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Resolution number MR/2017/187
MOVED
by Chairperson A Dalton, seconded by Member S Colcord:
That the Manurewa
Local Board:
a) provide
feedback on the following draft positions and recommendations of the
Political Working Party:
Regional policy and decision-making
i.
agree that council should
implement new mechanisms that ensure effective local board input to regional
policy decisions, via a framework that sets out, at a minimum:
·
a process for involving local
boards in the development of regional work programmes at the beginning of each
term and in an annual refresh
·
earlier and more joint
engagement between local boards and the governing body in regional
decision-making processes
·
requirements for analysis of
local impacts and local interest of regional decisions and options, and
reporting of this to local boards and the governing body
·
specified criteria for
categorising the potential local impact and local board interest of regional
decisions
·
processes and methods for
tailoring local board engagement in line with the local impact and local
interest of regional decisions e.g. high categorisation requiring more
specific local engagement and analysis, low categorisation requiring more
cluster joint local board workshop sessions and less in depth analysis
·
specified methods for engagement and communication with
local boards at all stages of the decision-making process, noting that some
timeframes e.g. central government submissions are outside council’s
control and the methods may not be able to be implemented in all cases.
ii.
direct that local boards will be consulted on the details of
these mechanisms prior to implementation.
iii.
note that the Quality Advice programme is continuing to be
implemented in order to improve the quality of advice to elected members for
decision-making, in line with the recommendations of the Governance Framework
Review.
iv.
request sufficient capacity for development of policy that is a
priority for multiple local boards.
v.
agree not to implement any formal policies or procedures that
control when and how local boards may procure external or contestable advice,
but note that, in principle, the Auckland Council organisation should be the
first provider of advice to local boards.
vi.
agree not to implement any policy or procedure that would limit
local boards’ ability to advocate to the governing body on regional
issues.
Local decisions that may have
regional impacts (development of a ‘call-in’ right)
vii.
note that an explicit call-in right is not possible under the
Local Government (Auckland Council) Act.
viii.
agree not to implement any mechanism that would have the effect
of ‘calling in’ or allocating decision-making to the governing
body for otherwise local activities or decisions that have regional
implications.
ix.
direct officers that, whenever a local board is to make a
decision that has potential impacts beyond the immediate local board area
e.g. a sub-regional impact or an impact on regional networks, advice on those
potential impacts is to be provided to the local board as a matter of course
(for example through a regional impact statement).
x.
express its expectation that where a local board is to make a
decision that affects local activities in any other local board area, the
decision-making local board shall consult with any affected local board.
Allocations and delegations
xi.
agree that the governing body delegates, subject to the
necessary statutory tests being met, the following Reserves Act 1977
decision-making functions for local reserves to local boards:
·
declaration
·
classification
·
reclassification
·
application for revocation of reserve status (limited to
when there is a desire by a local board to manage open space under the LGA).
xii.
note that officers’ advice on decision-making for
exchanges of reserve land was that it should remain with the governing body,
with the relevant local board consulted on these decisions.
xiii.
note that the working party did not reach consensus on this
issue, and will consider the feedback of local boards before making a
recommendation.
xiv.
Agree that the Minister of Conservation’s supervisory
powers remain delegated to staff, but where there is likely to be significant
public interest, an independent commissioner should be engaged.
xv.
note that budgets need to follow decision-making, so the change
from regional to local decision-making will require a reallocation from
regional to local budgets.
The role of Auckland Transport and
local boards
xvi.
note the role of local boards in place-making and that Auckland
Transport should be guided by and responsive to local boards acting in this
role to enable them to give effect to this role.
xvii.
note the critical interface between the local place-shaping
role of local boards and Auckland Transport’s jurisdiction over the
road corridor and transport networks.
xviii.
request that Auckland Transport seek local board endorsement
for projects where there are place-making outcomes before proceeding to
delivery.
xix.
request that Auckland Transport provide local boards with the
opportunity to influence the prioritisation of projects in the local work
programme prior to its finalisation.
xx.
request Auckland Transport formally provide local boards with a
local work programme for each financial year (prior to the commencement of
the year) with regular formal updates on any changes to the programme.
xxi.
note that the Governance Manual for Substantive CCOs requires
Auckland Transport, amongst other things, to:
·
develop, with local boards, a shared understanding of local board views and CCO priorities to inform the
following year’s business planning, including through an annual
interactive workshop ‘where local boards communicate their local board
priorities and the CCOs communicate how their current year work programme
will contribute to local board priorities’
·
develop by 31 July each year an annual local board
engagement plan, which includes a schedule ‘clearly indicat[ing] for
each board, the projects and/or activities that it expects to report on, and
the projects and activities that it expects to consult on, for the following
year. This should be updated annually or more frequently if required
·
report against their local board engagement plan in their
quarterly performance reports to the CCO Governance and Monitoring Committee.
xxii.
note that the CCO Governance Manual
requires Auckland Transport to include in its engagement plan how it will
give local boards an opportunity to influence or to respond to the following:
·
decisions affecting a local board’s
governance role
·
decisions having a significant local impact
(including mitigation measures)
·
decisions requiring a CCO to undertake
community consultation (local or regional).
xxiii.
direct Auckland Transport to meet all requirements for local
board engagement as set out in the Governance Manual for Substantive CCOs.
xxiv.
direct Auckland Council officers to monitor Auckland
Transport’s compliance with the requirements for local board engagement, as set out in the Governance Manual for
Substantive CCOs, and to report this monitoring to the governing body at
least annually.
xxv.
