At the time of writing, two of three intended bills have been released that will form the legal structure of the new Auckland Council. Presently, the governance of Auckland is managed by two types of authorities. The first is the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) which manages the region’s air and water quality, its growth and development, regional parks, public transport, the coastal and marine environment, and natural and cultural heritage sites.[1] The second component of governance is made up of the territorial authorities, which include three district councils and four city councils. Beneath these councils are divisions for wards and community boards; the councils are responsible for legislating and planning for city-wide issues, while the boards deal with more localised matters.[2] The new structure will see these amalgamated into one council with one mayor for the entire region and 20 – 30 community boards to administer to their respective communities.[3] While the developments so far have been mainly of a legal and structural nature and have avoided much discussion of substantive issues, visions and interests have nonetheless begun to be offered and discussed by both the leaders of the changes, and the Auckland community. Whilst there are not yet formal proposals of strategic directions or policies for the new council, it is not too early to begin to speculate on what the agenda might focus.
Concerns have been raised by the local arts and creative community, that the agenda of the new council will exclude considerations of the importance of the arts in the growth of the city. Rodney Hide, as the Minister for Local Government, has intimated plans to strip local funding back to core services and reduce support to sectors such as arts and culture.[4] The community has held a meeting to address and voice its concerns about its place in the future super-city.[5] These concerns included: the removal of social and cultural wellbeing provisions from the Local Government Act; the potential lack of recognition of the contribution that the arts sector makes to local and national economy; the loss of progress made and commitments undertaken within strategies formed by the existing councils; and the loss or reduction of funding and provision of utilities by current councils.[6]A positive potential outcome that was identified was the opportunity to develop a region-wide vision and strategy for the arts sector that could unify the arts community and strategies developed around it.[7] As the transition legislation proposes to compound the Long-Term Council Community Plans (LTCCP) into one, [8] as well as to develop an economic plan for the region,[9] the possibility for an arts and cultural strategy to be developed in tandem with these measures is a potentially feasible addition. Whilst the legislation proposals have highlighted various priorities for the future direction of the city, they have made little reference or provision for the role that arts and culture will occupy.
The institutional arrangements and strategic policies of London and Toronto were selected as models for the purposes of this report’s analysis. These two cities are examples of regions making deliberate efforts to support and promote the progress of arts and culture within their cities, as well as recognising the impact the sector makes on the growth and prosperity of the city as a whole. Toronto was chosen for this reason and also because it is a city that has undergone restructuring akin to that proposed for Auckland.[10] London and Toronto ranked highly on the Global Cities Index[11] as the best cities to get some culture, ranking first and fourth respectively. Further evidence on the impact of the arts and creative industries on the economies of each region is detailed below, in the section discussing the importance of the arts. It is hoped that by emulating these successful strategies, Auckland will accrue similar benefits to the prosperity of its arts sector and its city’s economy and wellbeing.
Page 3 of 11
Next page
[1] Auckland Regional Council. (2009). “About the ARC.” Retrieved 20th October, 2009, from http://www.arc.govt.nz/council/about-the-arc/about-the-arc_home.cfm.
[2] Auckland City Council. (2009). “Role of Council and Committees.” Retrieved 20th October, 2009, from http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/members/roles/default.asp.
[3] Rodney Hide and John Carter. (2009). “Auckland Governance Legislation Committee report released.” Retrieved 4th September, 2009, from http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/news/industry-news/2009/sep/60163-auckland-governance-legislation-committee-report-released.
[4] Creative People’s Centre. (2009). “Supercity Plans Endanger Arts Sector.” Retrieved 16th June, 2009, from http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/chat/forums/advocacy-forum/57377.
[5] Arts, Culture and Auckland Super-City’, community meeting held at TAPAC, Auckland on September 1, 2009
[6] The Big Idea. (2009). “Strong turnout at Super City arts meeting.” Retrieved 3rd September, 2009, from http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/news/industry-news/2009/sep/60104-strong-turnout-super-city-arts-meeting.
[7] ‘Arts, Culture and Auckland Super-City’
[8] New Zealand Government (2009). Making Auckland Greater. Local Government. Wellington. p. 22
[9] Ibid. p. 25
[10] Andrew Sancton. ”Differing approaches to municipal restructuring in Montreal and Toronto: from the Pichette Report to the Greater Toronto Services Board.” Canadian Journal of Regional Science. 22.1-2 (Spring-Summer 1999): 187-99.
[11] Foreign Policy. (2008). “The 2008 Global Cities Index.” Retrieved 1st September, 2009, from http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4509&page=7.