National launches website for Aucklanders to rate council and inform election policy

National MP Denise Lee, the party's spokeswoman for local government in Auckland, says the rating website is aimed at the "average Aucklander". Photo / Supplied

The National Party is launching a new website where Aucklanders can give feedback on their city council's performance - and which they say will help National form policy in the leadup to next year's election.

The Rate My Council website, which goes live today will let Supercity residents say what they think is or isn't working, and what should change, at the council.

It offers a scorecard for people to rate performance on everything from financial responsibility to the effectiveness of the local board system.

The website launch comes just months out from Auckland's local body elections where residents vote on the mayor, local board and council seats.

National says it will use the feedback to propose policies that deal with the city's most pressing issues, said Denise Lee, National's local government spokeswoman for Auckland.

The Maungakiekie MP was an Auckland councillor till two years ago.

She said National recognised the importance of Auckland and the need for it to be governed efficiently and accountably.

But the council was full of "roadblocks and inefficiencies" which made it extremely frustrating for the average Aucklander to deal with, she said.

Transport and housing issues - such as building consent delays - would likely top the list of complaints, Lee said.

"[Those] are the topics that have a significant impact on people's lives and yet are frequently brought up as the areas where the council doesn't deliver."

She was still "irked" by the memory of watching her Auckland-based parents trying to sell their house urgently, as her mother was very sick with cancer.

"They discovered there was an issue with compliance - it took them eight weeks to get an inspector. That's a long time for someone who's desperately ill."

Lee is launching the website at a forum of the Employers and Manufacturers Association this evening. But she said that although she would be engaging with businesses across the city to understand their infrastructure needs, the rating website was aimed at the "average Aucklander".

Their voting preference didn't matter either, she said.

"You can't tell me for a minute that only National Party people experience frustration with Auckland Council ... this is for the average Aucklander that has experienced frustration with Auckland Council and wants to know what we as a government in waiting can do to help out."