Works depts may go private

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 290, 13 June 1989, Page 1

Works depts may go private

Corporatisation is soon to reach local government with council works staff facing competition for work they presently carry out.

The Transport Law Reform Bill currently before parliament will

introduce radical changes with dramatic impact on large rural

authorities such as those in the Ruapehu District, says Ruapehu District Council General Manager Cliff Houston in his report to the district Transition Committee He says the impact is likely to be as great as that produced by the processes of Local Government amalgamation. The bill will see the scrapping of the National Roads Board and the Urban Transport Council to form "Transit New Zealand", consisting of seven to ten members appointed by the Ministers of Transport and Finance. There will be no statutory percentage shares of subsidy money and no minimum subsidy as applies at the moment, said Mr Houston. Local

authorities will "necd to do their homework" to obtain finance for roading work. He says on the positive side Transit New Zealand will subsidise uneconomic rural transport as well as urban transport. Public tendering for works will have to start by 1 July 1991, with local authorities having to provide good reasons for declining the lowest tenders.

Local Authorities will be able to take control of state highways unless Transit New Zealand can show the authority is incapable of administering the highway concerned. Local Authorities will not be able to pay themselves money with TNZ subsidy directly, which Mr Houston believes means the District Council will have Turnpaf>e2

Works corporation

Frompagel to corporatise its works division in order to be eligible for work via the tendering process and thus funding. "There is a definite challenge to us to corporatise and ensure that we can submit the low-

est tenders for the work," says the General Manager in his report. "I do not think we should shy away from this challenge. He said the proposals in the Bill reflect the general thrust of Government policy towards

"transparency and accountability" in the expenditufe of public funds. He says there is a case for excluding minor maintenance items from the tendering process but that the main thrust of the reform should be supported.