Council and Mangawhai building for future

 

Last week staff and Commissioners welcomed Graham Sibery to lead the Council as its Chief Executive. He brings significant leadership experience to the Council, including management of large organisations that delivered services to the public.

I have attended some of the briefings that Council staff have provided to Graham. It is interesting to hear the reflections from staff on the state of their part of their organisation today, versus that which existed a few years ago. It is like chalk and cheese.

The Planning and Regulatory team for instance has been completely restructured and has new management. It is based in the Mangawhai Council offices. There are 33 full-time equivalent staff, the costs of which are covered by the revenue they generate from fees and charges. The team is led by Fran Mikulicic, and is divided into four sections.

* Resource Consents, led by Katrina Roos, has a near-new team in place after bringing the planning and development engineering work back in-house. They are processing 60 percent more consents now than two years ago, reflecting strong economic activity.

* Regulatory, led by Dean Nuralli, has also brought previously out-sourced functions back in-house creating a newly shaped team. This team is responsible for verifying food premises, regulating the sale and supply of alcohol, investigating by-law complaints, dog licensing, parking, noise, and dog and stock complaints.

* Building Control, led by Ian McCauley, has been completely overhauled. Through the application of technology this building consenting area has moved from paper-based processes to on-line processes.

* Quality and Business Improvement, led by Gina Knowles, is a new role to support teams to develop initiatives for ongoing business improvement.

About one half of the staff at the Council have been recruited in the past four years. They are made up of New Zealanders who have returned from overseas, those from other countries making New Zealand their home, and those moving here from other centres, including from Auckland.

The recruitment market for skilled people is very competitive and tight. For this reason it is important that the Kaipara District Council continue to develop as an attractive organisation with an open and friendly culture.

Mangawhai Town Plan
A key factor that people weigh up when considering where to take a job is the district make-up and its amenities, including schools, parks, and recreational opportunities. Kaipara has many attractions. Mangawhai is increasingly being recognised as much more than a holiday destination. It is the fastest growing town in Kaipara – the number of dwellings has more than doubled over the last 15 years.

What Mangawhai lacks is a “town plan” that encourages its urban part to grow with roads properly connected, with footpaths and cycle ways developed, with areas that support commercial development, and with other public infrastructure provided.

The Council has begun engaging with the community on these matters, as part of an exercise to interpret the views and aspirations of residents. It has begun to assess the adequacy of current public infrastructure, and matters like the connectivity of roads. It is considering the adequacy of the District Plan, including matters like rural and urban zone definitions and section size. This process will take time. Data collection and analysis is taking place now within Council assisted by specialist consultants.

Over the next month, Council will establish a Mangawhai community panel to assist on this project - a group from the community made up of volunteers with various degrees of expertise and/or experience with respect to such a “town plan” challenge. Feel free to contact me at jrobertson@kaipara.govt.nz if you have any thoughts to add or wish to participate in some way.