Super City Shuffle

A government select committee has this week started to listen to submissions on Auckland’s governance and how people view the plans and legislation for a Super City.

It is going to be fascinating to see the impact it will have on the region once the changes are implemented.

In the commercial property lease market, the way the councils throughout the region are reorganised could have a range of impacts.

For example, if a number of services are centralised, what becomes of the significant council buildings in Manukau, North Shore and Waitakere? Do they become vacant spaces for lease or sale? And if this scenario was to occur, the impacts on surrounding businesses and commercial space in the smaller city centres of Manukau, Takapuna and Henderson could be significant.

How this pans out will be determined by the structure the government decides upon; whether they go for 30 or so council committees around the region, or six local boards that might have similar powers and funding to the existing councils.

Whatever the decision, we are going to see some changes in where councils operate from and where they locate their services.

The existing councils across the Auckland region probably employ upwards of 10 thousand people. The dynamics of a workforce of this size operating as part of one entity offers an interesting opportunity to create some new work cultures.

For example, teams might be formed around specific projects in different locations across the city.

It might also be timely to consider, as we have discussed before in this blog, new working hours, combinations of people working from home, hot-desking, working earlier or later, and so forth.

The Super City restructuring offers some interesting food for thought, and any business that has any form of relationship with existing councils will be wanting to factor in the potential shifting of council services to different locations around the region.

For example, if all resource planning for the region was relocated in Auckland’s CBD, planning consultants working in the North, West or South of the city with the councils in those areas might find their businesses in a location that is no longer convenient.

The Councils due to their size and nature have a real impact on the region’s economy, so it is worth keeping a close eye on the developments and considering the impacts of Government’s decisions.

Who knows, the Super City may have a major and direct impact on your own business? If so, have you started thinking about how you may deal with the changes?