Sign In / Register
Mayor Wayne Brown has ousted several councillors from their former roles and into new ones, as well as establishing two new council committees.
Brown said that the changes are to streamline decision-making and give councillors more effective oversight.
The changes were approved at the Governing Body meeting on August 29. They include local councillor John Watson losing his role as Transport and Infrastructure Committee chair but gaining a place on the Hauraki Gulf Forum.
The transport committee has been renamed the Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee, reflecting a new oversight on physical resilience matters. Its chair is now Cr Andy Baker, who swapped his role on the Hauraki Gulf Forum with Watson.
Changes were also made to the Planning, Environment and Parks Committee. This was established at the beginning of this term of council and combined three previous committees into what some councillors called “a mega-committee”.
The mayor has now subdivided it back into three again – the Policy and Planning Committee, Community Committee and Parks Committee.
The governing body also voted to appoint Cr Maurice Williamson to the board of Auckland Transport (AT), replacing Cr Andy Baker.
At the August 29 meeting, Watson expressed disappointment at being shifted out of his role as Transport and Infrastructure Committee chair.
“There has been an opportunity for the Mayor to make widespread changes in transport – in a relatively short space of time we have had a new AT CEO and a new chair of the AT board. In fact, we have had an entirely new board, all seven members,” Watson said.
“We have had a committee of the whole dealing largely with transport and today that committee gets refreshed again. As far as the AT directors go, we are up to the fourth councillor on that particular merry-go-round. Some last a matter of months, some enjoy a little bit more longevity.”
He said feedback he received about the frequent changes at council suggested there was a clear lack of direction and consistency.
Hauraki Gulf Forum makeup changed
There are five members of the Hauraki Gulf Forum who are appointed by the Auckland Mayor. Watson’s recent appointment, joining existing member and fellow Albany Ward councillor Wayne Walker, will see two forum members coming from that ward.
Mayor Wayne Brown’s report to the Governing Body suggests that he would like to see some roles rotated regularly in order to use the varied experience of councillors.
Two appointments for the forum are yet to be confirmed with members from the Aotea Local Board and the Waiheke local board not yet assigned.
