Two Councils- Two Jobs.
There is increasing discussion about local government and its structure. This is good. No system is so perfect as to be permanently set in stone without ever being reviewed.
It is clear, though, listening to the discussions, that there is a level of misunderstanding in the community as to the different roles played by Regional and Territorial local authorities (Cities and Districts). [i]
At one level they look similar: For example, they both have elections and both charge rates, but dig deeper and they have quite different specialities.
In terms of an analogy think of a building along Cameron Road.
Among the tenants is an accounting firm and also a law firm.
To someone observing the workers entering the building there is no clear difference between the accountants and the lawyers. Both are professionally attired, carry similar laptop cases. They head up to open plan work spaces surrounded by meeting rooms. Each business contains a flash board room and tidy staff kitchen facilities.
Each firm is managed by a managing partner and these two often meet. Sometimes they need to discuss some shared services: the car park, rates bills, cleanliness of the shared spaces in the building. At one stage they recognised that sharing the same tradies could provide some pricing benefits so now they have this additional, voluntary shared service.
Sometimes they meet as they are involved with the same third party. For example both are on the board of the local economic development agency and have also, coincidentally, been invited to join the board of a philanthropic trust. Sometimes they happen to attend the same conferences and fundraising functions.
The law firm has an in-house accountant and the accountancy firm has an in-house legal consultant.
There is a level of crossover between the two businesses. Each firm provides advice around Trusts administration, tax advice and financing options as well as a range of other services with descriptions common to each firm.
They have clear specialities and on the main potential customers are clear who to approach for advice. When a service is out of the competence of one or the other, they refer to the alternative business.
No one would suggest that these two firms merge.
Councils are analogous to these two businesses.
Regional Councils have their specialities as do territorial authorities.
In broad terms the City Council is concerned with the built environment and the regional Council with the natural environment.
A sample list of different services is provided at the end of this article.
Regional Councils are as different from City and District Councils as law firms are different from accounting firms. Probably more so. Just as no one would suggest a merging of the two businesses, it is folly to suggest that the Regional Council subsumes the City and Districts into a mega merger as some appear to be suggesting.
Consider what it means to have the specialities:
The type of scientists employed are different: Marine scientists have different expertise from freshwater monitoring.
Managing a system of pipes and pumps across a city is a different skill set to managing catchments across rivers, streams and farmland and bush.
The engineering expertise is different for a building compared to a dam.
The Civil Defence requirements for a concentrated geographical area are considerable different from those required for a widespread natural disaster.
The consultation with a community of tens of thousands of people in a confined urban setting is different to the consultation with a community spread along a river which flows from Rotorua lakes to the coast.
But aren’t there Unitary Councils?
Yes there are.
For example, Auckland Council. Most people would not realise that Auckland Council is the largest rural council in the country. But the City dominates.
Chatham islands is a unitary council. This might be compared to the boutique firms that do offer legal, accounting and HR advice. The Chathams a small, defined and remote island group.
Gisborne and Nelson have both struggled to cope with the demands of civil defence after great storms.
Conclusion
It is worth discussing what services are provided and how they are provided at a local level. This is not the place to discuss the options. This article is a warning to ensure some understanding of the services provided at local level, and the skills, expertise and connections which make the services effective (or not).
Appendix: Sample Services
The territorial authority provides services such as:
- Fresh water
- Rubbish collection and disposal, litter control
- Sewage treatment, parks and reserves and leisure facilities
- Roads and streetlighting, control of land subdivision
- Building and resource consents processing, animal control
- Libraries and museums
- Food premises and liquor licensing
The regional authority provides services such as:
- Bio-security/pest control
- Civil defence/emergency management
- River and flood control
- Environmental protection
- Regional land transport
- Water quantity and quality regulation
- Maritime navigation and safety
- Some building control and consents processing (e.g. dams)[ii]
[i] To confuse the issue, we also have “Unitary” authorities in New Zealand that combine the responsibilities of regional and territorial councils. Auckland City, Gisborne District Council, Nelson City Council, Marlborough District Council, Tasman District Council, and Chatham Islands Council.
[ii] Cited from https://www.nelson.govt.nz/1your-council/1about/council-structure