Regional councils’ demise: the issues It is billed as the biggest shake-up to councils in 30 years, but a lot of questions about how the government’s regional council ‘‘reset’’ will work and what will happen remain unanswered. RNZ political reporter RussellPalmer looks into the issues.

• Published date: 04 December 2025
• Publication title: Southland Express

The ministers argue local government has lost its social licence and change is needed — but councillors and opposition parties are questioning whether the solution on offer is the right one

Part of the problem, according to the government, is many people do not even know what a regional council does.

So here’s what we know, and the thorny issues yet to be teased out.

What are regional councils?

New Zealand has various kinds of councils, but the main three types are:

■Regional councils (11)

■Territorial authorities (67)

■Unitary authorities (6, including Auckland)

They have different roles and responsibilities.

Regional councils look after the environmental aspects of resource management, including things like flood protection, air quality and pest control, as well as public transport planning and funding, civil defence and bulk water supply and treatment.

Set up under the 1989 local government reforms, they cover large regions based primarily on water catchments or drainage basins.

These regions usually include cities, towns and rural areas which are in turn managed by local councils — the ‘‘territorial authorities’’ which include city councils and district councils.

As an example, the Greater Wellington Regional Council handles the regional council responsibilities for the Kāpiti Coast, Porirua, Wellington City, Lower and Upper Hutt, South Wairarapa, Carterton, Masterton and part of the Tararua district — each of which has their own city or district council.

The territorial authorities are responsible for meeting residents’ needs by providing services, including roads, water services, waste and recycling collection, parks and libraries, and administering public safety bylaws.

The third category — unitary authorities — basically combine the responsibilities for territorial and regional councils so the area just has one council.

What is the government doing?

The proposal revealed last Tuesday by RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts is a two-step process.

The first step is abolishing the elected regional councillors and having the mayors of the territorial authorities in each region taking over their responsibilities as a new group, given the memorable name ‘‘combined territories boards’’ (CTBs).

There would be 11 of these boards, to match the current regional boundaries, and the government has also suggested its own representatives could be installed on the boards to provide greater oversight from the Crown.

It should be noted that at this stage the...