Duncan Garner: Power and money hungry councils must be wound down

NZ Herald

3 days ago

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Cape Palisser: A visit is one of life's simple pleasures. Photo / Getty Images
Duncan Garner is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster who now hosts the Editor in Chief live podcast.
Cape Palliser is a beautiful and unique part of our country. It's on the South Wairarapa coast; it's remote, rugged and windswept. It has a great surf break, and people go there to hike, walk, mountain bike, fish and just take it all in. I went a number of times during the 17 years I lived in Wellington. It's a stunning place, an extraordinary landscape to explore.
Kiwis love accessing the foreshore and beaches around this country. We regard it as our birthright and anyone or anything that gets in our way is usually met with condemnation.
But Cape Palliser might soon be off limits, not just to cars, but to everyone and everything – despite being a public place.
Why? Because the over-the-top, heavy-handed bureaucrats at the South Wairarapa District Council have their blinkers on and are about to close a stretch of unformed road along the coastline to the east of Cape Palliser. The road is the best way to access the Cape. The proposed alternative involves a full-day back-breaking hike through bush. The road is public; it's owned by all of us, and the reserve is owned by all New Zealanders too.
But the council is going too far with this heavy-handed bylaw. It's a case of using a sledgehammer where nuance is needed. Banning 4WDs might be justified. The road is fragile and 4WDs have caused problems there. But why ban the public from walking and biking in the area?
The road, which crosses public and private land, was initially to be closed to cars only, but the private landowner asked the council to stop everyone and everything. The council proposal is that the road will remain closed for three years then the decision would be reviewed.
Why take the public's simple pleasures away? As it is our cities are getting more crowded, housing density is squeezing us in and the need to get out and enjoy the outdoors is crucial to our wellbeing. How on earth does this meet that goal?
Tuesday, August 19 is the last day for submissions.
The Cape Palliser issue is typical of councils throughout the country, not just in the Wairarapa. The model is broken. The Government has suggested it's time to rid ourselves of some of these organisations. Minister Shane Jones says councils have gone beyond what the public expects; he wants fewer councils and has the regions in his sights.
PM Christopher Luxon says we are simply over-governed: 'I think we've got too many layers of government, frankly, if I'm honest with you, whether it's district councils, regional councils, central government...'
Massive rates increases, too many cones, too many road closures for dubious reasons, consultation on issues no one gives a toss about and locked out of controversial decisions. Then there's co-governance happening via the backdoor and without taking it to the voters. It's a mess and ratepayers are angry.
Taupō District Council staff decided that a Joint Management Agreement with the local iwi, Tūwharetoa, did not warrant public input or consultation. Only once councillors got involved was it deferred until after October's local body elections. Even then, the public might still be shut out of having a say.
In Auckland, Watercare agreed in 2022 to pay $2m every year for 20 years, to the Waikato River Authority for the use and clean-up of the Waikato River water. This decision was not debated or put before ratepayers, who only found out much later.
And the final piece of this puzzle hurts us the most: rates. Rates increases have become unsustainable. It's why the Government must cap rates. It would give immediate cost-of-living relief to all homeowners, and may even make Christopher Luxon more popular.
The country's biggest three-year rates increases are mind blowing, and all the evidence we need to push for this change. According to the Taxpayers' Union's 'rates dashboard', West Coast Regional Council increased its rates by 65.6% over three years. Greater Wellington Regional Council's rates went up by 54.7%; Taranaki Regional Council was 51%.
They seem to be oblivious to the cost-of-living crisis, and they have no problem spending our money.
Wellington City Council spent $2.3m on five public toilets with rainbow lighting. Those are expensive number twos. Council staff who oversaw the project would never spend their own money like that.
Reading these guys the riot act hasn't worked. It's now well past time we culled regional councils, cut the scope and powers of local councils and capped the rates we pay them.
It's not like we need any more evidence to build a case.