Whangārei mayor says council ‘not bad’, despite missing statutory targets

A three-storey office complex with ground floor carparks being built on Dent St is an example of a complex building consent application that Whangārei District Council had to process in the same timeframe as a house. Photo / Denise Piper

A challenging year has seen Whangārei District Council miss statutory requirements, such as processing building consents and non-notified resource consents within the required timeframe.

But new mayor Ken Couper said the council has to balance a whole host of responsibilities against the need to keep rates low.

The council’s Annual Report for 2024-25 showed it met 69% of its targets across 20 activities, an improvement from 64% in 2023-24.

The 87 non-financial targets were set in the council’s Long Term Plan and include a mix of mandatory measures – such as the quality of ride on local sealed roads – and voluntary targets, like the availability of sports parks.

But the council did not meet six out of nine targets covering statutory requirements, such as the processing of building consents and non-notified resource consents, and reviewing policies, bylaws and strategies.

Couper said while there are improvements to be made, the council isn’t doing a bad job and a fair assessment showed the council improved on last year.

“It’s a balancing act and the real trick is finding the sweet spot where we’re getting efficiencies and saving money but delivering well.”

Statutory requirements, like processing building consent applications within 20 working days, are a blanket requirement and do not take into account complexity, he said.

“The consents have a statutory time but it could be a simple one, like a house, or a complex one, like a commercial building, and it’s got the same timeframe.”

General manager of planning and development, Dominic Kula, agreed that the council had processed more complex commercial buildings in the past year, such as a new multi-storey building on Dent St.

Whangārei mayor Ken Couper says the council isn't doing a bad job, although there are probably cost savings to be made.

Very complex projects need outside expertise to process, he said.

The council is also not staffed to meet a peak in demand, if applications all come in at once, Kula said.

Despite these difficulties, the council only just missed its target of processing 96% of building consents within the statutory time, with just under 95% done on time, Couper said.

With 429 fulltime-equivalent staff, Whangārei also has one of the lower ratios of staff to population numbers in the country, he said.

The annual report shows the majority of staff, 363, earn under $100,000 a year with 114 earning less than $60,000. Eleven staff are in the top bracket, earning between $180,000 and $399,999 a year.

Couper said the council has a large number of targets to meet across a wide range of activities.

Whangārei District Council failed to meet six targets for statutory requirements, such as processing building consents within 20 working days. Photo / NZME

On top of these targets, councils have faced a wide range of reform set by central government, including the Local Water Done Well programme and a 30-year Future Development Strategy, he said.

This continues, with major reform proposed for regional councils, building consents and the replacement of the Resource Management Act, Couper said.

For each of these, staff have to provide feedback so the views of the Whangārei community are represented, he said.

Despite defence of the council’s performance, Couper said all expenses are being scrutinised.

The council is funding an initial $50,000 for an independent financial review, with phase one tasked with saving $1 million in time for the 2026-27 Annual Plan consultation.

Couper said the review is about looking for efficiencies and greater savings, without compromising services.

Targets for statutory requirements missed

The council failed to meet these targets for statutory requirements:

• Compliance with resource consents for discharge from the wastewater system (1 abatement notice for odour at Kioreroa wastewater treatment plant v target of 0).
• Percentage of non-notified resource consent applications processed within statutory timeframes (93% v target of greater than 95%).
• Percentage of building consent applications processed within statutory timeframes (94.8% v target of greater than 96%).
• Percentage of response to requests for information made under the Local Government Official Information Act 1987 and the Privacy Act 2020 provided within relevant statutory timeframes (94.6% v target of greater than 95%).
• Percentage of council, committee and hearing agendas that meet relevant legislative timeframes (97.5% v target of 100%).
• Percentage of statutory policies, bylaws, plans and strategies that are reviewed with the relevant statutory timeframes (92% v target of 100%).

The council met three targets for statutory requirements:

• Percentage of Section 223 and Section 224 applications for subdivision consents under the RMA completed within statutory timeframes (100% v target of greater than 95%).
• Percentage of drinking water supplies that comply with Water Services (Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand) Regulations 2022 and the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules, for E. coli and total pathogenic protozoa (100% v target of 100%).
• Plan changes are researched, proposed, consulted and reported on as required by council in accordance with the relevant statutory requirements (100% v target of 100%).

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.