Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
While opposition parties agree more needs to be done to make local government work better for everybody, they say the government's proposals to scrap regional councils could remove a layer of community voice and expertise.
Under the proposals revealed on Tuesday, district and city mayors would take on the regional councils' roles, forming Combined Territories Boards.
Those boards would then be tasked with coming up with plans to reorganise how their councils are structured long-term.
How those plans look is up to the boards, but they would be assessed against criteria like whether they are realistic, are financially responsible, provide fair and effective representation for communities of interest, and whether they support national priorities, strategies, and goals, are financially responsible.
They would have to be given the final sign-off by the Minister of Local Government.
The government has also stressed it would be "highly unlikely" the status quo is maintained, with Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop saying it would be a "fair summation" that they ended up being unitary authorities.
"The status quo can't remain locked in formaldehyde forever," Bishop said.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Deon Swiggs is chair of Environment Canterbury, as well as chair of Local Government New Zealand's regional sector.
He also recognised that the current model was "unsustainable," but said it was important th
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