At the end of the month submissions close for the review into the Future For Local Government. Hurunui District’s Mayor Marie Black says this review serves as an opportunity to rebuild the trust and confidence in what local councils deliver, and creates a clear and positive pathway for communities for the future.

Promoting decision making at local level, creating and maintaining the sense of belonging in local communities, and seeking secure and equitable funding are all key points discussed by the Mayor and councillors at a recent workshop at Hurunui District Council.

Mayor Black says building a stronger and more resilient relationship between local government and central government is vital, which will continue to strengthen the stance for local government to champion the wellbeing of its community.

For example, tapping into some government funding to build affordable houses supports the growth of communities as employment opportunities exist and communities are welcoming.

“Housing stock is the issue, therefore allowing local government to initiate this would help sustain our rural communities.”

Mayor Black says the future sits around the idea of subsidiarity, decisions being made at community level.

“The focus needs to be around citizen-led democracy. In Hurunui we have had the long held belief and advocacy for community decision making, and would support this to continue beyond the reform. We have learned through local disasters that local-led will always bring the best outcomes.

For this reason, Mayor Black and her fellow councillors are opposed to one of the proposals in the draft review.

“Communities must be able to retain their identity and sense of belonging.”

In the submission to government, Mayor Black and her councillors are requesting a pause on the Three Waters Reform proposal, until the review for Future For Local Government is complete and local councils can redesign their future first.

“How can we get excited about this massive opportunity to design our future, when for a district like ours, we are very focussed on retaining the opportunity to deliver to the community the services they deserve, like good water?”

Community-led democracy and being on the ground to serve its own people will remain the focus for Hurunui District Council. In addition, a strong relationship with a government creates confidence in funding streams and will certainly help.

“We have always managed and we always will, but I’m sure we could do things better if we had greater equity of funding to do that.”

Submissions close on February 28th. To learn more, please visit https://www.futureforlocalgovernment.govt.nz/

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