Hide to review 'farcical' planning law

Rodney Hide. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide will review legislation around council planning after claims many thousands of dollars is being spent on "farcical" planning for situations that may never happen.

The Local Government Act requires all councils to produce a long-term council community plan (LTCCP), good for 10 years and publicly available.

But the three-yearly auditing and consultation requirement can cost councils hundreds of thousands of dollars, often for little gain.

Mr Hide told the Herald he would review the legislation, which many council heads believe should be made discretionary.

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt - a former mayor of the old Waitemata City - described the process as "farcical" and an example of legislated "crystal ball gazing".

He estimated the latest plan had cost Invercargill more than $1 million, which he considered wasted money as the recession made it difficult to make plans a year ahead, let alone 10.

"We haven't got a clue what the future holds for us ... [LTCCP] is not relevant to the way we operate".

Mr Shadbolt said the cost of oil, which has ricocheted from $40 a barrel to well over $100 and back in the past year, was an example of a council cost that even in the short term had proven impossible to predict.

Rodney District Council has budgeted $250,000 to prepare its plan, not including what it will spend on staff man-hours.

While some of the legislative requirements of the plan have "little or no value to the community", the council needs long-term funding and infrastructure planning, Rodney general manager of strategy Rory Palmer said.

Mayor Penny Webster said that while she did not believe LTCCP planning should be discretionary, councils needed some wriggle room within the act.

Councils such as Rodney, which had fast population growth, might find their situation changing more rapidly than councils in quieter parts of the country, she said.

Though a council's plan is for 10 years, it has to be updated every three years, and a council's financial situation can change in that time.

Mayor Webster said some councils deserved the right to reduce the plan timeframe, possibly from 10 to five years, to make planning easier.

Auckland City Council estimates it has spent $104,000 preparing its latest plan, not counting staff costs.

North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams said he believed the LTCCP concept was sound, though work was needed to lessen auditing and consultation costs.

He said the concept was "a necessary evil in that they [the plans] kept councils honest" by keeping ratepayers informed. North Shore City paid about $500,000 every three years for its consultations and auditing.

Mr Hide said he supported a move to make the plan voluntary.

"There's no doubt that the process is complicated, costly and of some times limited benefit."

The act is likely to be reconsidered when recommendations from the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance go before Parliament this year.

A COUNCIL'S COSTS

The $104,000 Auckland City has spent on its Long-Term Council Community Plan (not including staff costs) covers:

* Three council meetings where the plan was discussed and approved.
* Seven public consultation meetings.
* Printing the full draft and full plan - approx 120 reference copies.
* Designing, printing and delivering the draft summary - 172,000 copies.
* Producing a DVD to show at community meetings.
* Direct mailer from the mayor - 10,000 letters sent at random discussing plan highlights and the consultation process.
* Consultation with about 2000 members of the public.