note that the Mayor’s
2017 letter of expectation to Auckland Transport stipulated that council
expects there to be:
·
better and earlier engagement
and communication between Auckland Transport and local boards
·
active consideration by Auckland
Transport of which of its decision-making powers it could delegate to local
boards (within the constraints created by the regulatory environment, safety
considerations, the needs of regional networks and the role played by NZTA in
decision-making).
xxvi.
note that the following
activity statement has been included in Auckland Transport’s 2017-2020
Statement of Intent:
·
‘participation in the governance
review which is aimed at changing behaviours and processes across relevant
Council family activities, including Auckland Transport, to enable local
boards to give effect to their governance role, particularly around local
place-shaping.’
xxvii.
note that the Governance
Framework Review has investigated the potential delegation of a range of
Auckland Transport powers and the working party recommends that additional
work be undertaken to identify delegation opportunities.
xxviii.
direct Auckland Transport,
in working with local boards, to:
·
ensure that local boards have a
strong governance role in determining the ‘look and feel’ of town
centres and streetscapes, in line with their allocation of non-regulatory
decision-making
·
improve co-ordination between
local place-shaping projects, such as town centre upgrades, and its renewals
programmes
·
provide more opportunities for
local board direction on the prioritisation of minor traffic safety projects,
with the exception of those which Auckland Transport considers are of
critical safety importance
·
be more responsive to local
place-shaping initiatives in non-transport parts of the road corridor,
including reducing or removing barriers to community place-making initiatives
e.g. looking at ways to reduce the costs of developing traffic management
plans for community events
·
take direction from local boards
on how and where to implement community-focused programmes.
xxix.
direct Auckland Transport to report
to the governing body annually on how it is meeting the directions given
under recommendation xxiv.
xxx.
note that the Quality Advice
programme has been working with Auckland Transport to improve the quality of advice
to local boards and will shortly begin regular six monthly surveys of local
board members’ satisfaction with Auckland Transport advice, engagement
and reporting to local boards.
xxxi.
note that the Local Board
Transport Capital Fund is valued by local boards but that the level of
funding means that some boards are not able to progress meaningful projects,
and that improved local transport outcomes may be achieved if the size of the
fund was significantly increased.
xxxii.
direct officers to report to
the relevant governing body committee, through the Long Term Plan process, on
options for significantly increasing the Local Board Transport Capital Fund
and the method of allocation of the fund.
xxxiii.
direct Auckland Transport to
implement a more systematic work programme approach to assist local boards to
identify potential projects and make decisions.
xxxiv.
direct Auckland Transport to
actively engage with governing body members (ward councillors) on transport
projects and issues within their ward areas.
xxxv.
support Local Board Transport Capital
Fund Option 2 to increase the size of the Local Board Transport Capital Fund
from $11 million to $20 million to provide local boards with a more
systematic work programme approach to managing projects.
Waiheke Local Board pilot
xxxvi.
agree that the governing body should endorse the Waiheke Local
Board pilot project as set out in the Waiheke Local Board pilot project plan.
xxxvii.
note that the Waiheke Local Board will maintain oversight of
local implementation of the pilot.
xxxviii.
request that evaluation of the
pilot is reported back to all local boards.
Local boards funding and
finance
xxxix.
agree to pilot the local rate model for
local boards who opt in.
xl.
agree that the enhanced status quo model be moved to
immediately, noting that further work can be progressed within the timeframe
rather than waiting for further work before implementing the enhanced status
quo.
xli.
agree that the enhanced status quo be renamed to be called
‘Local decision making within a funding envelope’.
xlii.
provide additional decision making to local boards by enabling
them to increase or decrease service levels within and across ABS activities
provided the impact is within the funding envelope.
xliii.
agree that the additional work to support the Enhanced
status quo model be undertaken – framework for service levels and local
flexibility, options for addressing historical uneven funding, improving the
information and advice that is provided to local boards.
xliv.
agree that further work on the implications of the local
decision making model also be undertaken for further consideration -
modelling of rates implication following the revaluation, costs to the
organisation of supporting more local decision making etc.
The optimum number of local
boards
xlv.
agree that council should
undertake no further work on changing the number of local boards until at
least after the governance framework review has been completed and
implemented, and the outcomes of reorganisation proposals that are underway
for North Rodney and Waiheke Island are known.
Methods of electing governing
body members
xlvi.
agree that the election process for the number of governing
body members and wards should remain unchanged as there is no identified need
to change or undertake an in-depth review on the election of governing body
members.
xlvii.
note that the statutory review of representation arrangements
for Auckland Council must be completed by September 2018.
xlviii.
note that the Local Government Act Amendment Bill No. 2, which
proposes a simplified process for local government-led reorganisation
processes, is currently before Parliament.
xlix.
support Auckland Council advocating to central government for
legislative amendments that would allow for future changes to the number of
governing body members in line with population change and to simplify the
process for changes to the numbers and boundaries of local boards and the
creation of Maori wards in Auckland.
l.
support the following naming conventions for elected members of
the Auckland Council as Councillor and Local Councillor.
b) provide feedback that decision-making
for exchanges of reserve land should sit with local boards.
c) provide feedback that its
preferred naming conventions for governing body members and local board
members are Councillor and Local Councillor respectively.
d) provide feedback that a joint
local board/governing body political working party should continue.
e) delegates to Chairperson, Angela
Dalton and Deputy Chair, Rangi McLean to consider any additional information
and Political Working Party positions that arise before the Governing Body
makes the final decision in September and subject to consultation with other
board members revise the board’s agreed positions as appropriate.
CARRIED
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