Local govt body ‘should resign’

Press, 12 January 1987, Page 2

Local govt body ‘should resign’

The present Local Government Commission should resign in the light of a recent High Court ruling that it breached natural justice and the Local Government Act, says the chairman of the Mount Pleasant-Sumner Rates Action Committee, Mr Donald Walker. The High Court ruled that the commission must hear a petition from 580 Christchurch residents who want to join Heathcote County. "But the public must now lack confidence in the members of the present commission to impartially consider our requests,” Mr Walker said. Mr Walker said it was not good enough for the Minister of Local Government, Dr Bassett, to “sit on the sideline saying the commission is independ-

ent and he is not responsible when it has ridden roughshod over our democratic and legal rights to push through its own proposals.” It was also wrong of the commission to presume the petition had been a tactical move to help defeat amalgamation, he said. “At the time I don’t believe people in this area were very aware of amalgamation as an issue which affected them. It was a general dissatisfaction with the costs, services and efficiency of the Christchurch City Council that prompted the petition for a boundary change.” Mr Walker said that the resident’s predominant concern was not excessive rates but better local body representation and rate distribution.