’s submissions to become a unitary authority, on the basis that the Auckland governance legislation did not permit consideration of such a proposal. Prior to that, the royal commission did not consider this option either. It is our view that natural justice has not been served during the process of reorganising Auckland’s governance arrangements.”
Mr Ball said 3 telephone polls the council commissioned in March 2008, April 2009 (after the royal commission reported) & July 2009 (when the select committee’s hearings were in progress) consistently indicated 80-85% opposition to becoming part of the new Auckland Council.
The Government has come up with boundaries according to catchments and using the Waikato River, but Mr Ball said catchment boundaries don’t work for communities of interest: “These same catchment lines were rejected as the local authority boundary for Franklin in 1989 – because they were not sufficiently reflective of communities of interest. The catchment line being proposed for the southern boundary of Auckland was also rejected by the royal commission for much the same reason.
“While the Local Government Act indicates that regional boundaries should be based on catchment lines, this is only ‘if practicable’. The legislation also provides for wider issues & any other matters to be taken into account. There is no good reason why the Waikato catchment boundary line should be used to define the Auckland Council.
“The Waikato River as a boundary doesn’t work either: Similar to the argument about catchment boundaries, using the Waikato River as the southern Auckland boundary also does not address communities of interest.
“The communities of Pukekawa, Onewhero, Port Waikato, Tuakau & Pokeno all use Pukekohe as their local service centre. The area of Franklin south of the river is geographically remote – there are only 3 river crossings and 2 of these (at Tuakau & Mercer) provide access to the north. Ngaruawahia & Huntly are not their local service centres – Pukekohe is.” Mr Ball said the Franklin District Council had consistently supported amalgamating the Auckland metropolitan councils & the Auckland Regional Council into a new unitary Auckland Council. “However, Franklin is not part of the ‘problem’ that reorganising the governance of Auckland is aiming to solve. Therefore Franklin does not need to be part of the solution.
“Franklin shares no infrastructure with Auckland, except for rail & state highways, which are national rather than regional assets. Franklin has 12 separate water supplies, 4 separate wastewater treatment plants, and its stormwater infrastructure is not connected with any of Auckland’s systems. All of Franklin District is located well outside the current metropolitan urban limit.
“Of course, there are economic & social links with Auckland, but it is an over-simplification to insist that these must drive a common governance structure.
“The governance of Franklin has a strong history of harmony (unlike Auckland). The district is financially sustainable, and predicted average rate increases in Franklin’s 2009-19 long-term plan compare favourably with those of other councils in New Zealand.”
Message 2: Joining Auckland means costs will rise for Franklin ratepayers
In his second message to the minister, Mr Ball wrote: “Initial analysis of Auckland Council costs, being done through transition workstreams, indicate that Franklin District Council currently delivers efficient & effective services. In many cases, our fees & charges are the lowest of the 8 Auckland councils (eg, dog registration fees, building consent fees).
“Current indications are that the higher overhead costs of the new, larger organisation, together with inherited legal costs, will result in many fees & charges in Franklin almost doubling once the new Auckland Council is established.
“In comparison, a preliminary analysis of the costs if Franklin becomes a unitary authority indicates that overall costs to ratepayers will actually reduce. (The combined rate-take from Franklin ratepayers in the Auckland Regional Council, Environment Waikato & Franklin District exceeds the cost of Franklin operating as a unitary authority.)
“Franklin can manage growth effectively: The royal commission noted that the Auckland Council will need to have control over its future growth areas, and included those parts of Franklin down to the Waikato River largely for this reason.
“However, the commission’s report was contradictory as to whether including Franklin in Auckland was to protect rural values or was to provide a land bank for future urban growth. Future growth in Auckland has already been addressed through the Auckland regional growth strategy, which Franklin has supported. Further, Franklin has developed & adopted its own district growth strategy, to protect the valuable class 1 & 2 soils located in Franklin, for productive purposes. This strategy is being supported through changes to the district plan.
“Future Auckland growth will be addressed through the spatial & infrastructure plans, which a Franklin unitary authority would collaborate in developing. (The Auckland Council will need to collaborate with its neighbouring councils.)”
Mr Ball said it was clear from the Local Government Commission’s report released on 20 November that its proposal for the Franklin area would have to be revised in the short to medium term: “This suggests that the proposal is not practical and has been constrained by the Auckland legislation. Further boundary adjustments will be costly & unnecessarily disruptive for our ratepayers.
“In the interests of reducing costs to ratepayers, I suggest that our proposal to become a unitary authority resolves the issues for the long term, reflects the desires of our community and better caters for communities of interest. Therefore, it should be given your serious consideration.”
Earlier story:
29 November 2009: Franklin continues push for unitary status
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Attribution: Council release, story written by Bob Dey for the Bob Dey Property Report.
