NoMoreRates

The nationwide campaign to reform the present system of council funding.

25 February 2016

Unitary Plan process shows SuperCity failure.

The structure of the SuperCity must change following revelations which emerged at the meeting last night and showed a picture of poor communication, abuse of power, lack of contestable advice to elected members, lack of powers for local boards – and, according to the Deputy Mayor, lack of truthfulness.

The meeting became a clear battle between a minority of councillors on the one hand, and the majority of councillors and the majority of Local Boards on the other.

The council planning staff became the filling in the sandwich.

And the majority of councillors appeared to be unaware of how earlier decisions had been mad, and whether or not contestable planning advice had been available.

Councillors are not planners and have no specific recourse to alternative planning options and rely totally on the professional advice of council staff. Neither was contestable legal advice available during the earlier process.

The quality of decision making depends heavily on the quality of information received and variety of advice made available.

Last year the council introduced an Interim Transport Levy without seeking adequate public input. They did the same thing with the introduction of ‘out-of-scope’ rezoning.

Reform of the councils political and bureaucratic structure is urgently needed to ensure that real democracy returns to the citizens of Auckland.

ENDS

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