Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) says a sharper focus from the Government on building a strong partnership with councils would help drive its ambitious economic growth agenda.

The Prime Minister’s State of the Nation speech today signalled the Government’s intention to kickstart economic growth through a range of measures, including Resource Management Act (RMA) reform, fixing health and safety rules, backing tourism and mining, and making life easier for farmers.

“Councils have been shackled by unnecessary red tape and a lack of funding levers to achieve growth in the regions,” says LGNZ President Sam Broughton.

“Too often councils are disincentivised to provide for growth. When new housing is built, often ratepayers shoulder the lion's share of the investment needed to connect key services such as water and transport. New tools such as GST sharing on new builds would help turn that trend around.

“New funding levers – such as congestion charging or sharing mineral royalties – are already being discussed, as is much-needed reform around the Resource Management Act. This a good start but we need action rather than more discussion, and at pace, to enable councils to be the active part of the solution we’re poised to be and to reduce costs to communities.

“What’s also vital is more investment in local infrastructure, especially given the Government’s desire to bring more tourists into the country.

“Some of our most-popular tourist regions won’t be able to handle a sustained influx of new tourists unless they have more levers to fund their infrastructure. That means councils and the Government need to work together to find a fair way to pay for that much-needed infrastructure.

“Central and local government serve the same communities. It’s in all our interests to build an enduring partnership to grow city and regional economies,” Sam Broughton said.

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