- Hon Chris Bishop
- Hon Simon Watts
The Government's City and Regional Deals initiative has received a great response from regions across New Zealand, and is now into the assessment stage to determine which regions will be the first to progress towards a deal, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop say.
Councils were asked to work together to form regions and to outline, via a light-touch proposal, how a deal of up to five priority projects would unlock economic growth in their area. Regions had until 28 February 2025 to submit their light-touch proposals to the Department of Internal Affairs.
"The Government has been clear that driving economic growth is a core focus for our Government with our regions playing a key role in delivering that plan. City and Regional Deals will be relentlessly focused on driving our growth agenda," Mr Bishop says.
"New Zealand has a massive infrastructure deficit. Water pipes are bursting, roads have been falling apart, and there simply aren't enough houses. Our Government is relentlessly focussed on reducing the infrastructure deficit within this country."
"With a growing population, it is critically important we are delivering the long-term infrastructure we need for growth. City and Regional Deals is designed to help reduce New Zealand's infrastructure deficit through unlocking productivity, attracting investment, and improving connectivity across the country.
"Delivering a joint long-term vision for regions will ensure they remain focused on delivering what matters most to ratepayers, including critical infrastructure like housing and transport."
"The positive response from regions across the country demonstrates the value councils see in the programme and that central and local government agree that through collaboration we can accelerate long-term vision realisation in our regions and cities. This is critical to accelerate economic growth and productivity," Mr Watts says.
"I have made it clear to councils that I expect them to demonstrate how each initiative would connect to other projects and other government priorities, such as Local Water Done Well. I look forward to seeing the details of each proposal."
City and Regional Deals light-touch proposals will now be assessed against the criteria outlined in the strategic framework. The results of the assessment will be provided to Ministers for consideration. The Government will decide which regions progress towards a deal with the intention to have the first deal concluded by the end of 2025. It is expected that three deals will be in place by October 2026.
More information about City and Regional Deals can be found at www.dia.govt.nz/Regional-Deals.
