Viewpoint – Time to change the framework

In the year 2025, the ratepayers are still alive after being strong-armed into a council that was to be the model for all the other councils in New Zealand. It has a Mayor, a governing body, local boards, council-controlled organisations, and more boards that do not listen. It employs people with no experience, history or knowledge, and relies on preferred suppliers. These preferred suppliers have been employed for 30 years, self-policing, and in control of all the assets. Who is the responsible person for the work being signed off? The answer is no one.

After serving nine years on the local board, I have found this to be more than challenging. In fact, it has been downright frustrating to get commonsense outcomes from all the different council-controlled organisations, and departments within council. After hundreds of hours of feedback, submissions and consultations, we then watch council waste valuable time and money on outcomes that are very expensive and do not work.

The local people have struggled in the last 15 years to understand the deputation process to the local board, and work with the local board staff. Having said that, the Wellsford Subdivision has achieved the following.
• New toilets
• Centennial Park masterplan
• New playgrounds
• New paths
• Grants for events
• A new footbridge over the railway that has now completed three quarters of the Wellsford Greenways plan, with the hope of finishing the remainder in the next term
• Our drainage boards are back
• Some roads have been sealed

We have an election this year, and it is timely that Mayor Wayne Brown and Councillor Greg Sayers work towards a framework that gives the local boards more decision-making and the ratepayer more impact on what needs to be done. There is no room for cartels or politically-based teams on the local boards.

The people need to sort out the best, forget the rest, and demand that the board work for the community, not the bureaucratic beast.

The Local Government Commission is about to equal up our representation with the equal number of ratepayers in each ward, giving the rural boards more voice. This means there will be two representatives for the rural areas, but the area has doubled in size. If this same formula applies to urban boards, this means the population is about the same whether it be rural or urban.

The number one issue for all people is roading and getting our roads sealed. For this to happen, all maintenance needs to be brought back to council, and expressions of interest need to go out to local contractors to deliver local work for local people.

Council has already approved the Unsealed Road Improvement Programme (URIP). This programme has sat with Auckland Transport for nine years and should have sealed at least 400km of road. For example, there has been too much money spent on speed bumps at $500,000 a bump. A simple signal pedestrian crossing costs $50,000 and is far more practical and effective.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for your support in getting this work done and hope you have all had a good break.