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Resolution number WTK/2017/112
MOVED
by Chairperson G Presland, seconded by Deputy Chairperson S Toms:
That the Waitākere
Ranges Local Board:
a) supports
the following draft positions and recommendations of the Political Working
Party, and provides other feedback as follows:
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 a
jointly agreed 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 such as 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. Requests sufficient capacity for development of policy
that is a priority for multiple local boards.
iv. Note that the Quality Advice
programme is continuing to be implemented in order to improve the quality of
advice provided to elected members for decision-making, in line with the
recommendations of the Governance Framework Review.
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).
Allocations and
delegations
x. 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)
xi. 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
xii. Note that the working party did not reach consensus on
this issue, and will consider the feedback of local boards before making a
recommendation
xiii. 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.
The role of
Auckland Transport and local boards
xiv. 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.
xv Note that placemaking does not just have to have an urban
focus but may include rural and natural environments.
xvi 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.
xvii Requests that Auckland transport seek local board
endorsement for projects where there are place-making outcomes before
proceeding to delivery.
xviii Requests that Auckland Transport provide
local boards with the opportunity to influence the prioritisation of projects
in the local work programme prior to its finalisation.
xix. Requests 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.
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.
xx. 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).
xxi. Direct Auckland Transport to meet all requirements for
local board engagement as set out in the Governance Manual for Substantive
CCOs.
xxii. 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.
xxiii. 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).
xxiv. 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.’
xxv. 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
xxvi. 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
xxvii. Direct Auckland Transport to report to the governing
body annually on how it is meeting the directions given under recommendation
xx.
xxviii. 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.
xxix. 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.
xxx. 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.
xxxi. Direct Auckland Transport to implement a more
systematic work programme approach to assist local boards to identify
potential projects and make decisions.
xxxii. Direct Auckland Transport to actively engage with
governing body members (ward councillors) on transport projects and issues
within their ward areas.
Waiheke Local
Board pilot
xxxiii. Agree that the governing body should endorse the
Waiheke Local Board pilot project as set out in the Waiheke Local Board pilot
project plan.
xxxiv. Note that the Waiheke Local Board will maintain
oversight of local implementation of the pilot.
xxxv. Request that the evaluation of the pilot is reported
back to all local boards
Local boards funding and finance
xxxvi Agree that the enhanced status quo model be
moved to immediately, noting that further work can be progressed within this
framework rather than waiting for further work before implementing the
enhanced status quo.
xxxvii Rename the enhanced status quo to be called
“local decision-making within a funding envelope.”
xxxviii
Provide additional decision-making to local boards by enabling them to
increase or decrease service levels within and across ABS activities,
provided that the impact is cost neutral, i.e. within the funding envelope
xxxix. 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.
xxxx. 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.
xxxxi notes its concern that preliminary work on the
implications of the local decision making model suggests that this model
would have a disproportionately negative effect on the Waitakere Ranges Local
Board area, because it includes in its analysis spending on infrastructure
and environmental services and the Waitakere Ranges Local Board has a
significantly higher spend in this area because of Council's enhanced
responsibility under the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act.
The optimum number of local boards
xxxxii. Agree that at this time there is no overwhelming need to
change the current number of local boards.
xxxxiii. Agree that any decision to review
the numbers of local boards should not occur until after the Governance
Framework Review is completed and implemented and the outcome of the
re-organisation proposals of North Rodney and Waiheke are known.
Methods of electing governing body members
xxxxiv. 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
xxxxv. Note that the statutory review of representation
arrangements for Auckland Council must be completed by September 2018.
xxxxvi. 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.
xxxxvii. 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.
xxxxviii. Support the following naming conventions for
elected members of the Auckland Council as:
Councillor for Governing Body members and
Local Councillor for Local Board members.
b) Supports the status quo
that decision-making on reserve exchanges remains with the governing body in
line with decision-making for acquisition and disposal of non-reserve
property.
c) Supports the continuation of a joint local
board/governing body political working party focusing on matters of
governance impacting on both governance arms.
d) Delegates to Chair Greg
Presland and Deputy chair Saffron Toms 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.
e) request the Governance
Framework Review to investigate mechanisms that support the operations and
governance roles of the Manukau Harbour Forum.
CARRIED
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