John Cronin BOP Regional Council Chairman www.boprc.govt.nz

Last week the Government made changes to the law that sets out how local government works.

The intention is basically to ensure all councils work in ways that are cost-effective for households and businesses.

I fully support local councils acting responsibly, looking at the cost-effectiveness of their decisions, and acting in the best interests of their ratepayers – that's what drives good councillors to stand for election.

In the 12 years that I have been chairman, this new legislation is perhaps the most significant as to how councils, and amalgamations of councils, may operate into the future, and has generally been below the publics' ‘radar' of what is planned by Central Government.

As chairman I've always been very conscious of the need to act prudently when we set regional council rates, and deliver services at prudent cost.

We already partner with the region's district and city councils and central government in a variety of projects and initiatives, including making considerable savings through shared purchasing and procurement (BOPLASS).

For some time now we've been asking management and staff to look closely at all parts of their operations to ensure they're efficient and effective in what they do.

As a result we're well set up to respond positively to the amendments.

In our current annual planning process we're taking a long, hard look at what the amendments will mean to our proposed work programme and how we should pay for it.

In future columns I'll let you know how you can have your say and then I'll report back as decisions are made. Keep reading.