John MacDonald: Don't dismiss the Christchurch supercity idea

A couple of advisors at the Christchurch City Council have ripped into the Government’s plan for regional councils and have said to councillors that they reckon there’s a better way.

Or more correctly, two better potential ways. Instead of having local mayors run regional councils for two years and, during that time, work out how they’re going to get by without a regional council. At a briefing meeting yesterday, two principal policy advisors put two options on the table for councillors to think about.

Option 1: Amalgamate the Christchurch, Selwyn, and Waimakariri councils to create a new super city. Which I've been a fan of for quite some time now.

And Option 2: Keep all three councils and have the city council take over ECAN’s regional council functions.

The reason these two council advisors have put these two options up for discussion is that they think having local mayors run ECAN for two years and work out a new structure for local government is a “weak” idea, which wouldn’t do any favours for Christchurch ratepayers.

And I get what they’re saying, because as soon as you get three mayors around the table, they’re just going to be interested in what’s in it for them, aren’t they? Which is the same approach these policy advisors are taking. They’re on the city council pay roll and so they have to think about what’s best for Christchurch city.

And I like their idea of a supercity.

But every time a supercity is mentioned, some people are quick to point to Auckland as an argument against it. The Auckland supercity brought together seven city and district councils and the regional council back in 2010. But a supercity in the greater Christchurch area would be nowhere near the same scale. We’re talking here about just three councils: Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri.

We’ve done amalgamation before on a much smaller scale. Back in 2006, Banks Peninsula Council amalgamated with Christchurch city.

The issue then was that Banks Peninsula didn’t have a big enough population to get the rates it needed to operate properly. Selwyn and Waimakariri don’t have that problem – they’ve grown massively since the earthquakes. Selwyn, especially.

But half of the people living in Selwyn come into Christchurch every day for work and school, and they contribute nothing towards the cost of the running of the city. They’re using the city’s roads and so many of the other facilities that they pay nothing for.

Add to that the relatively small distance between Selwyn, Christchurch and Waimakariri, and amalgamation is a no-brainer. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast where John McDonald
from newstalksb.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Would you Rather? Because a couple of advisors at the
Christchurch City Council have ripped into the government's plan for
regional councils and have said to counselors that they reckon
there's a better way, or more correctly two potential better ways,
instead of having local mayors run regional councils for two
years and during that time try and work out how

(00:34):
they're going to get by without a regional council And
this is where the would you rather bit comes into it.
So at a briefing meeting yesterday, principal policy advisors Tom
Lee and Luke Adams never heard of them before, they
put two options on the table for councilors to think about.
Option one amalgamate the christ Church, Selwyn and Weymarcer Reity

(00:58):
Councils to create a new supercity, which I've been a
big fan of for quite some time now. Option two
keep all three councils as they are at the moment
and have the City Council take over ecan's functions. So
that's the would you rather? Would you rather? We amalcolmate
christ Church, Selwyn and WAIMAKERI or keep the three councils

(01:20):
and have the City Council take over e CAN effectively. Now,
the reason these two council advisors, the reason they put
up these two options for discussion, is that they think
having local mayors run e CAN for two years, as
the government is proposing, have local mayors run e CAN
for two years and work out a new structure for
local government. They think that that is quote a weak

(01:41):
idea which wouldn't do any favors for christ Church ratepayers.
And I get what they're saying there, because as soon
as you get three mayors around the table, they're just
going to be interested in what's in it for them,
aren't they. That's what's going to happen, which is kind
of the same approach these policy advisors are taking. I mean,
they're on the city council payroll, so they have to
think about what's best for christ Church City. I like

(02:04):
what they're doing, and I liked the idea of a supercity.
But every time a supercity is mentioned, some people they're quick,
aren't they to point to Auckland as an argument against it.
They say, oh, man, look what's happened at Auckland. Why
would we do that. Let me just remind you the
Auckland Supercity brought together seven city and district councils and

(02:27):
the regional council back in twenty ten. But a super
city in the greater christ Church area would be nowhere
near the same scale we're talking about. Well that Auckland was.
I mean, what we're talking about here is just three
councils christ Church, Selwyn and Waimakadi, not seven like Auckland.

(02:48):
And we've done a little bit of amalgamation before, I
mean granted on a much smaller scale. That was back
in two thousand and six when Banks Peninsula amalgamated with
christ Church City. The issue then was that Bank's Peninsula
didn't have a big enough population to get the rates
that needed to operate properly. Selwyn and Macredi they don't
have that problem, and they've grown massively since the earthquakes,

(03:10):
Selwyn especially. But this is the clincher. Half of the
people living in Selwyn still come into christ Church every
day for work in school, and they contribute nothing towards
the cost of running the city. They're using the city's
roads and so many of the other facilities that they
pay nothing for. Not to mention the relatively small distance
between Selwyn, christ Church and way Macredi. I say that

(03:33):
Selwyn mayor Lydia Glidden isn't saying much at the stage.
Neither is some y Max Dan Gordon. But we're free
to talk about it. And I've told you what my
answer is to the would you rather question? Super city?
But what's yours? Would you rather we amalgamate christ Church,
Selwyn and Wymarcredi or keep the three councils and just

(03:58):
how the city council will take over I can effectively
For

Speaker 1 (04:01):
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