Statement from David Thornton

Council Budget consultation goes in the Junk bin.

A growing number of Auckland residents are complaining that they have not received a promised brochure from the Council which gives details of the next 10-year budget and invites opinions on some key issues which will affect rates from July this year.

The legal requirements for public consultation have changed following amendments to the law last year and formal submissions and hearing are no longer required so councils are now using the internet more widely.

The new changes also introduced more stringent requirements on councils to be more informative and transparent in presenting expenditure options and costs, and to clearly set out assumptions made and risks involved in their long-term plans.

Thanks to the intervention of the Auditor-General, the Auckland Council has ‘come clean’ on issues like the Central Rail Link [CRL] by admitting that, by starting the project before Government funding is available, some council services will be downgraded, including necessary maintenance on roads, parks, libraries and community services.

Many people have strong views on council services and want to express those views.

The council planned a very good process which starts with a 16-page booklet, delivered to every household, which covers the main issues and, importantly, shows where more information can be found, either at the library or on-line.

However, it is apparent that many residents have not received the first information booklet and are unaware of the real issues Auckland is facing

The problem would seem to be that the booklet is being distributed as part of general promotion material [junk mail] and the thousands of residents with “No Junk Mail’ stickers on their letter-boxes will miss out. And those who do receive Junk mail often throw it away without looking.

If Auckland Council wants to give everyone an equal opportunity to comment there needs to be some prompt corrective action – after all the Council has a very large Communication unit with plenty of staff!

ends

© Scoop Media