Auckland Regional Council
Encyclopedia
Regions of New Zealand
The region is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. There are 16 regions of New Zealand. Eleven are governed by an elected regional council, while five are governed by territorial authorities which also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities...
(one of the former local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
authorities) of the Auckland Region
Auckland Region
The Auckland Region was one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for the city of Auckland, the country's largest urban area. With one third of the nation's residents, it was by far the biggest population and economy of any region of New Zealand, but the second-smallest land area.On 1...
. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC was subsumed into the Auckland Council
Auckland Council
The Auckland Council is the council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It began operating on 1 November 2010, combining the functions of the existing regional council and the region's seven previous city and district councils into one "super council" or "super city" governed by a mayor, 20...
on 1 November 2010.
Auckland Regional Authority, 1963–1989
The ARC was preceded by the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA), which was formed in 1963. The ARA took over a number of existing operations from other bodies. One of its first areas of responsibility was bulk water supply, which it assumed from Auckland City CouncilAuckland City Council
Auckland City Council was the local government authority representing Auckland City, New Zealand, and was amalgamated into the Auckland Council on 1 November 2010. It was an elected body representing the 404,658 residents of the city...
. Other functions taken over were regional planning, from the Auckland Regional Planning Authority, bulk sewage collection and treatment (south of the harbour only) from the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board, and bus passenger transport from the Auckland Transport Board. Water supply activities included constructing further bulk water storage dams, and treatment and water distribution works. Other achievements were completing and upgrading the Mangere wastewater treatment plant, creating the largest bus fleet in the country at the time, constructing Auckland Airport representing local government in a joint venture with central government and creating the regional parks network, starting with the purchase of what became Wenderholm Regional Park
Wenderholm Regional Park
Wenderholm Regional Park is the first regional park of Auckland, New Zealand. Situated between the estuaries of the Puhoi River and the Waiwera River, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, the park features a homestead known as Couldrey House, and a carved pouwhenua...
.
Functions added at later dates included a regional role operating and regulating refuse disposal, regional roads, the regional water board under the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 and harbour master and marine regulation.
Despite the focus of successor organisations on public transport, ARA had a mixed record on the matter, in 1983 going so far as to propose abolishing the Auckland railway system altogether. As late as 1987, major ARA transport strategy reports were still paying little attention to public transport.
Local government reforms, 1980s–90s
In the late 1980s the Labour governmentFourth Labour Government of New Zealand
The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It enacted major social and economic reforms, including reformation of the tax system. The economic reforms were known as Rogernomics after Finance Minister Roger Douglas...
, consistent with its history of corporatising and privatising government-owned entities, looked to other quasi-commercial entities to apply the same process to. Power boards received early attention, but local government was not considered as potential owners of these and their corporatisations proceeded separately. Port authorities were considered part of local government and the Auckland Harbour Board was corporatised in 1988 as Ports of Auckland
Ports of Auckland
Ports of Auckland Limited , the successor to the Auckland Harbour Board, is the company administering Auckland's commercial freight and cruise ship harbour facilities...
, with the majority shareholding held by the ARA and the minority by Waikato local government. Some non-commercial assets and maritime regulation came to the ARA. The ARA at one stage looked to sell its holding in the port company but the proposal was defeated politically.
The Government also wanted a more commercial arrangement for the Auckland International Airport and it was corporatised in 1988, with the shareholding split between the Government and Auckland local authorities. Substantial airport reserves were also dispersed to the same parties. The ARA had no ongoing role, despite being the representative of the region’s councils in the former joint venture with Government.
Michael Bassett
Michael Edward Rainton Bassett, QSO is a former Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist fourth Labour government...
concluded a reform of all local government in New Zealand. This greatly reduced the number of territorial councils in Auckland but did not materially alter the ARA, which essentially retained its previous functions under the new name of Auckland Regional Council. Anticipating a greater role in the region's governance and needing better accommodation for its staff, the ARC commenced acquisition of a new headquarters in Pitt St, completed in 1990. It was a controversial move, the building later criticised by an Audit Office review for being out-sized. The controversy helped in creating a political justification for the subsequent separation of many of the ARC's functions.
The power to corporatise local government operations as local-authority trading enterprises (LATEs), modelled on state-owned enterprise
Government-owned corporation
A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
s, was created. However this was voluntary, with the exception of transport, where council road design and delivery operations were required to be corporatised. Council bus operations were likewise required to be corporatised, with the ARC bus operation emerging in 1991 as Transport Auckland Ltd, trading as the Yellow Bus Company. The ARC studied forming its commercial operations into LATEs held under a holding company, but was injuncted by Auckland City Council in respect of the water and wastewater function and had a failure of political will in execution.
Bassett’s successor, National
Fourth National Government of New Zealand
The Fourth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 2 November 1990 to 27 November 1999. Following in the footsteps of the previous Labour government, the fourth National government embarked on an extensive programme of spending cuts...
