Local boards will be under-resourced, say alarmed leaders

Howick main street. Photo / Paul Estcourt

More than 200,000 people in Howick and Manurewa will have just eight staff between them for local matters under the Super City set-up.

Manukau City councillor Michael Williams says the agency designing the Super City is under-resourcing local boards, which politicians from the Prime Minister down have promised will have real teeth in shaping their communities.

Howick, the largest of the 21 local boards with a population of 128,100, will share staff with Manurewa, population 86,800. They will each have a manager and share three secretaries and three policy advisers.

Hamilton City Council, with a similar population to Howick, has 862 staff. Palmerston North City Council, with 10,000 fewer people than Manurewa, has 469 staff.

Mr Williams said local boards would be responsible for roughly half of the existing councils' responsibilities, but would not function effectively with the number of dedicated staff proposed by the Auckland Transition Agency.

The Botany-Clevedon ward councillor has suggested 12 staff between the two boards.

Manurewa ward councillors Anne Candy and Colleen Brown share Mr Williams' concerns about inadequate resourcing for the two local boards.

"I fear we are setting eight people up to fail," Ms Candy said. "They will have burnout. It's a huge ask for a staff of eight to service what are fast-growing communities."

Ms Brown said the Manurewa local board's population would be bigger than Palmerston North's: "Do they run on seven people? Do they share staff with Wanganui? What people want in their community is people who are dedicated to and have a stake in the community," she said.

In an article prepared for the Herald, Sir Harold Marshall, an architect, engineer and physicist who is on the committee of the Mt Albert Residents Association, said local boards required staffing levels comparable to cities with comparable populations and staff who knew their area and preferably lived in it.

"At local board support level there is no place for faceless bureaucrats."

Asked to comment on Mr Williams' concerns, Sir Harold said the Auckland Transition Agency clearly had a pessimistic view of local boards.

"I want boards to be capable of doing something locally and for that they must be staffed," said the former professor of architecture at Auckland University who was knighted for his contribution to concert hall design.

Last night, Grant Taylor, who is leading work on local boards for the agency, said there would be about 75 staff working with the 21 local boards.

They would be dispersed into eight teams, each serving two to four boards.

"The local board service team has a critical role in ensuring that local boards are able to access the right level of advice and support from the wider council organisation to ensure they are able to operate effectively.

"In addition to the local board services team are council staff at all levels of the organisation who will be called upon to assist or work with local boards as necessary in all sorts of specialist areas from finance to community consultation, transport and operations.

"The local boards services team is key to ensuring that local boards are able to access resources they need as swiftly and efficiently as possible," Mr Taylor said.

With less than three weeks for nominations to open for the Super City, the transition agency has still to finalise the roles, functions and funding for local boards.

Meanwhile, Manukau mayor and Super City mayoral contender Len Brown wants the transition agency to put much more effort into informing and educating Aucklanders about the upcoming elections.

"We are less than 80 days from voters getting their ballot papers," he said, "but there is poor understanding of the new Auckland structure."

Staffing proposal:

* Howick and Manurewa local boards
Population: 214,700
Staff: 8*

* Hamilton City Council
Population: 129,249
Staff: 862

* Palmerston North City Council
Population: 75,543
Staff: 469

*Two managers plus six staff