Williamson Maurice: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3) — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWilliamson Maurice: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading[Sitting date: 03 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15148. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Minister for Building and Construction) on behalf of theMinister of Local Government: I moveThat the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 3) be now read a first time. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Local Government and Environment Committee with an instruction that the committee report to the House on or before 12 May 2014. It is my privilege to introduce this bill. In doing so I must acknowledge the work of the Hon Nick Smith. My colleague was the original architect of the Better Local Government reforms significant parts of which this bill implements and he has continued to provide valuable support and ideas. I also acknowledge the work of the Rt Hon David Carter under whose direction the bill to implement the first phase of the Better Local Government reforms was passed.Local authorities provide important services and infrastructure that households and businesses use every day. It is therefore vital to the New Zealand economy society in general and even the environment that councils are efficient effective and well run. We need to be confident that our local authorities are capable of facing the challenges of the 21st century. This bill enables better and more efficient local authority operations. It is about providing councils with the tools and options with which they can up their game. It includes provisions designed to provide greater transparency to communities about how councils are planning to manage and are managing the infrastructure those communities so heavily rely on.These changes are complemented by other good-practice initiatives such as Local Government New Zealand’s plan to soon introduce a centre of excellence to assist the sector in financial effectiveness and value. Although the bill is not specifically aimed at the worst-case scenarios the Kaipara District Council situation is worthy of mention. The Auditor-General has just completed her investigation into the council’s involvement in a waste-water scheme. I do not propose to discuss the details of that case but they provide salutary lessons to us all. This bill and legislation passed last year address many of those lessons. Changes enacted last year allow Ministers to identify potential problems with councils obtain information on their nature and extent and provide an appropriately tailored response. This bill introduces requirements for greater transparency in the management of infrastructure and greater discipline in the documentation of agreements for infrastructure that is to be provided by third parties. Councils will be required to consult their communities using more tightly focuseddocuments that highlight key issues rather than having these hidden in lengthy often opaque draft plans.This bill also complements the changes made to the Local Government Act in 2012 in other ways. It increases the range of options through which local authorities can achieve efficiencies and the scale at which services and facilities are delivered. For some councils and communities the best option may be to follow the reorganisation path to amalgamation or to other major restructuring. Others may find perfectly worthwhile solutions to issues by working together and increasing their use of shared services.The bill expands the options available for local authority reorganisations. The Local Government Commission will be able to consider establishing local boards as part of the governance arrangements for new unitary authorities as well as in existing unitary authorities. The boards will have features similar to those in Auckland but can be tailored to local circumstances. In the circumstances where reorganisation is not justified or not possible the bill contains measures to make it easier for councils to cooperate and collaborate to improve efficiency and effectiveness.The bill also includes measures to enable councils to achieve efficiencies in other ways. For example the Government has decided to provide councils with more flexibility about how they consult their communities. This is not about removing requirements to consult but about improving the processes that are used. The aim is to enable councils to design engagement processes that are appropriate to a range of different circumstances and community interests. The new significance and engagement policies will provide a clearer guide about how and when communities can expect to be engaged.This bill reduces the number of occasions where the costly and time-consuming special consultation procedure has to be used. It enables the use of a wider range of technology with which councils can communicate with their communities. The bill also improves consultation on council long-term plans and annual plans. It provides for consultation documents with a greater focus on the issues that are important to ratepayers rather than containing voluminous detailed information that is understood by very few.Local authorities own more than $96 billion in fixed assets mostly infrastructure. The majority of councils are managing their assets well on a day-to-day basis but communities require greater assurance that these assets are being managed strategically and sustainably over the long term. This bill therefore reinforces the importance of asset management planning as part of a council’s prudent stewardship of resources. It requires local authorities to prepare an infrastructure strategy for at least a 30-year period. The strategy will identify the significant infrastructure issues faced by the local authority the options for addressing the issues and the implications of those options. Officials at the Department of Internal Affairs have prepared an example infrastructure strategy to help illustrate what it is intended to do and how it might look. I encourage submitters on the bill to view the example infrastructure strategy which is available on the department’s Better Local Government website. I am advised that it has been downloaded around 560 times already.One means by which local authorities raise money to pay for infrastructure to meet growth is through development contributions. Development contributions are one of many costs that make up the price of new houses. Therefore it is important that development contributions are fair and no higher than they should be. This Government does not want future generations priced out of homeownership. This bill introduces a measure to ensure that development contributions are better focused and more transparent. The range of infrastructure for which development contributions can becharged will be narrowed. This narrowing reflects the principle that developers should pay only for the infrastructure that is required by the development whereas communities pay for the infrastructure that will benefit the whole community.This bill also introduces a new objections process through which people can challenge inappropriate development contributions charges. New principles are included to guide how development contributions should be applied and there is greater encouragement for developers to provide more local infrastructure in return for paying lower development contributions. Commencement provisions in the bill mean that councils will need to review and update their development contributions policies within 1 month of the bill’s enactment. This reflects the need for urgency. I appreciate however that many councils may find this time frame ambitious. The select committee process provides an opportunity for those councils and other interested parties to express their views on this matter. I will be interested in the committee’s assessment of whether the time frame in the bill is indeed appropriate.In 2002 local government legislation was updated for the start of the 21st century. This bill ensures that local authorities are equipped to meet the challenges of the decade ahead. I commend this bill to the House.