People in the Hauraki Gulf who are building or planning to build would absolutely hate being under the Thames-Coromandel District Council. It has an online service that shouldn't be allowed in a civilised country. Or even in New Zealand. It is headed Consent Tracking, and it allows people to track resource and building consents. Fancy being so open and transparent! I know the Local Government Act 2002 says councils have to be, but, please, let's keep to Auckland's example and never let the law interfere with policy and bureaucracy (or profligacy).
Click here to see the site.
Nothing good will come of it, obviously.
It is obviously madness to want amalgamation with such a shonky outfit.
;-))
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Footnote: The Resource Management Act 1991 sets a limit of 20 working days for processing resource consents unless there are lawful reasons for extending the time. But a planner on Waiheke of considerable experience told me she had never seen a single consent go through in 20 days [or less]. Another senior planner told me that consents are now taking about eight weeks. The eleven planners processed 407 applications in the 2006/2007 year, an average of about three per planner per month (up from 382 in 2005/2006; in 2007/2008 it was 438; but the meaty applications, for new dwellings, was 121, 125, 121 over those three years, an average of 0.9 per planner per month; the other applications were for alterations, earthworks, trees, etc).
Thames-Coromandel's annual report for 2006/2007 shows that it processed 612 applications in an average of 16.5 days and that 62% were processed in under 18 days. Its target of processing 75% in under 18 days was exceeded in September, November and June. It has ten planners, so they processed an average of about five per planner per month.
Waiheke Island, New Zealand
Waiheke from the west (the end nearest Auckland)
About Me
- Nobilangelo
- My Christian name is pronounced 'noble-arn-jillo' (i.e., both o's are long, so the first two syllables rhyme with 'noble' not 'hobble'--yes, I know that's obvious, because there's only one 'b' between the 'o' and the 'i', but some people seem to see two b's, hence the English lesson). My surname is pronounced kerra-marliss. I was born, bred and educated in New Zealand, except for an international systems-engineer's course in San Antonio, Texas. I am born-again Christian, a thinker with a very practical turn of mind, a scientist with a particular interest in planet-friendly energy and neuroscience, an engineer (mechanical, industrial and IT systems), an inventor, a Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a writer and poet, a naturist, a designer in different fields, an arranger and composer of symphonic music, a multi-award-winning IT journalist, a photographer, and a practitioner at various times in other hands-on fields including building, metalwork, woodwork, stained-glass and landscaping.