Strengthening Local Government and Community Governance in New Zealand

The role of local government and specifically the concept of community governance have been the focus of much attention in recent years. For much of its history, local government was typically viewed by governments and citizens as a conservative sector, valued for its dependability rather than for innovation and its services rather than for its role in promoting community well-being. Public sector reform, globalisation and increasing demands by citizens have increased awareness of, and appreciation for, the potential for local governments to work with other organisations to address complex policy and management issues. These pressures have compelled the sector to innovate, and venture into areas that were previously considered to be outside its remit. Local governments the world over have therefore undergone extensive programmes of reform, often aiming to reorient councils from service delivery roles to broader roles concerned with community well-being, strengthening community leadership, and steering local and regional service providers towards local goals and strategic objectives. This trend has been characterised as a shift from local government to ‘community governance’ (Rhodes 1997, Stoker 2000). Local government in New Zealand is no exception. The Local Government Act 2002 (LGA 2002) broadened local government’s powers and purposes, introducing a collaborative, citizen-centred style of working within a framework oriented to securing community well-being and sustainable development. This research examines the concept and practice of local and community governance, internationally and in New Zealand. Its focus is the local government reforms introduced in New Zealand over the last two decades, and specifically the role of community governance. It uses several research methods to assess options for strengthening community governance in practice. The primary method is the development of a model which examines 10 dimensions of the New Zealand system to assess the degree to which they are able to achieve community governance. In addition, the approach to community planning undertaken by a sample of local authorities is examined to assess the degree to which councils are using this mechanism as an instrument for strengthening community governance. Further, a number of local government participants were invited to answer a range of questions about three alternative governance scenarios designed to test whether or not there is an ‘ideal’ local government structure for achieving community governance.