Local Government
Councils are responsible for the regulation of natural resources, including land, water and air, which are obviously important for the business of farming.Councils also regulate other activities and provide infrastructure and services to their local communities. It is important to remember that farmers may or, in many instances, may not use these facilities. Farmers therefore have a keen interest in local government.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Local Government Act 2002 provides councils with a "power of general competence"
and an activist purpose statement to promote "community well-being".
Federated Farmers considers community well-being can best be achieved by councils containing spending and thereby keeping rates down. Councils should focus on doing their core functions well; local regulation and the provision and maintenance of local infrastructure
such as roading, water and waste. Most councils engage to a greater or lesser degree in the provision of commercial ventures and recreation and cultural facilities and activities.
In 2010 changes were made to the Local Government Act in an attempt to encourage councils to focus on their core functions, but the Act's list of these functions is very broad and goes beyond local public goods.
Federated Farmers considers the best way to get councils focussed on core functions is to ensure council activities are funded according to who benefits and that ratepayers get good information to assess the benefits they get from council activities. The 2010 changes to the
Local Government Act include provisions to improve this information and should help.
A major review of the local government system is looking into roles and responsibilities of local government. Federated Farmers supports this review.
Structure of Local Government
The reforms of Auckland governance and the creation of the new Auckland Council have sparked debate throughout the country on whether other amalgamations or restructurings should occur. Federated Farmers has no national position on local government restructuring. We are open to change, but any decision on whether to support or oppose a specific proposal is made on a case-by-case basis at a local level, weighing up the pros and cons for
farmers.
Rural Representation
The Local Electoral Act 2001 has diminished rural representation, a particular concern when
councils depend heavily on rates based on property value. The Act requires strict adherence
to a +/- 10 percent quota for the number of people each councillor should represent. While the Act allows for a greater degree of representation for isolated and distinct communities of interest, the resulting council representation reviews have seen a reduction in rural wards and the number of councillors from rural parts of districts. Federated Farmers wants a return of the law that existed prior to 2001, when councils had more flexibility and were able to consider factors other than population, such as geographic area or community of interest.
Dog Control
Councils are responsible for controlling dogs in their districts. Farms can have large numbers of working dogs on their properties and dog registration fees can be a significant impost on farmers, especially when working dogs usually never leave the property so are generally of low risk to others. There is also great variation among councils in dog registration fees and some consistency in processes for setting these fees and those of other user charges would be useful. Furthermore, Federated Farmers wants to ensure any further changes to dog control laws do not impose unreasonable costs on responsible owners of farm working dogs.
Roading
Roading is a key activity for local government, probably the most important for farmers. For our comments on road funding please refer to the section ‘Transport-Infrastructure'.
Local Government Forum: Newsletter
The Local Government Forum produces an annual newsletter, which offers commentary on a range of issues affecting local governance.
Download the below file to view the latest newsletter
Federated Farmers wants
- Government to settle Dairy Industry Restructuring Act and Raw Milk Regulations- The review of the local government system to consider how best to focus councils on core functions
- A holistic view taken of environmental degradation that recognises the steps being taken to improve performance.
- The review of the local government system to consider local government structural issues but to not impose
solutions from Wellington
- Councils to be given fl exibility to decide representation arrangements
- More consistency in the processes for setting user charges, including dog registration fees
- Any changes to dog control to not impose unreasonable costs on the responsible owners of farm working dogs.
Spokesperson
The National Board spokesman for local government is David Rose. You can contact David at drose@fedfarm.org.nz
