By Nick Clark, Federated Farmers National Manager General Policy On 28 October the Review into the Future for Local Government released its draft report on its vision for local government, […]
Rates
Council review a chance to achieve better ratepayer equity
Yet another local government review is underway – but will its recommendations actually be picked up, especially regarding cost fairness? The existing system of property value rates is loaded against […]
Feds urges core infrastructure focus this Council triennium
There are myriad issues facing local government but always keep front of mind the topic that was likely top of the list of most residents’ concerns out on the campaign […]
Mayor contenders agree on water storage and ‘broken’ council funding model
By Simon Edwards They differed on priorities and approach but mayoral candidates for the Wairarapa’s three councils found some common ground on issues impacting farmers and the wider community. At […]
Water reform proposals ‘deeply flawed’
Bigger is not necessarily better – and probably won’t be in the case of the proposed new mega water services entities, Federated Farmers says. While there are problems with three […]
Council candidates deserve searching questions
With sweeping changes facing local government, and the very existence of some councils under threat, Federated Farmers is urging rural New Zealanders to step up their interest in the election […]
High Court backs Wairoa council’s bold move on forestry rates
By Debbie Bidlake, Federated Farmers Senior Policy Advisor Wairoa has boldly gone where few councils have gone before - never mind small, resource poor ones. It has introduced a x […]
Rural representation in nation’s Council chambers in crisis
By Debbie Bidlake, Senior Policy Advisor How important are rural wards and how hard should we fight to retain them? With an increasingly urban population (about 87% of us live […]
Councils Keeping the Change
As we have discovered, there is a wide variation in how councils manage refunds; Some specify that deposits are non-refundable or reserve complete discretion, others charge fees and others withhold.
Feds fights Rotorua bill that bypasses LGC’s fair representation ruling
Federated Farmers of New Zealand is joining the fray with the Rotorua-Taupo Feds province over a change that, if enacted, could set a very unfortunate precedent on local authority representation […]
