That problem is that regional councils often duplicate what city and district councils do. Another problem is that it takes regional councils, on average, seven years to come up with plans for how to manage local assets like fresh water. Yet another problem is that those plans can cost several million dollars. Like the Waikato Regional Council’s plan for how to clean up its rivers, which at last count cost $23 million.

Those problems are not solved by simply removing 12 or 15 elected councillors. But it’s the first step towards that.

First, the councillors are scrapped. Second, the boards of the local mayors must decide how to run their region in the future. Third, the Resource Management Act reform tidies up the planning nonsense, so it doesn’t take seven years and $23m just to come up with a plan.

But let’s deal with the second bit, because that is the fascinating part. Some reckon the mayors all over the country will be forced to decide to amalgamate, so we end up with just 17 councils, each one like Auckland’s Council.

The Super City council, remember, is the result of joining up seven city and district councils with the Auckland Regional Council. That is basically what some foresee for every region in New Zealand.

I’m not so sure. It’ll work in a place like Wellington, where it makes absolute sense to amalgamate Wellington city, Porirua, Kāpiti, the two Hutts and the regional council into one Super City.

But in a place like Waikato, it makes less sense. Simply because of the farmers. Rural ratepayers will bristle at being lumped into one big authority with Hamilton so the townies can tell them what to do on the farm.

It might be smarter for Waikato to break into two councils, one of them taking the hospital pass and including Hamilton.

Same for Canterbury and its rural-urban split.

But either way, we will inevitably end up with fewer councils. Which has to happen.

Let me give you some numbers. We have 5.3 million people. We have 1600 local body politicians. They’re elected across 78 territorial authorities. We have 1200 different sets of rules in those authorities. Japan has 13 sets of rules. It’s the same size geographically.

With 170 elected officials, Auckland has more politicians running the city than New Zealand has running the country.

Carterton has its own mayor, and its own council with presumably its own HR department and IT support and legal costs. It has fewer than 5000 ratepayers. Carterton is 10 times smaller than a suburb in Auckland.

Joining things up will find efficiencies. Just taking a closer look will probably do it. Wellington City Council has just revealed it has 330 too many employees.

So good riddance to regional councillors and every other position that will be cut by the end of this process, to the relief of long-suffering ratepayers.

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