Council review to kick off in August

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 15, Issue 693, 1 July 1997, Page 5

Council review to kick off in August

Apublic launch in August is to kick off the Ruapehu District Council's $600,000 review. The review process, which is a requirement of central government from the Local Government Amendment Act (No3) 1996, will be a condensed version of the programme that was initially agreed to by the council in October 1996. Councillors were told at their June meeting that the programme had to be condensed due to a number of key staff having left the council. The programme includes consultation with the community about what it sees as the council's functions, development of asset management plans, preparing long term strategic plans, funding policies and financial strategies. Grumbles continue around the council table, mainly at the high cost of the review.

Cr Stuart Shaw said he was concerned that they could end up spending $3/ million to "end up where we are already" and that it was a waste of ratepayers' money. He asked what would happen if coujicils told the government to "go jump in the lake". Legal obligation Acting chief executive Chris Ryan said he was sympathetic to their concerns but that council was legally obliged to comply. He added that while Ruapehu District Council may struggle with it, most larger councils had "grabbed it with both hands" and some had even embarked on the process prior to the Act being passed. He agreed that it would be a large workload for councillors as well as the members of the public which will be asked to join focus groups to look at the various aspects of the review.