'Dithering' council says it's got better, no thanks to Govt

The Northland council being investigated for dithering over resource consents says it has fixed the problem without Government help.

Far North Mayor Wayne Brown accused the Environment Minister of "sending help too late and to the wrong address" after latest figures showed the council had dramatically improved its processing times.

His council - which is responsible for town planning in some of the country's most beautiful holiday spots - is being investigated because of its poor record in 2007-8, when it dealt with just 37 per cent of building and renovation applications on time.

But more recent figures show the council was on time 57 per cent of the time in 2008/9 - better than Auckland, Manukau, Whakatane and several other councils were doing when they were last ranked in 2007/8.

So far this financial year Far North has dealt with 92 per cent of applications on time, a result that would put it near the top of the rankings based on previous years.

Environment Minister Nick Smith is reviewing it and another council, Environment Canterbury, under a new power he has to investigate and make recommendations on council performance under changes to the Resource Management Act that took effect on October 1.

Dr Smith said he was still getting a large number of complaints about Far North council, including some relating to the consistency of decision-making rather than the timing.

Officials had advised him there were still issues to be dealt with, and he wanted to be satisfied that the improvement in punctuality was genuine.

Dr Smith said he acknowledged the progress made in the Far North.

He said the review would not be as far-reaching as the one he had ordered into Environment Canterbury, which is accused of in-fighting and governance issues.

A table of councils' performance in 2007/8 showed Environment Canterbury was the worst with 29 per cent of applications processed on time, while Auckland City Council achieved 45 per cent, Whakatane council 45 per cent and Manukau City Council 35 per cent.

The rankings were based on processing times for applications which are closed to public comment, and did not include the small minority that went to a public hearing.

Mr Brown, a developer himself, said he stood for mayor because he was frustrated about council processing delays.

He attributed improvements in speed and customer service to the efforts of a new general manager, Fran Mikulicic.

A Far North hotelier and chairman of the Paihia Business Association, Heinz Marti, said it seemed the council had improved.

Mr Brown said he did not mind the reviewers coming but he would use the opportunity to point out how much the council had improved.

He would also suggest some ways the Government could make the council's life easier.

The review, which will begin next month, will look at staffing and consent processing systems and will be finished by the end of the year.