Andrew von Dadelszen Former Regional Councillor

We are indebted to Max Mason and Tauranga Chamber of Commerce for instigating last Friday's regional reform on looking for better ways of structuring local government in the Bay of Plenty.

The outstanding speaker of the day was Bob Harvey (current chair of Auckland Waterfront Development and past mayor of Waitakere City) who was inspirational, and challenged us all to think outside the square. A most interesting statement was his call to Tauranga to 'come and get Auckland's port”. He also strongly advocated for rail, saying that a dedicated public rail system between Tauranga and Auckland could be a game-changer. He quoted his old friend and past Auckland mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, saying 'it's wrong to be right too soon” – noting that now was the time for Tauranga and the Bay.

Steven Selwood, chief executive of the New Zealand Council for Infrastructural Development, also encouraged us to be bold. He opened by describing how Denmark built a bridge to Sweden, saying the huge cost was covered by a $60 toll to compete with the ferry service. He urged delegates not to get bogged down by the cost, but to get the strategy right first. He provided evidence that scale does matter, and that while shared services was a good interim solution, it is very hard to sustain over time.

Tauranga local Peter McKinlay, who is a director of the Local Government Centre at AUT University, cautioned about amalgamation for amalgamation's sake, saying local government is more, not less, important, but it can't do it on its own. He said it is less about spending and more about leadership.

The one disappointment of the day, from my perspective, was a lack of a clear sense of direction to take this issue forward. However Max Mason concluded that we need to re-define community leadership. He said that local government has a culture of lack of creativity, and it needs to turn the ratepayer mentality into a citizenship mentality.

We have to do better. In my view ‘business as usual' just won't do, and while this forum was a great start, we now need a structured appraisal system to find a way forward that will benefit us all. If you have a view on these or any other local government issues, I invite you to email me: andrew@vond.co.nz or visit www.vond.co.nz