1 Jun 2010

900 submissions on proposed abolition of council

4:42 pm on 1 June 2010

Northland councils have received more than 900 submissions from the public on their proposals for local government reform.

The Far North and Whangarei district councils are each pushing for unitary status, which would mean abolishing the regional council and dividing its assets.

Meetings around the region to discuss the proposals were mostly poorly attended, with ratepayers sceptical about the need for change.

But the Whangarei council says the number of submissions shows there is keen public interest in the proposal.

Paul Dell, who is managing the process for the councils, says Whangarei got 530 submissions and the Far North 400.

Regional council, Kaipara reject idea

Both the regional council and the Kaipara District Council have rejected the whole idea.

The former says the proposals are based on the political aspirations of the Whangarei and Far North mayors and the latter says it has no wish to throw its lot in with Whangarei.

Mayor Neil Tiller says Kaipara's community of interest lies increasingly to the south and it has no interest in linking with Whangarei.