United Future New Zealand is totally committed to strong communities, seeing them as integral in creating a strong nation. Local government has a vital role to play in aiding the development of strong communities. Our policy is based on balancing local government autonomy with strong accountability provisions.
Principles
- Establish a balanced partnership with local authorities to encourage the social, environmental cultural and economic growth of communities.
- Minimise costs and encourage efficiencies in local government where possible.
- Minimise the social and environmental impacts upon communities from new developments.
- Preserve community influence on local planning and environmental issues.
- Introduce programmes to improve community safety.
UNITED FUTURE WILL
- Allow local authorities to legitimately acquire earnings from business development through fees, commissions, royalties and corporate assets.
- Minimise rating exemptions to corporates for capital improvements.
- Require local authorities to undertake needs assessment studies every five years.
- Develop a comprehensive crime prevention strategy between city and regional councils, government departments and safer city programmes.
- Give regional councils extended scope to initiate change and development in their area providing certain criteria are met.
- Encourage neighbourhoods and local communities to have input into the designs of government and local government projects in their area.
- Provide for inclusion of public recreational areas as a feature in the design of infrastructural projects.
- Permit the extension of boundaries of territorial local authorities where these will improve overall efficiency.
- Improve and strengthen local body democratic processes.
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