Submit Now - Hands Off Tasman!

Hands Off Tasman

“The Local Government Commission is calling for submissions on the proposal for the union of Nelson City and Tasman District” (Local Government Commission, 9 September 2010).

It did not receive a proposal for:

·         “a fair independent review of options” or

·         “an amalgamation study petition” or

·         “an independent financial analysis to review the costs and benefits” or even

·         “a review of all governance options”.

They received a petition, lodged by Aldo Miccio and signed by 10% of electors of the Nelson City and 10% of electors of Tasman District, to look into amalgamation, as the only option.  The Local Government Commission will not, for example, look into splitting up the existing Councils so that there may be separate Golden Bay or Motueka Councils once again, nor will they look into Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough having one regional council again.  They will look at the status quo and amalgamation.

The information presented to the public on the petition to form a union of the Nelson and Tasman Councils has been quite misleading.  Statements such as “it will be at no cost to the ratepayers” are simply incorrect.

We want the public to be able to make an informed choice on their representation options, when and if they want a review of the current Council structures.

That being said, central government are intending to undertake a nationwide review of local government representation next year and Rodney Hide has repeatedly requested that Councils do not proceed with any ad hoc proposals, but rather wait until this review has been conducted.

The process from here is:

·         The Local Government Commission has now called for submissions.  These close 8 November 2010.  Submissions may be made on any matter you consider relevant to the proposal such as loss of representation, costs to amalgamate, why you prefer the status quo etc.

 After the closing date for submissions the process is as follows:

·         The Commission gives the submissions received to the ‘representative of electors’ (Aldo Miccio) and provides the opportunity for the representative to withdraw the proposal.

·         If the proposal is not withdrawn, the Commission will likely meet with the affected and adjoining local authorities, iwi, relevant government agencies and people who have selected that they wish to talk at a submission.

·         The Commission may carry out other investigations and inquiries so that it has enough information on which to make a decision.

·         The Commission then decides whether to issue a draft reorganisation scheme or not to proceed with the proposal.

·         If the Commission issues a draft reorganisation scheme, it will then invite submissions which will include details of how a proposal would be implemented.

·         The Commission would then consider submissions received on the draft and will then decide whether to issue a final reorganisation scheme based on the draft scheme.

·          If the Commission issue a final reorganisation scheme, two polls are held – one in Nelson City and one in Tasman District.

·         If polls are required, a final scheme would be put into effect if a majority of those who vote in each poll are in favour of the scheme.

For more information go to the Commission’s website www.lgc.govt.nz and click ‘current proposals’.