Local Board Survey: Kaipatiki

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 Lindsay Waugh the chairwoman of the Kaipatiki board.

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

Score: None provided

To date core services have been delivered at the same level as they were prior to the last local body election. There has been some delay in responses to community concerns as we all learn where the relevant responsibilities lie for each enquiry

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

Score: None provided

There have been robust debates as we work together to confirm the delegation of roles and responsibilities. There have been instances which illustrate that more work is needed to embed the change in culture that is needed to support the new co governance model.

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

Score: None provided

The relationship is developing at different levels with different CCO's. There is regular contact through the Transport CCO Liaison person but the other CCO's have not established this regular level of engagement with the Kaipatiki Local Board. The inability to identify existing budget lines that have been mapped to different CCO's has contributed to community concerns regarding equity of funding across the area.

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

Score: None provided

Not yet but the majority of Local Board Members and Councillors are committed to ensuring that we will deliver on the promise to empower local communities.

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

The staff resources allocated to the Local Boards should be increased. The expectations placed on the existing staff is unrealistic although their commit can't be questioned

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

The new Auckland Council represents an enormous change and reorganisation on a scale never attempted before in NZ. It has been likened to trying to merge Fonterra and Telecom and expecting things to move forward without any glitches.

My experience of these first 6 months is that:
* yes there are frustrations,
* yes there are problems tracking down the right person who has the information you need,
* yes there have been problems with technology and communication
* yes there have been problems with processes to include local boards at the appropriate stage.
* When each different issue is raised it is addressed in a positive solution focused manner.
* There is a tangible culture of good will and commitment from both staff and politicians to ensure that we all have access to the resources and appropriate delegations to make this model work for the future benefit of one Auckland.