Local Board Survey: Albert-Eden

The New Zealand Herald has surveyed the 21 local boards to see how they are getting on after six months of the Super City.

The Herald asked the chairs of the local boards six questions and to score the first four questions out of 10. Not all boards gave a score.

Here are the responses from Peter Haynes, chairman of the Albert - Eden board.

1. After six months, how well is the local board model working for your community?

Score: 7/10

There's some self-interest in answering this question, but... it is starting to shape up well. For example, we managed to turn around Auckland Transport on some projects to which local people objected. This shows that local boards can influence these things better than community boards were able to. However, we are still awaiting delegations of power, and it's not yet clear that we'll get a role in some areas that will allow us to advocate effectively for local interests.

2. How are things going between your local board and the Auckland Council governing body)?

Score: 6/10

You mean the Governing Body? It varies. Some GB members get it, others are taking a little longer to cotton on. Mike Lee, for example, has been brilliant from the start. He understands what we're trying to do, and has been very supportive. Others still think that they're city councillors, and try to chase up issues that now belong to local boards instead of referring them to us. But some progress is starting to be made.

3. How are things going between your local board and the CCOs?

Score: 7/10

It was rough to begin with, but now is much smoother with the CCO we deal most with, Auckland Transport. They're now making a real effort to be responsive, which is already a marked improvement on how the traffic engineers behaved under the old Auckland City Council.

4. Do you think local boards are living up to the promise of empowering communities?

Score: 5/10

We're working on it, but it's early days still because so much has to be worked through. People are often surprised at how keen we are to hear from them. That's a legacy of the past we have to work through. We're hoping that, as word gets out, more people engage with us. Specific example: I'm really keen to empower the people around Eden Park, who have been disempowered over the years. The community liaison group is now working better than before, but there's still work to do. And it will take some time before the local people feel they're in control again of their own neighbourhoods. The building consent process is the biggest problem and brings the mark right down. There is so much power delegated to officials and to independent commissioners -- a model pushed by John Banks -- but they don't seem to be held accountable. So we finish up with decisions that ride roughshod over the community's interests and desires. McDonald's in Balmoral, Westfield St Lukes, the Warehouse in Pah Rd... And too many developments aren't notified when they should be.

5. What improvements would you like to see made to the local board model? (No score required)

Local boards need to be given a meaningful role in resource management matters. The Governing Body has overall responsibility, but we're the ones with the local knowledge. We should be signing off whether consents are notified, and should be able to submit and help shape appeals where there are hearings. Otherwise, local interests will not be heard.

6. Please feel free to comment on any other issues about the local board model.

The super city is a work in progress. There are still important things to be sorted. There's still work to be done changing the mindsets of many officials, some ward councillors, and even some local board members. We have to ensure that local boards have a real role in areas like resource management processes. That's important in my area. But I'm still optimistic that we'll get there.