Consent review reveals internal cracks and pressure points

 

A recent independent review on Kaipara’s resource consent process has shone a light on a council department struggling under Mangawhai’s ongoing population growth. 

Kaipara District Council’s (KDC) Regulatory, Planning and Policy department came under scrutiny after deputy mayor Peter Wethey’s notice of motion to audit the current resource consent (RC) procedures was adopted in May, with the subsequent ‘Independent Planning and Functions Review’ being accepted at a council meeting on August 29. 

Wethey put forward the motion after receiving a large volume of complaints from applicants about the service and process of trying to attain a RC, and says he is pleased with the reviews findings. 

“It has confirmed everything that I’ve been hearing from members of the community… who have been frustrated to the extreme when applying for consents,” he says. “It has clearly identified a number of areas that council can improve on.”

Workload pressure
Performed by urban and environmental planning firm Barker & Associates the review highlighted a range of impacting issues in the department with an unsustainable workload and subsequent pressure on staff, being a key driver. 

Caused by a significant increase in the volume of consents being lodged and staff shortages especially in senior positions, the review found planning staff worked ‘significant overtime to achieve quality decision-making and required outcomes in statutory time frames’. 

Although staff were found to be ‘good, hard working and liking their current role due to the positive impact they can have in Kaipara’, in the last 12 months they admit to a decline in work satisfaction and work-life balance due to the ongoing pressure of their job. 

The review also cites both over-complicated, too technical and lack of communication from planners to customers as a concern, as well as service requests from customers ‘not getting adequate respect or follow up’ and staff hard to access due to no direct lines.

Slow processing
Consent processing times were found to take too long with some applications being returned as incomplete ‘without appropriate justification’, and inconsistent and conflicting advice and interpretations of the District Plan by KDC staff due to a lack of experience or knowledge. Information requests not in proportion to the ‘scale and nature of the application’, resulting in high and unnecessary costs to the applicant, were also noted. 

A peer reviewing process, unique to KDC and involving a senior planner/consultant to review a colleagues application before passed to a delegated authority for sign off, was also highlighted as ‘time and cost inefficient’ with the potential for conflicting feedback between workers.

Even the geographical distance of Kaipara and the two council offices, Dargaville and Mangawhai were shown to have an impact on staff performance, with travel time for site visits taking away from consent work requirements as well as isolation between staff who work in different offices.

However the review also found despite the problems and high levels of consents coming through, the department is still performing well with 87 per cent of applications processed within the statutory timeframe. 

Review recommendations
The review advised of a number of short and long-term recommendations to help fix the problems, including prioritisation and delegation of workloads, mentoring of junior staff, and developing clear, consistent communication methods between planners, customers and consultants. 

An upgrade and integration of the technological systems throughout council and ways to minimise travel time for staff were also recommended.

Due to Mangawhai/Kaiwaka producing the majority of consent applications, resulting improvements from the review will be felt to a greater extent for RC applicants in the local area, although the whole district will benefit Wethey says. 

“If these recommendations are implemented… it will be a win-win situation,” he says. “It will give council staff a clear direction on how to  streamline and become more efficient when processing consents as well as improve communication with applicants, who will get less frustrated by their dealings with council and get their consents processed in a more timely and efficient manner.”

KDC CEO Louise Miller welcomed the report saying while the report had some positive things to say there is room for improvement. 

“It is a difficult area to juggle… but we’re making positive progress among the challenge of a growing district with more complicated resource consents, while remembering there are people at the heart of these processes,” she says. “I’ll be taking these recommendations on board to continually improve the resource consent service we offer to the Kaipara District.” 

 For full details of the Independent Planning and Functions Review, visit kaipara.govt.nz

A recent audit into council’s troubled planning department will potentially bring positive change to help relieve staff pressure – caused mainly by Mangawhai’s popularity and ongoing property development – and benefit future consent applicants.