My Account
There was a cathartic air in Warkworth’s old Masonic Hall on March 13 when Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown came to town.
Representatives from 22 community groups took the opportunity, arranged by Councillor Greg Sayers, to raise their issues and give their opinions on Auckland Council’s performance.
Seven hours later, the Mayor joked, “Is there anyone left in Rodney that I haven’t met today?”
The presenters were well prepared, well informed, passionate and funny. And incredibly polite.
The Mayor treated them with the same courtesy.
Rural people are more resilient than they think they are. In the city, people get upset if someone doesn’t send them a text to tell them it’s raining! Mayor
They talked about the need for council to reduce its spending to match its income, to better maintain the roads and the stormwater systems, and to build Council infrastructure in advance of new subdivisions.
Although the session ran an hour over time, and only wrapped up when a group of feisty Scottish dancers informed everyone that they had “booked the hall and were about to start their class”, the Mayor looked neither weary or bored.
In fact, he looked like he was enjoying himself. Seven straight hours of listening to concerns about roads, bridges, culverts, libraries, leases, landfills, CABs and footpaths would do most people’s head in, but the Mayor genuinely appeared to enjoy engaging with the presenters.
If you think Wellsford’s got an elderly population, you should visit Manly [Hibiscus Coast]. It’s one of the few places where people call me “sonny”. Mayor
The forum was unusual to say the least. The two previous incumbents, Len Brown and Phil Goff, seldom visited the north and never made themselves available for a session of such length.
It may be optimistic, but you get a sense Brown is much more at home around people wearing Red Band gumboots and Swanndris rather than suits and stilettos.
When the Wellsford delegation took their seats, he shared a memory of playing rugby at Port Albert when they had to clear the field of sheep before the game could start. He also claimed Albertland heritage and when he was presented with an Albertland Museum calendar, he took the time to turn the pages and share personal memories stirred by the photographs.
CAB? I thought you were saying that the TAB was very important! Mayor
Refreshingly, he wasn’t following some pre-drafted public relations script.
Where he could see solutions, he said so. Where more information was needed, the issue was recorded.
No promises were made, but the people were listened to and the Mayor was not backward in challenging the requests, either.
He said Local Boards didn’t have to put up hall charges, they just needed to learn to be more efficient and stop wasting money.
He said the proposed $16 million cut in Local Board budgets across Auckland was to try to get Local Boards to realise that there were other ways of doing things.
“I don’t want anyone to have to cut their budget, but I inherited such a huge debt that we have to do something, and everyone’s got to take a little haircut,” he said.
“Until you put people under pressure, they sometimes don’t realise where money is being wasted.”
As an example, Brown cited the recent opening of a Rodney Local Board office in Elizabeth Street, Warkworth, which cost $1.5 million to refit.
“What are we doing refurbishing and renting a building when there is already an under-utilised council office at the other end of town [Baxter Street]? It’s crazy.
“There are savings they [Local Boards] haven’t even looked for.
“They just think that they will have less money to shell out, but what they should be doing is looking for areas of spending where they can be more efficient.
“For a start, they’ve got too many staff helping them – so they could start there.”
Brown said when his term as Mayor ended, Auckland rural roads would be better, the port would be heading out of town, and there would be more goods on rail and less trucks on the road.
“Council will be leaner at the top, and the Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) – Auckland Transport, Watercare, Tataki Auckland Unlimited and Eke Panuku Development – will definitely be very different. They will be more commercially focused, with a lot less management, reduced staff numbers and much more customer-focused.
They say don’t put up rates, don’t cut services and don’t sell the airport shares, but come up with $750 million in savings. Mayor
“They will be more about doing what people want and less about getting people to do what some zealot in the city wants.”
Local Board members Michelle Carmichael, Colin Smith, Ivan Wagstaff, Geoff Upson and Tim Holdgate also sat in on some or all of the sessions.
Cr Sayers said after the meeting that the groups shared not only issues their individual communities faced, but also the associated solutions with the Mayor.
“The discussions constantly reinforced we have the local knowledge to solve many of the council-related challenges. What is needed is the opportunity for local volunteer groups, and local contractors, to be better utilised to deliver council-related services. The current heavily decentralised council control systems need to be decentralised to allow more local input and greater community self-determination.”
