Mayor's column – Getting reform right for Northland
Published on 13 July 2026
A fortnightly column by Whangārei Mayor Ken Couper.
Last week, members from the four Northland councils, working together as the Elected Member Steering Group, identified a preferred option for a new local government structure in the region. It is hoped that this forms the groundwork for our regional proposal under the Government's Head Start pathway.
The preferred option is a single unitary authority but achieving that by taking a staged approach.
That recommendation reflects analysis, community feedback, and the collective view of steering group members, and it forms the proposed option that will go to the Government by 9 August 2026, subject to decisions from all four Northland councils over the week ahead.
Northland has been here before. A decade ago, the idea of bringing the four councils together into a single unitary authority was put in front of our communities, and it was firmly rejected. That was the position of the region at the time, and it was a clear one.
Ten years on, we are in a very different place. Councils are running services in a tighter financial climate, the cost of living has climbed for our households and our businesses, planning and delivering the infrastructure Northland relies on is stronger when we do it together, and Central Government has made clear that reform is coming regardless of what any one region thinks.
Those pressures have shifted the ground under this conversation, and Northlanders have shifted with it. What was rejected then is something we are now ready to work through together.
More importantly, the direction from Government is clear. Reform is happening, and the question in front of us is how we shape it in a way that works for Northland, rather than have it shaped for us.
The staged approach is a considered answer to that question. It sets a clear destination, a single Northland-wide unitary authority, and it gives us a workable pathway to get there.
It would give us the time to build the arrangements properly along the way, taking the community with us. It would also send a clear signal of our intent as a region to Central Government and will give them confidence that Northland is serious about reaching its potential.
The staged approach is important because Northland is not one flat landscape. Financial positions between our councils differ, service delivery arrangements have been built up over years, and community identities across the Far North, Kaipara, Whangārei and the regional council area are strong.
Those things are part of what makes this region what it is, and a staged pathway would give us the time to bring them together properly, so what we build sits on a solid footing.
Steering group members weighed the choices carefully, and the recommendation was that a staged pathway would provide Northland the best chance of building arrangements that hold up over time.
Getting reform right for Northland is what matters, and this is a pathway that lets us do that with our eyes open. While still staying true to the direction set by Central Government.
As elected leaders, we have been tasked with this by the Government, but it is not a job leaders can do well on their own. The outline proposal is one step in a longer process.
What matters from here is that our communities stay with us on this journey, because reform of this scale is only ever as strong as the community that stands behind it.
The task from here is to find the solutions that sit between our four councils, and to make sure they are practical, hold up over time, and serve Northland as a whole.
A staged pathway would give us the time to do that properly and give our communities the time to move with us. That is the work now in front of our councils as this process unfolds.