Council to speak on bill concern
Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt and Invercargill City Council chief executive Richard King will lead a team to Christchurch today to appear before the select committee hearing submissions on the Better Local Services Bill.
Shadbolt, King, city solicitor Warwick Cambridge and council strategy and policy manager Melissa Short will appear before members of the Local Government and Environment Select Committee in Christchurch at 3pm.
The Invercargill City Council is opposing amendments that allow major change to be imposed on local communities, with little or no community support.
In particular the Council questions the removal of the right to a judicial review; the lack of poll provisions in the transfer of water assets to a council controlled organisation (CCO); and changing of poll provisions so amalgamations can go ahead even if residents in local areas disagree.
In July, the Invercargill City Council called for Southlanders to unite and fight against legislation currently before Parliament that it believed attacks local democracy.
The Council also ran a public poll and respondents were overwhelmingly opposed to provisions in the Better Local Services Bill.
In a statement issued yesterday, the council says comments from Local Government Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga, that he had discussed the issues with southern councils earlier this year, were misleading.
The Invercargill City Council’s position is backed by Local Government New Zealand, with 97 per cent of councils vigorously opposing measures to remove local decision-making around council assets at the Local Government New Zealand Conference in late July, the statement says.