Media Release
Daran Ponter
Councillor
Greater Wellington Regional Council

23 May 2012

Super City: Independent Review Panel

The Greater Wellington Regional Council today elected to appoint an independent review panel to investigate options for the local government reform in the Wellington region. The Panel will deliver a report which the Council’s could use as a basis for a reform proposal to the Local Government Commission.

Cr Daran Ponter voted against the Panel proposal for a number of reasons:

1. That the regional council is moving too quickly to engage an independent Panel in a headlong rush to get a reform proposal before the local government Commission in time to be confirmed before the 2013 local government elections – “the haste is indecent and communities are being left behind”.

2. That more effort should have been put in to getting agreement to a pan-council approach on options for community consultation. “We now have a situation where at least seven councils are considering and/or consulting on at least four different sets of proposals. A significant waste of ratepayer money….at a time when ratepayers are begging Council’s to be frugal”.

3. That councillors should themselves be directly engaging with their communities on reform options. ”The creation of a Panel will invariably create a perception of the Council hiding behind the Panel.” Councillors need to be in the front line engaging with their communities on this issue?

4. That the current Wellington City Council consultation on four options for reform provides a good opportunity for Wellingtonians to express their views on the options and other alternatives.

ENDS

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