From the Chair

From the Chair By Aidan Bennett, Chairperson, Devonport-Takapuna Local Board

As most will know I am a novice to this local body governance role. When I was elected, and then appointed chair due to my strong vote, there were those who said I would be frustrated by the process and bureaucracy and some questioned whether a business person is suited to such a role. My reason for putting myself forward was to make a difference. I strongly believed that our community needed some fresh thinking in the way we were doing things at the local board level.

So over the past 6-7 months I have been a totally fresh set of eyes, looking at the way things operate council-wise. From both the council administration perspective, and from the elected member perspective.

As I have detailed in lots of communication, I have been pleasantly surprised by the overall organisation of council from the administration perspective. In general we have passionate people (in council and in CCOs) working to a pretty good plan. It is a big beast though, and by no means perfect. But given all the challenges – of trying to keep everyone happy – I give the organisation a pass mark. I know not everyone will agree, as all councils are really punching bags and struggle to get a pass mark from the wider public. But I am seeing things from the inside – which I wasn’t before.

What I am not so sure about at the local board level is the political side. It is absolutely critical to the democratic process, but I am not sure we have that quite right. In my view there is too much politics that results in things not getting done. We need to take a look at ourselves in my view.

It is a generalisation, but I am sure the wider public believes things don’t get done because of the bureaucracy. This may be true to a point. But what I am seeing from the inside, is that things are often not getting done because of the politics. This is something I believe we need to overcome for the good of our community.

My belief is our Local Board should not be driven by politics. It needs to be driven by what is good for the community. I know that statement can be subjective, but it still must be the basis on how we make decisions and reach compromise so things do get done. We need to be pragmatic – google tells me that means ‘dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations’.

Our local body political structure has changed in the last decade. I don’t believe the elected officials at the local board level have necessarily moved with this change, and that’s absolutely critical. There are many still longing for ‘the good old days’, but we have moved on from the model of every area doing their own thing.

This has been replaced by a plan for the whole city that looks decades into the future. We are planning and coordinating like never before. It is not perfect and I know not everyone agrees with that plan. But the fact is getting total agreement is not possible. I see our job, as a local board, to work our butts off to make sure we are embracing this plan and preparing for our future as the plan outlines. It is time to stop fighting the plans and the structure.

In short, it is time to get things done.

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board has a recent history of conflict and battling with what I call ‘city hall’. This is a recipe for not delivering for our community. We need to work with city hall, build relationships to a point where we can better influence outcomes for our community. A lot about what we do at local board level is advocating.

At present we are drafting our Local Board Plan 2020. Due for publication from October. This plan feeds into all the other planning that is being done for the city. The Local Board Plan is the guiding document, is prepared by ourselves and our local board

Aidan Bennett.

My belief is our Local Board should not be driven by politics. It needs to be driven by what is good for the community. I know that statement can be subjective, but it still must be the basis on how we make decisions and reach compromise so things do get done.

services team, taking into account feedback we receive from our community. This plan will take over from the Local Board Plan 2017 that was prepared by the previous local board.

With the work I have been doing to help prepare this plan – looking back and looking forward – it has become clearer to me that we have this problem. That the local board has not been delivering on the plan due to the differences and politics involved. The inability to look at things pragmatically, reach compromise (if it is needed) and make a decision. Quite often with significant local projects, there have been stalemates, decisions put off, and projects have been delayed and not delivered. Examples are Lake Road, Hurstmere Road, Anzac Street Carpark and decisions around key assets that are underperforming or sit doing nothing. There are many, all over the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area.

The end result is the community is the loser. The costs blow out. Many will blame bureaucracy. From where I’m sitting that is not the only problem.

I reckon as elected officials we can do better. We need to get on and make pragmatic decisions on these projects so we are preparing for the future and getting our fair share and more for our area. Our decisions won’t always be popular with the keyboard warriors and the noisy, but we will get things done.

Lets get things done.