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Council meets with Sir Geoffrey’s panel
July 13, 2012
Council meets with Sir Geoffrey’s panel
Kapiti Councillors had a very constructive discussion yesterday with Sir Geoffrey Palmer and members of the panel investigating possible new structures for local government in the Wellington region on behalf of the Regional Council.
“We had a very productive one-and-a-half hour meeting with Sir Geoffrey and his team,” said Mayor Jenny Rowan. “Sir Geoffrey said there were three things driving local government reform. They were the current adverse world economic conditions, the ‘Auckland phenomenon’, and the Government itself.
“He made it clear that the role of the Regional Council-sponsored panel is to assess local government options for the Wellington region. These could be structural or functional; to come up with recommendations, and also outline possible transitional changes.
“He said they would be releasing a discussion paper soon with feedback open till early September.
“We were very pleased to hear his team would be focusing on local democratic processes, and that they had a commitment to preserving local identity. Bryan Jackson, a member of the Panel, said there were economies to be had if resources were pooled. He also mentioned developing centres of excellence.
“Much of what we heard sounded very positive but we all agreed that the time frame set by Government was very tight.
“We explained the consultation process we had under way and that we are working in collaboration with other councils in the region. If we find a common theme starting to emerge across the region, then there could be scope for a combined approach to the Local Government Commission further down the track.”
Council currently has two surveys under way. One is paper-based with copies sent to households, a summary run in the Kapiti Observer and Kapiti News and also available on the Council website. The other is a telephone survey being conducted by Colmar Brunton. The latter involves all eight councils in the region, excluding the Regional Council.
The deadline for the paper-based survey is July 31.
ends
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