Whakatane District Council updates delegations

Whakatane District Council has reviewed and updated its delegations to planning staff as part of efforts to improve the way resource consents are processed. The review also provided an opportunity to update some delegations that had become outdated through changes to the Resource Management Act in 2005.

This is one of several Council initiatives that are underway to improve performance, meet statutory timeframes and respond to the needs of applicants and the general public.
The Director of Environment and Policy, David Bewley says the Council has over the last year been actively reviewing how it delivers regulatory services in its Development and Compliance area.

“A stakeholder’s group has been formed to help the Council identify issues in how building and resource consents are processed. The time taken to process consents was identified as a major area of concern.

The Council, with advice from its Hearing Committee, has reviewed the range of delegations available to ensure they are appropriate for the experience of the staff involved, and to get decisions made quickly. The latest review is part of the whole process of ensuring that we conduct our business in an effective and efficient manner as possible”.

Mr Bewley says there has been a steady improvement in processing timeframes over the year. With additional staff in the department, there has been less need to use consultants to process applications.

The Council will consider the results of the year’s improvement programme in December.