Sweeping local govt law review complete

Press, 8 January 1980, Page 12

Sweeping local govt law review complete

Eight years of work has come to an end, and an act which affects almost every aspect of the day-to-day lives of New Zealanders became law at the end of 1979. The act is the Local Government Act, 1974, a huge document of some 724 sections and 839 pages which deals with the constitutional and financial aspects of local body law; land subdivision; and the functions and powers, to make by-laws of local authorities. Translated into -everyday language and everyday situations it is the act which gives local bodies the Authority to exist and to carry out" their activities, and gives them the power to get money from property owners by way of rates. The act deals with such mundane matters as drainage and sewerage energy distribution, and what can be done when subdividing land. It is also the act which gives local authorities the power to make by-laws which may affect- people’s right to park in residential streets, to make a noise at parties, or make it obligatory for residents to fence or cover a swimming pool. For local authorities it means that their legislation has been updated and combined into one act, removing a paper barrier between municipalities and counties.' In ; addition, a system of regional government — a concept which had ■ been floated for many years — has been implemented in the form of united council’s or regional councils. There has been a substantial reduction in' statute law affecting territorial . local

authorities — the 700 sections of the new act have replaced and repealed more than 1500 sections of former legislation. The new act has also meant the removal of some petty controls. The general philosophy underlying the revision was to lessen the number of central government administrative controls over local authorities. Por officers of the Internal. Affairs Department who have been involved with the Local Government Act from the word go, the passing of the final stage is the end of a task which began in 1971. “One feels it should be a relief, but it’s not really,” said the ch ; ef research officer,’’ Mr Tony Dench. “The act is of such a varied nature and so big that there are bound to be shakedown problems and a need for amendments.” There is also more work on hand. Revision of rating legislation and dog control legislation is going ahead, and revision of the local government electoral laws will undoubtedly be coming up. None of these will be a task of, such magnitude as the Local Government Act, 1974. But because rates touch people where it hurts — in their pockets — and anything to do with dog control arouses strong feelings in many, and because electoral rights , lie at the heart of local democracy — these measures might well attract much public interest and controversy. The first stage of the Local Government Act was introduced to Parliament in October, 1973, and the last

stage has just received Royal assent. More than 430 submissions were received on the various stages, and the Department of Internal Affairs made almost 1000 pages of reports to the Local Bills Committee. The chief Parliamentary counsel, Mr Jack .McVeagh, ( who retired at the end of 1976, came back from retirement to help. The completed legislation has repealed 11 acts, including the Municipal Corporations and Counties Acts, and amended more than 100 other acts. “The two major" acts dealing with municipalities and counties were very old. They z dated back to 1876,” said Mr Bert Williamson, Assistant Secretary (Local Government). of Internal Affairs. “Since then, local government systems had developed outside the scope of the legislation. The whole thing had become a can of worms and there was a real need for revision.” “There were urban counties larger than major municipalities operating under the Counties Act which was designed for rural government; there were municipalities with tracts of rural land larger than some counties working under legislation designed for urban government.” The big differences between municipalities and counties under the old legislation lay in their constitution, their taxing power, and their land subdivision powers. The vast difference in subdivision powers, in particular, created anomolies which affected and confused subdividers.

“There were also some areas where mergers of county and municipal government seemed desirable,” said Mr Williamson. “The old legislation tended to hinder this because it drew a tremendous distinction, which no longer existed, between rural communities and their small town centres. The new legislation aids mergers — where the people want them.” Not only did the old legislation have all these and other disadvantages, but during the last 10 years each time Parliament amended one of the . two major acts — the Municipal Corporations or Counties Acts — it had to amend the other also, to keep them somewhere in line. This wasted Parliament’s time. Work on the revision of local government legislation went on quietly until 1973 when the tempo quickened. The working group was discharged and replaced by a departmental committee which produced, in very short order, the first stage of the 1974 Local Government Act. From the concept introduced in the first stage of the Local Government Act, which has subsequently undergone legislative change, have sprung the united councils which are now in operation in many parts of the country. These are the councils which Mr Highet has described as bodies “which can provide the co-ordinating machinery for the presentation of regional views and aspirations” and which have the potential to be “an effective regional political voice

to counteract what the academics call ‘the power of the centre’.” When the National Government came to power in 1975 a working group — again including representatives from the Municipal Association and Counties Association — was reconvened, and work went ahead on the other four stages of the act. Land subdivision legislation was approached by the working group with some trepidation. It was highly technical, highly controversial, and the group felt its knowledge of the subject was inadequate. |“lt was certainly too controversial a subject for a working group to make decisions on without additional input,” said Mr Williamson. “So we- organised a widely representative forum which included subdividers, surveyors, and others.” A total of 27 organisations were represented at the forum, held at the end of May, 1977. Although it did not achieve its purpose of reconciling views, it allowed opposing views to be aired. It also contained some surprises for” the members of the working group who felt by the end of the venture that if they did not know much about land subdivision as a whole, most people knew even less. “Those taking part were only interested in pushing their own particular barrows,” one group member commented. “It is surprising that subdivision is ever done in this country.” Land subdivision may be a controversial subject, but the Local Government Act, despite its size, has been

passed with remarkably little controversy. The Minister of Local Government, Mr Highet, attributes this mainly to the co-operative spirit shown by everyone concerned. “Everyone accepted that it was essential to revise local government legislation. The main reason the act went through without acrimony is because of the degree of cooperation” he said. “I appreciate particularly the co-operation we received from Labour members of the Local Bills Committee; The Local Bills .Committee is a very responsible committee where we seldom discuss matters on party 'lines — and certainly in the last three years we have carried ort that tradition,” said Mr Highet. Mr Highet said the Local Government Commission has completed its task of publishing schemes for regional dr united councils — although some are still provisional and objections, if any, have yet to be heard. “By the middle of next year “ all regional or united councils will be in operation,” the Minister said. Looking at the Local Government Act as a whole Mr Highet is sure that in such an enormous piece of legislation there will be some amendments. “But we have brought together the Municipal Corporations and Counties Acts, we have provided town clerks and country clerks with a clear base to work from. I am sure this act will form the basis of local government legislation for many years to come,” said Mr Highet.