Local Board Survey: Franklin

The New Zealand Herald has surveyed the 21 local boards to see how they are getting on after six months of the Super City.

The Herald asked the chairs of the local boards six questions and to score the first four questions out of 10. Not all boards gave a score.

Here are the responses from the Andrew Baker of the Franklin board.

1. After six months, how well is the local board model working for your community?

Score: 7/10

Well. Still some understandable confusion as to roles and responsibilities but these do not seem to be impacting negatively. Continued education and growth of acceptance of the changes will make things better in time.

2. How are things going between your local board and the Auckland Council governing body)?

Score: 6/10

There have been some issues regarding communication, staffing levels and understanding / acceptance of the changes that have occurred but in general a willingness to make things work. We are fortunate to have an excellent relationship and understanding between ourselves and our Councillor.

3. How are things going between your local board and the CCOs?

Score: 8.5/10

Has been a revelation to date. Have experienced some very good outcomes and those CCOs we have interacted with directly (not all at this point) have been very good. Bar has been set high so will need to continue or improve.

4. Do you think local boards are living up to the promise of empowering communities?

Score: 6.5/10

Too early to tell, however if initial feedback from engagement during Local Board Plan process can be taken as an indication, this Local Board seems to be satisfying the communities of Franklin. Obviously some issues with public understanding of the impact of the change in governance and respective responsibilities etc. Still a lot of work to be done though in ensuring Local Boards have the required delegations and meaningful inputs to Council policy etc.

5. What improvements would you like to see made to the local board model? (No score required)

Too early to be able to define improvements as such other than improvement in knowledge and understanding of where Local Boards fit in to the big picture both within and outside the Council structure.

6. Please feel free to comment on any other issues about the local board model.

The proof of how well this governance structure works will be in a year to 18 months time when the many plans will either be completed for the first time or nearing completion. Then, whether Local Boards' representations on behalf of their communities and the aspirations of those communities have been listened to will be able to be seen. Whether or not the small "local" stuff is passed over for the so called "big picture stuff" and whether that has been wise or too rushed will then be able to be determined.