After months of councils racing to meet the Government’s extraordinarily tight timetable for local government reform, Head Start has finally hit the brakes.

An interesting response landed in my inbox today from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Four months ago, Christopher Luxon and Wayne Brown stood together to announce what the Government called a “landmark Auckland Deal” and a “new era of long-term partnership” between central and local g...

When Te Kāhui Mahi launched its vision for saving Kāpiti Airport last August, it said a profitable commercial model was being developed with the backing of a growing network of strategic investors.

Disappointed, but not surprised in the slightest.

Building on Local Aotearoa’s previous story revealing that the Government has no position on whether Kāpiti Airport remains open or closes, three further official information responses raise fresh que...

New research into where New Zealanders live and work strengthens the case for Kāpiti joining a Wellington-region council rather than watching its future be decided from the outside.

When asked about the current local government reorganisation process underway, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently told a public meeting in Whangārei that National was “not mandating it from Wel...

In an exclusive report, Local Aotearoa can reveal that the Government is not coming to the rescue of Kāpiti Airport.

Every so often, Kāpiti Airport gets handed the perfect anecdote.

There is an understandable temptation in local politics to treat conflict of interest rules as a nuisance.

One of the more frustrating features of New Zealand’s housing debate is how often individual examples are used to “prove” sweeping conclusions.

Kāpiti has always had a slightly complicated relationship with the Wellington region.

Kāpiti has always had a slightly complicated relationship with the Wellington region.

If local government feels overwhelmed at the moment, that is because almost every lever that shapes the sector is being pulled at once.

I’m not surprised it’s come to this.

As the usual cycle of Kāpiti Airport drama unfolds in the lead-up to this year’s election, it’s worth asking a more uncomfortable question: not simply whether the airport can be saved, but whether it’...

Once again, Kāpiti Airport is apparently on the verge of closing.

The clock is ticking: Councils now have three months to lead reform themselves, or have central government do it for them.

There’s a tactic popping up again in local housing debates: take a perfectly ordinary townhouse development and call it “high density”.

While today’s mega-ministry announcement has drawn plenty of hype and concern, it’s the wider reform programme already in motion that will have the greatest impact on the economy, communities, and the...

In Local Aotearoa’s biggest transparency win so far, the Ombudsman has told Greater Wellington Regional Council that its practice of closing all workshops to the public is unreasonable.

Kāpiti is at a crossroads. Whether we join an amalgamated council or choose to remain independent, our leaders must front up and engage in good faith. Opting out means giving up our community’s abilit...

Yes, you read that correctly: the Wellington region is once again gearing up for another push at amalgamation, so I’ve put together 10 recommendations on how our leaders might approach things differen...

In what looks likely to be another transparency win for Local Aotearoa, Upper Hutt City Council is set to consider whether to finally make their workshops and briefings “open to the public by default”...

For a man who once sang a tune about the value of localism when it suited him, Local Government Minister Simon Watts now seems intent on stripping communities of the power that matters most: the abili...

In what may become the most consequential restructuring of local government since the 1989 reforms, the National-led Coalition Government has taken the first formal step towards large-scale council am...

In the biggest hint yet that time is about to be called on the existence of regional councils , Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has repeatedly told media over the last two days that the Government ha...

Voters in Porirua and Lower Hutt have opened the door for a possible unitary council for the Wellington region - a move that reignites one of local government’s most persistent and divisive debates.

As voters switch off, power shifts further towards the Beehive.

As the dust settles on this year’s local government elections, a new group of freshly elected and returning councillors are preparing themselves to tackle the coming triennium.

If you haven’t already, please remember to cast your vote in your local government elections.

The majority of Greater Wellington Regional Council candidates who responded to a question from Local Aotearoa want the council to open up its closed-door workshops and briefings to the public, bringi...

Wellington local government amalgamation has implications for Kāpiti regardless of whether we’re in or out of a hypothetical regional entity.

EXCLUSIVE: Greater Wellington Regional Council’s CEO and its Chair kept both councillors and their Finance, Risk and Assurance Committee completely in the dark about a warning letter from the Ombudsma...

One Kāpiti Coast District Councillor has echoed the rhetoric of US President Donald Trump in railing against her perceived “political enemies”.

Between you and me, the key thing about a joke - perhaps the single most important defining element, arguably the main aspect which separates it from being confused or misconstrued, the bit that makes...

It was a simple question on whether or not candidates thought Greater Wellington Regional Council should open up its workshops and briefings as recommended by the Ombudsman.

Controversial opinion: Local government politicians are generally underpaid for the role they perform.

Few mayoralties have gotten off to a worse start than Wayne Brown’s.

With Local Government Minister Simon Watts working on a rates capping policy to go to Cabinet before Christmas, it’s worth calling out the idea for what it is - lazy politics for lazy politicians.

One of my favourite parts of local government elections (and Parliamentary ones too) is the time-honoured tradition of kite flying.

One of my favourite parts of local government elections (and Parliamentary ones too) is the time-honoured tradition of kite flying.

It’s age old advice that isn’t heeded as much as it should be: if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably isn’t.

One of the great sources of fun when dealing with NIMBYs comes from reading the deeply unserious arguments and comparisons they make while attempting to justify their objective failure of an ideology.

An exclusive investigation from Local Aotearoa can reveal that while most councils are using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to boost productivity, nearly half of councils don’t yet have fo...

I’ll apologise in advance for what’s quite a long post, but we need to be frank.

A few days ago a prominent high-flying property developer took to LinkedIn to proclaim that we should “SHUT DOWN LOCAL GOVERNMENT”.