Regional councils criticised

Press, 12 June 1984, Page 3

Regional councils criticised

The contribution of regional councils to the benefit of New Zealand could almost be written on the back of a postage stamp, said Mr John McKenzie, a former chairman of the Heathcote County Council yesterday. Mr McKenzie was part of a panel discussing the effect of regionalism on local government at the conference of the Institutes of County Engineers and Clerks, which began at the Christchurch Town Hall yesterday. New Zealand needed strong local bodies that could see what was good for their own territory and for the country, said Mr McKenzie. With bigger administrative areas such as the regions covered by united councils, community councils were then needed to get back to the grassroots again, he said. Mr McKenzie disagreed with the view put forward by proponents of regional councils that the latter had more muscle to influence the Government than local bodies. Regional progress, such as that made in Taranaki would have been made because of the demands in those regions, even if there had been no regional councils. Regionalism had a place but it should not dominate the local scene. “We should be very careful before we become advocates of regionalism, that the united or regional councils are the answer and that local government will become greater because of them,” he said. Regional councils would allow the tentacles of the Government to stretch to local bodies, he said. “You'll find that we’ll go back further than forward.” Councils, such as the Canterbury United Council, had a role, but local bodies could probably have achieved, as much in their own areas said Mr McKenzie.

The establishment of regional councils was pitting region against region, he said. “Today we’re measured by the needs of South Auckland,” he said. Regional matters were related to population and accordingly such things as the regional health service meant that hospital funds went towards highly populated areas, such as South Auckland, while sparsely populated regions, such as the West Coast, went without, said Mr McKenzie. Mr McKenzie’s views were not shared by his three panel partners. Ms Vicki Buck, a member of the United Council and the Christchurch City Council, said that the main advantage of regional councils was that they were not limited to the boundaries of local bodies. Accordingly they could develop regional interest such as tourism, forestry, recreation, the arts, and road safety. Regionalism did not require a lot of money, and funds could be drawn from people’s resources. Government, and the private sector. Many local bodies and regional councils, however, acted with blinkers on. They needed to remove them and look at new ideas and ventures. “The regions that will do well are those which will respond quickly to new ideas and change,” said Ms Buck. Mr Kingsley Sampson, the principal officer of the Taranaki United Council, said that initially his council “had been treated with derision, division, and in a few cases moderate acclaim.” The 17 contributing local bodies to the council were now becoming a regional force, he said. Alone they had had little or no impact on what was happening in their region. The council co-ordinated administration of the roads and pipelines in the region, and engineered the safe disposal of the effluent from power plants,

he said. Housing had been a big problem in the region but the council had convinced the Minister of Housing, Mr Friedlander, to allocate more State houses, said Mr Sampson. “Regional government will be the most important form of democratic government in New Zealand,” he said. It would provide impetus and resources for local bodies to use. Mr Bill Watt, the planning officer of the Southland United Council, said his council was seen as the legitimate voice of the region. United councils were usually made up of the most experienced councillors from their constituent local bodies and accordingly were “on the ball.” In Southland, the United Council had done research into lignite mining. It was the first time that he was aware of the effects and possible problems of a regional venture had been researched before it had been started, said Mr Watt. Ms Jenny Simpson, a member of the Inglewood County Council, told delegates that the united councils were virtually devoid of women. Ms Simpson, who is also a Government adviser on women’s affairs, said that the councils would only be credable if women participated in decision making. “We are still dealing with the basic prejudice that women aren’t responsible in decision making,” said Ms Simpson. According to research the counties were about 20 years behind the municipal bodies in electing women. That was to the detriment of the rural community, women had a responsibility to make them-, selves available for election but they also needed encouragement, she said. Ms Buck said that women found it difficult to get elected to councils, they then had to be appointed to the united councils; Usually it was the more conservative members of

councils, usually males, who were appointed to united councils. “I have an active policy of positive discrimination when interviewing women for positions on the council’s administrative staff,” said Ms Buck. Women were often disadvantaged by motherhood as councils did not provide child-care facilities. The Christchurch City Council was considering job sharing, Ms Buck said. “Walking into this conference was like walking into a Jaycees or Rotary meeting," as there were so few women, she said. The conference will end today and will be followed by the three-day conference of the Counties Association which will be opened by the Minister of Local Government, Mr Highet, this evening.