ALTERNATIVE APPLICATION TO REORGANISE THE WELLINGTON AND WAIRARAPA REGIONS Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................ 4 To the Chief Executive of the Local Government Commission....................................................... 5 1. Boundaries of the Areas Affected ................................................................................................ 6 2. Background..................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Work Completed by the Hutt Valley Councils .................................................................................... 8 2.3 The basis of this application ............................................................................................................ 10 3. Principles underlying this alternative application .................................................................... 12 4. Purpose of this alternative application ...................................................................................... 13 4.1 Relevant Requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 ........................................................... 13 4.2 The Purpose of the Local Government ........................................................................................... 13 4.3 Enabling Democratic Local Decision-Making and Action ................................................................ 13 4.4 Promoting Cost-Effective Service Delivery ...................................................................................... 15 5. Description of proposed changes .............................................................................................. 19 5.1 Relevant Requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 ........................................................... 19 5.2 The Current Structure of Local Government in the Regions ........................................................... 20 5.3 The Proposed Structure of Local Government in the Regions ........................................................ 21 5.4 Key Features of the Proposal .......................................................................................................... 22 6. Levels of community support ..................................................................................................... 33 6.1 Relevant Requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 ........................................................... 33 6.2 Initial Region-Wide Survey – Colmar Brunton, June 2012 .............................................................. 33 6.3 Submissions made during Initial Council Consultations .................................................................. 34 6.4 Other Surveys Conducted in the Regions ....................................................................................... 36 6.5 Summary of Hutt Valley Community Concerns ............................................................................... 38 6.6 Letters of Support............................................................................................................................ 38 6.7 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 38 7. Analysis of options ...................................................................................................................... 40 7.1 Relevant Requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 ........................................................... 40 7.2 The Governance Options ................................................................................................................ 41 7.3 The Reasonable Practical Options .................................................................................................. 41 7.4 Overall Assessment of the Practical Options .................................................................................. 48 7.5 The Preferred Option ...................................................................................................................... 48 7.6 Overall Assessment of the Preferred Option ................................................................................... 53 8. Other Issues .................................................................................................................................. 54 8.1 Resilience ....................................................................................................................................... 54 8.2 Financial Implications of the Reorganisations ................................................................................. 55 8.3 Establishing a Regional Leader ...................................................................................................... 57 8.4 The Role of Local Boards ................................................................................................................ 58 9. Maori Engagement and Support ................................................................................................. 60 10. Transitional Arrangements .......................................................................................................... 61 10.1 Matters for the Commission to Decide ............................................................................................ 61 10.2 Matters for the New Councils to Decide .......................................................................................... 62 2 11. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 64 APPENDIX 1: Detailed Description of Current Local Government Entities in the Regions ......................................................................................................................................... 65 APPENDIX 2: Detailed Description of Proposed Local Government Entities for the Regions ......................................................................................................................................... 72 APPENDIX 3: Summary of Local Government Services ................................................................. 77 APPENDIX 4: Planning Processes under the Three Regional Governance Options ................... 83 APPENDIX 5: Results of the Surveys of Community Opinions ...................................................... 87 APPENDIX 6: Final Colmar Brunton Survey Results APPENDIX 7: Legal Opinion APPENDIX 8: TDB Advisory Ltd Report APPENDIX 9: Peer Review of TDB Report by McKinlay Douglas APPENDIX 10: Peer Review of TDB Report by Dwyer G Ltd APPENDIX 11: NZIER Report APPENDIX 12: Morrison Low Report APPENDIX 13: PWC Report on savings possible from water integration APPENDIX 14: Letter of Support from Friends of Belmont Regional Park APPENDIX 15: Letter of Support from Grey Power Hutt City APPENDIX 16: Letter of Support from Grey Power Wainuiomata APPENDIX 17: Letter of Support from Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce APPENDIX 18: Letter of Support from Te Rira Puketapu and a meeting of the seven marae of Lower Hutt APPENDIX 19: Letter of Support from Normandale Residents Association APPENDIX 20: Letter of Support from Petone Working Men’s Club APPENDIX 21: Letter of Support from Masterton District Council APPENDIX 22: Letter of Support from Youth Infusion APPENDIX 23: Letter of Support from the Maungaraki Community Association APPENDIX 24: Letter of Support from the Belmont Ratepayer’s Improvement Association 3 FOREWORD The residents of Hutt City do not want a supercity. Surveys and submissions demonstrate clearly that the enhanced status quo is supported by the overwhelming majority of residents in the Hutt. Hutt City has always said it will support the views of its community and we strongly favour the enhanced status quo for the Wellington and Wairarapa regions. As part of the enhancements to the status quo, Hutt City supports: . amalgamating the three small councils in the Wairarapa region and the establishment of a unitary council for the Wairarapa as proposed in the Wairarapa district councils’ application; and . establishing a single specialised entity for land transport for the Wellington and Wairarapa regions and a single specialised entity for the “three waters” for the Wellington region. Hutt City does not support amalgamation of other councils in the greater Wellington region as there is no compelling evidence that there will be gains from these amalgamations. Further change will, however, inevitably impose significant social and economic costs and lead to losses of local democracy. If, however, the Local Government Commission decides to propose further boundary changes in the Wellington and Wairarapa regions, that proposal should be for four unitary authorities rather than a single supercity. Having four unitary authorities is far superior to a single unitary authority as local democracy is not lost and the risk of having a large bureaucracy remote from the people of the region is avoided. Having their own unitary council would permit the people in the Hutt, who have a strong preference for low council debt and low rates, to maintain that strategy. The four unitary authority’s option has the greatest community support