’s Warren Cooper
Warren Cooper
Warren Cooper QSO is a former New Zealand politician. He was a National Party MP from 1975 to 1996, holding cabinet positions including Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence. Cooper also twice served as Mayor of Queenstown, from 1968 to 1975 and 1995 to 2001.-Early life:Cooper was...
, took the process further. He promoted legislation requiring that the remaining ARC corporatisations take place and transferred ownership of the resulting companies from the ARC to a new short-lived body, the Auckland Regional Services Trust (ARST). The businesses transferred included the shareholding in Ports of Auckland and the Yellow Bus Company. Watercare Services Ltd (formed 1992) was one resulting company, the largest local government corporatisation in New Zealand. The Auckland Regional Services Trust was later required to privatise the Yellow Bus Company, which was bought by Stagecoach. The ARC later recovered the Ports of Auckland shareholding when ARST was wound up, and later forceably purchased the minority shares.
Auckland Regional Council, 1989–2010
The ARC had an umbrella function covering all the cities and districtsTerritorial authorities of New Zealand
Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils, and the Chatham Islands Council...
of the region, but its regulatory power and funding abilities were restricted to areas such as public transport, environmental protection and regional parks. The ARC was an elected body, and collected its own rates
Rates (tax)
Rates are a type of property tax system in the United Kingdom, and in places with systems deriving from the British one, the proceeds of which are used to fund local government...
.
The creation of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) subsidiary led to projects like the Northern Busway
Northern Busway, Auckland
thumb|Passengers boarding a [[MAXX Regional Transport]] Northern Express service operated by [[Ritchies Coachlines]].The Northern Busway is a physically separated busway with dedicated park & ride facilities along State Highway 1 in the north of Auckland, New Zealand, linking the North Shore with...
, as well as significant rail and public transport investment, much of it supported by retaining Ports of Auckland in public hands to fund the improvements with the dividends. In the final period before its subsumation into Auckland Council, the ARC was concentrating on the electrification of the Auckland railway network
Auckland Railway electrification
The Auckland railway electrification has been proposed for several decades, but physical works only began in the late 2000s. After investment into new infrastructure and improved services created massive patronage gains on Auckland's commuter rail network in the middle 2000s, the long-discussed...
, building the case for a CBD rail tunnel, and an extension of rail to Auckland Airport.
Land use planning
Land-use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy encompassing various disciplines which seek to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land-use conflicts. Governments use land-use planning to manage the development of land within their...
, a move which was met with criticism from some politicians of the concerned Councils who normally regulate such matters. This criticism surfaced especially during a short-lived 2006 debate on further integration of the Auckland area, where many of the proposals included a proposed abolishment of the ARC, or a changed, less independent role.
One of the mainstays of the ARC's work was expanding the parks network, which as of 2010 included 26 regional parks with more than 40,000 hectares, including many restored natural habitats and sanctuaries developed in cooperation with the Department of Conservation and volunteers.
Of the rates collected by the ARC, 50% would go to fund public transport via ARTA, which is to amount to NZ$155 million in 2007/2008, up from $124 million in the preceding 2-year period 2006/2007. The ARC also managed regional parks with 400 km² and 150 km of coastline, for which 15% of its total funding is spent. A further 19% was spent on ecological concerns, such as water quality and protecting ecosystems. Other minor percentages funded areas like "built environment" (4%), "safety" (1%), "economic development" (3%) and "regional leadership and community development" (8%).
Subsidiaries
- Auckland Regional Holdings (ARH) – holding entityHolding companyA holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, owner of Ports of AucklandPorts of AucklandPorts of Auckland Limited , the successor to the Auckland Harbour Board, is the company administering Auckland's commercial freight and cruise ship harbour facilities...
and other assets - Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) – was responsible for planning, funding and developing the Auckland regional land transport system
Personnel
Chairs- Dove-Myer RobinsonDove-Myer RobinsonSir Dove-Myer Robinson was Mayor of Auckland City from 1959 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1980, the longest tenure of any holder of the office....
- Hugh Lambie
- Tom Pearce
- Lee Murdoch
- Fred Thomas
- Colin KayColin KayColin Kay CBE was a New Zealand sportsman and politician. He was the 34th Mayor of Auckland City, elected for one term serving from 1980 to 1983, and chairman of the Auckland Regional Council from 1986 to 1992...
- Phil Warren
- Mike LeeMike Lee (New Zealand politician)Michael Lee is a councillor on the Auckland Council and the former chairman of the Auckland Regional Council, both in Auckland, New Zealand...
General managers / chief executives
- Fergie Schiska
- Hugh Aimer
- Murray Sargent
- Colin Knox
- George Tyler
- Jo Brosnahan
- Peter Winder
External links
- Auckland Regional Council (official website, limited material - most content has now transferred to the Auckland Council website)