Local Board Survey: Waitemata

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 Shale Chambers, chairman of the Waitemata board.

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

Score: 5/10

Local boards are generally under resourced and during the first eight months have not been the organisational focus. As a consequence their potential is still largely unknown. Their effectiveness is largely dependent on the energy and commitment of the individual members. Local Boards do not yet have control of staff delegations of matters allocated to their responsibility. Currently ATA determined until 1 July.

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

Score: 6/10

The Governing Body has the lions share of the focus of the organisation, and communication and appropriate input from Local boards has largely to date depended on individual Governing Body members' commitment to the co-governance model, and engagement with their local Board. Councillors need to delegate and leave the truly local matters to the Local Boards. The words are there, just not the reality most of the time. Waitemata is lucky in that respect having Mike Lee as its local councillor.

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

Score: Auckland Transport and Waterfront 7/10, all the rest 2-4/10

This varies quite considerably depending on the CCO, from good (in the sense of commitment to engagement and information with Auckland Transport and Waterfront Auckland to what could be termed embryonic for the remainder. All are yet to complete any formal engagement policy, but several have begun work on it.

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

Score: 4/10

No, not yet. Time will tell, whether time and will will resolve this. The Governing body and Council officers are yet to implement the concept of subsidiarity in any meaningful way. Work-in-progress we are told.
Local boards do not yet have any by-law or regulatory delegations or formal (or informal) input. Again work-in-progress. In most cases, Local boards have fewer powers than the former community boards at present. We understand several may be close, but local boards are yet to be consulted.

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

See above. The concept of subsidiarity actioned. The starting point for local Boards must be best practice from the legacy councils' community boards' powers, and then enhanced to take into account the fact that councillors have a regional focus and Local Board are part of a new, empowered co-governance concept and largely responsible for local place making and shaping in addition to the ATA allocated powers. This means meaningful say in regulatory and by-law matters, not just policy input or end decision making responsibility (which are the governing body's responsibility).