Transparency must be assured as local board works remotely

The next public meeting of the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board, in April, has been cancelled as staff wait for direction from Government and Auckland Council’s governing body on how these can be run remotely.

Meanwhile, the board will be relying on its “urgent decision making powers”, which allows delegated members to make a decision without the full board voting.

Members at the March meeting sat as far away from each other as possible and staff who were scheduled to make presentations were available via Skype if members had questions for them.

No members of the public attended the meeting, and there were no presentations made by the public.

A local board spokesperson told Hibiscus Matters that as the March meeting was a public one, the public could attend and anyone who did would be asked for their details for the record.

However, one person who had planned to present a petition to the local board, Claire Tierney, says she was asked to stay away.

In sorting out how the meetings can be run remotely in the upcoming months, member Julia Parfitt stressed the importance of finding a way to include the public.

“These are public meetings and we need to have them live streamed,” Mrs Parfitt said. She also said that any decisions made under the powers of urgency need to be publicly announced later.

The Community Forums are also cancelled until further notice.