Porirua City Council has formally opposed the Government’s proposal to remove regional councillors and replace them with a Combined Territories Board made up of mayors.
The position is outlined in the council’s submission on the Government’s Simplifying Local Government draft proposal, adopted at last week’s council meeting.
The proposal would see regional councillors abolished and replaced with a mayoral board responsible for taking over all regional council functions and preparing a regional reorganisation plan within two years.
In its submission, Porirua City Council says it “strongly disagrees” with replacing regional councillors with a Combined Territories Board, known as a CTB.
The council argues that removing recently elected regional councillors would cut across the democratically expressed preferences of voters at the 2025 local government election.
“Regional councillors should remain in place until any new local government arrangements have been implemented,” the submission states.
The council also rejects any Crown participation in regional decision-making through a CTB, saying membership should be limited to mayors if boards are established.
Concerns over workload and local focus
The submission raises concerns about the workload and focus of mayors under the proposed model.
Regional councils oversee complex functions critical to the success of regional economies and communities, the council notes. It says removing experienced regional councillors and transferring those responsibilities to mayors could create unsustainable workloads.
Mayors and councillors are elected to represent local communities and make decisions for their own cities and districts, the submission says. Shifting them into regional governance roles could reduce their ability to focus on local issues and ratepayers’ concerns.
Voting model questioned
While Porirua supports proportional voting for mayors on a CTB, adjusted for effective representation, it opposes the proposed dual-condition voting model for some resource management decisions.
Under that model, a decision would only pass if it had the support of members representing more than 50 percent of the population and more than 50 percent of CTB members with a voting mandate.
The council says this approach is contrary to the principle of one person, one vote, and could give smaller councils disproportionate influence over major decisions.
It says this is of particular concern for decisions affecting the restoration and management of Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour and its catchments.
Reorganisation plans supported, but not CTB-led
Porirua supports the idea of developing regional reorganisation plans to define future governance arrangements. However, it strongly disagrees that Combined Territories Boards should lead that process.
Instead, it says plans should be prepared by existing regional partners working together, including the regional council, city and district councils and iwi, with strong public and stakeholder consultation.
The submission also calls for stronger recognition of Te Tiriti and improved Māori representation in any reformed system. It notes the loss of Māori constituencies on regional councils would be significant and describes the lack of formal Māori representation on CTBs as a step backward.
Mayor Anita Baker signed the submission on behalf of the council.
The Government is seeking feedback from councils on the draft proposal before deciding next steps for local government reform.