MEDIA RELEASE
“City
and regional infrastructure partnerships would go a long way to depoliticising
investment decision-making and supporting regional development,” says
Infrastructure NZ Policy Director Hamish Glenn.
“Today,
ACT announced its intention to establish partnerships between central and local
government to fund and deliver agreed infrastructure programmes.
“The
proposals are consistent with Infrastructure New Zealand’s 2019 Building Regions report
which sets out comprehensive reform for how the country plans, funds, and
delivers infrastructure.
“Partnerships
would empower regions to deliver infrastructure according to a 30-year plan
which they would co-develop with central government.
“Central
government would monitor performance and provide funding where regional and
central goals aligned.
“Flexible funding through
shared GST, increased user charges, as well as existing tools such as local
rates, central government funding, and PPPs, would give regions certainty about
their options and allow them to strategically plan development according to
both future demands and possible revenue.
“Ideally,
these partnerships would be aligned with the Infrastructure Commission’s
30-year strategy and implemented via a reformed planning system.
“It’s
pleasing to see political momentum growing for new incentive-based approaches
to solve New Zealand’s longstanding growth and development challenges.
“We
cannot as a country expect to overcome the issues of the past and recover from
COVID using the same approaches which gave rise to simultaneous housing,
transport and water crises.
"A
partnership approach which improves infrastructure decision making, supports
regional development and enables collaboration with local government should be
a priority for all political parties," says Glenn.
ENDS
For further information and
comment contact Hamish Glenn on 021 034 7229