Building meaningful local boards in the new Auckland

By David McGregor, Senior Partner and Julia Harker, Senior Solicitor | Wednesday 27 May 2009

Local boards in the new Auckland Super City have the potential to make a meaningful difference in local governance by serving a very practical and valuable function in their communities.

Currently the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill 2009 does not specifically define the functions to be carried out by local boards, which will be delegated functions by the Auckland Council as occurs presently with community boards. While this limited role will be welcomed by many who consider that the existing community boards are a sinecure in Auckland's present governance structure, to provide true local democracy the role of local boards must be significantly bolstered.

The government anticipates that the functions of the local boards will be finessed in the select committee process but advance discussion around what will work best in this second tier body can only be of benefit to Auckland's ultimate governance structure.

Place shaping and community identity

An important function of local governance is "place shaping", a term coined by the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government in the United Kingdom and defined as¹:

• building and shaping local identity;
• representing the community;
• regulating harmful and disruptive behaviours;
• maintaining the cohesiveness of the community and supporting debate within it;
• ensuring smaller voices are heard;
• helping to resolve disagreements;
• working to make the local economy more successful while being sensitive to pressures on the environment;
• understanding local needs and preferences and making sure that the right services are provided to local people; and
• working with other bodies in response to complex challenges such as natural disasters and other emergencies.

The Lyons Inquiry stresses the relevance of "place" and the local, commenting that "Though some economic and sociological analyses have challenged the importance of place and the importance of the local in modern society and economics, place remains relevant. As our understanding of the multi-faceted nature of social and economic problems grows, and as our aspirations to solve them and to govern uncertainty and diversity increase, the arguments for a local role in determining the actions of government and the provision of public services are becoming stronger. In addition, economic analysis continues to identify local factors and institutions as important influences on economic change and growth."

Associated with the concept of place is identity. In this case, while individuals identify themselves at a regional level as Aucklanders, it is artificial to think that they speak with one voice. On a strategic level it may be more appropriate for a unified position to be taken on policies and service delivery, but Auckland is a diverse city with many distinguishable communities. Within these communities certain issues will be more prominent and important than others, for example access to swimming pools and community facilities in Manukau and sustainability issues on Waiheke Island.

People's identities are often derived more locally, for example the "westie" identity embraced by people who live in Waitakere City and the Pacific focus in Manukau City. It may seem an esoteric point but the concept of identity or a community of interest also translates into more practical aspects of local governance, including respect for and pride in community facilities, festivals and other local initiatives, as well as a sense of cohesiveness.

Work that's best for the boards

For meaningful community participation in local government, it is essential that second tier local government (in whatever form) has a significant role in community and social activities, with appropriate local arrangements for service delivery and formalised input into policy making. This devolvement of responsibility is in line with the principle of subsidiarity, essentially that functions of government should be the responsibility of the lowest competent authority that is capable of undertaking the activity.

Relevant local functions and competencies could include:

• Preparing a community action plan: This would set out core community objectives and outcomes, key community projects and how these will be achieved, including budgeting. It would be prepared in consultation with constituents and the Auckland Council and form the basis of resourcing in some form such as bulk funding by the council. Auckland Council officers would assist in preparing and drafting the plan.

• Funding and managing community facilities: the establishment, maintenance and management of community facilities such as community centres, swimming pools, halls, libraries, parks and further education programmes.

• Community-based cultural and arts activities: funding for arts and cultural festivals, groups and learning programmes (for example, the Go West festival, Manukau Arts festival, the Festival of Roses, People in Parks, together with local theatre companies).

• Bylaws: devolve all bylaws administration (but not promulgation) responsibilities and dispensation powers to the second tier body. This would provide community-based ownership of the application of bylaws an area which would have regard to local circumstances.

• Minor consenting and licensing responsibilities: such as consents for minor works, infringement of bulk and location standards, tree removal, liquor licensing, cafe and restaurant licensing. All local board members could be trained as independent commissioners (now required by the Resource Management Act 1991) for this purpose.

• Education and community programmes: local sustainability and environmental projects (eg. stream/beach clean ups, litter, waste management), community safety programmes/ awareness and local civil defence.

• Local economic development activities: promotion of local businesses (with local business associations), heritage trails, markets etc

• Involvement and liaison with community groups: joint local programmes, co-opting members of the local community for specific projects.

Performing these functions would require appropriate funding to allow second tier bodies to have a level of independence in allocating resources. This could be provided through a portion of rates collected from the local catchment, subject to certain performance criteria and reporting requirements. Alternatively, the local body could make budget submissions to the Auckland Council based on projects to be undertaken in its community action plan.

Either direct rating funding or bulk funding would allow the second tier body to respond to the funding needs and priorities of its community, for example, the provision of free entry to swimming pools in the Manukau area. However, regional efficiencies could be achieved through Auckland-wide service delivery for these facilities, for example a unified library cataloguing and administration system.

To ensure that greater community representation is provided at the Auckland Council level, the interrelationship between the second tier body and the Auckland Council, especially council committees, consenting and policy making arms, should be formalised. This could include:

• Regular reporting by the second tier body to Auckland Council committees on local issues and preparing reporting documents similar to council controlled organisations' statements of intent;

• Formalised consultation with second tier bodies during policy making, for example, drafting the Long Term Council Community Plan, Annual Plan and District Plan, as well as taking part in budgetary decision-making; and

• Notification and participation of the second tier body as an affected party to consenting processes, such as resource consent applications.

It is also essential that the local board engages directly with its constituents so that it can respond to their needs and concerns, and provide meaningful community services. Communication between the second tier body and its constituents needs to be strengthened through consultation in the preparation of community action plans, the regular reporting of key community projects and by seeking regular feedback from a diverse range of community members.

Local government reform since 1974 has seen the progressive consolidation of local authorities in Auckland from a multitude of borough and county councils to a single regional council and seven territorial authorities. With the creation of a "super council" for Auckland, it is important that the place shaping and community functions of local government are not lost. This could be enabled by providing second tier local authorities with a meaningful role in their communities, by giving them a role to play in local service delivery, regulatory and policy making issues, and through those community and social activities which can best be performed at the local level.

 

¹ Lyons, Sir Michael, Lyons Inquiry into Local Government: Place-shaping: a shared ambition for the future of local government , Final Report, The Stationery Office, London, March 2007, p. 3.