Christchurch leaves LGNZ

Radio NZ reports:

Christchurch City Council has announced it is resigning from Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ).

Councillors at a meeting today decided to no longer be part of LGNZ, after its annual membership costs rose by more than $20,000.

The decision came after a report was presented at the meeting about renewing the annual membership subscription for the association, which represents the interests of councils around the country. The annual cost for Christchurch is $163,254.75 plus GST for the 2024/2025 year.

This means LGNZ has lost its two largest members (Auckland and Christchurch) and no longer represents around 40% of New Zealand’s population.

It is a pity in some ways. Ideally every Council in NZ would belong to a united industry group to represent them. But the damage done by their stance on supporting Three Waters against the wishes of so many Councils has left scars that will take a long time to heal. They ended up lobbying the Councils on behalf of the Government, instead of vice-versa.

I suspect in time, Auckland and Christchurch will rejoin. But only after a fairly long period of time.