Rural roads upgrade is aim of council

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 462, 17 November 1992, Page 3

Rural roads upgrade is aim of council

The inaugural meeting of the newly elected Council has been held as have similar meetings of the Waimarino and Waiouru Community Boards, so now it is very much a matter of down to work 'let's get on with the job\ The first three years of operation of the new District Council have presented a number of challenges to all those involved in the process of Local Government with serious issues having to be faced in a busi-ness-like manner in order to provide the best long term results for the citizens of the district. Our team of councillors, community board members and the staff of the council worked hard and well to achieve the right outcomes. The council has set out to be responsive to the needs of the community. Now that the council is able to operate off a much more solid base it is my intention to persuade it that standards of service in a number of areas should be improved from the basic maintenance mode in which we have been operating, One of the most important of

Mayor's Column

By

Garrick

Workman

these is the standard of rural roading throughout the district. A special council meeting has been set up for mid-December to discuss a number of the issues involved with the council's roading pro-

gramme. Issues earmarked for discussion are the Transit New Zealand programme for 1993/94, a rolling programme or for ward programme of works, contract specifications, tendering strategy, traffic safety programme and the future upgrading of the Raetihi-Pipiriki-Whanganui

River Road. Transit New Zealand has made it very clear that in the 1993/94 financial year the 58 percent subsidy provided will only be available for approved works with a cost benefit factor of three or more, (ie the benefits must outweigh the costs by three to one

before the subsidy will be available). The upshot of all this is that the council will be unable to undertake work, other than normal maintenance work unless it funds the work 100 percent itself. Whatever the outcome, higher standards of maintenance are expected and must be obtained if

we are to protect our roading asset appropriately in future. New Experience Another change, in part forced upon us by government, has been the contracting out of work normally under-

taken by council staff as-of-right. It has been a new experience for members of our staff preparing the contract specifications. As the council gains experience in this field Turn to page 6

Mayor's column

From page 3 and demands are made to improve standards, results should improve. In meeting the challenge of competing in a highly competitive contracting environment, the council formed an operations business unit (which is in effect a contractor) to undertake basic maintenance work and a LATE (local authority trading enterprise) so as to undertake work the business unit is not able, by law, to tender for. The LATE must operate as a successful business. A further objective is to retain a strong operational workforce within the district on which the council can call as and when required. I am aware there is some

criticism out there regarding the activities of the LATE but I firmly believe it is within the best interests of the council to operate its own roading company for the reasons stated above. The future of the LATE of course, will depend solely on its ability to win contracts if it is to meet its objectives. In the meantime the Waimarino Community Board will have the opportunity of providing an input to the decisions council makes regarding its roading programme in future. Basically though, we must improve the standard of roading within the district, where necessary, now we are in a better position to do so.