Ruapehu District Council given Council MARK BBB assessment rating

Ruapehu District Council has improved on the BB rating it received in 2017. Photo / Bevan Conley

Ruapehu District Council has upped its game and is performing well in some areas but needs to focus on its ageing infrastructure, an independent assessment says.

A CouncilMARK assessment carried out in October last year has given the council a BBB rating, up from a BB in 2017.

CouncilMARK was developed by Local Government NZ (LGNZ) to improve the public's knowledge of the work councils do, and to support individual councils to improve the service and value they provide.

Councils are assessed on governance and leadership, finance and transparency, service delivery and asset management, and communications and community engagement.

A BBB rating indicates "some areas of strong performance and competent generally". The highest score is an AAA, while the lowest is a C.

Ruapehu District Council received a "competent" rating for all the categories except communications and community engagement for which it got a "performing well" rating.

The report said changing community expectations and the availability of funding from central government would require the council to become more responsive in several areas, including social housing, three waters management, tourism and economic development.

Improvement had been made in the council's leadership and financial decision-making, but there was a need to address ageing infrastructure in the face of increasing drinking water and environmental standards.

Independent Assessment Board (IAB) chairman Toby Stevenson said council chief executive Clive Manley and Ruapehu mayor Don Cameron were both strong leaders.

"They are genuinely motivated to make a positive impact on the lives of their residents, and their strong working relationships with each other, council staff, elected members and residents is a testament to that," Stevenson said.

Ruapehu mayor Don Cameron. Photo / Bevan Conley

"Their leadership will be vital in addressing some of the issues that the report finds, particularly around renewing ageing three waters infrastructure."

Manley said the rating was thanks to "a lot of hard work by council staff over the last four years", but the council wouldn't be resting on its laurels as a result of it.

"I am very proud of the team and would like to thank them for their efforts, as well as Mayor Cameron and the councillors for their support and leadership which was highlighted as a particular strength of council in the assessment," Manley said.

"Our BBB rating is a solid improvement from our 2017 BB rating, given our challenges of being a small, rural council with limited income, serving diverse communities over a geographically large area."

Leadership would be vital in addressing some of the issues the report found, Stevenson said, particularly around renewing three waters infrastructure.

"It's a four-pronged fork where the infrastructure needs attention, national environmental and other standards are rising, community expectations are high, but resources are relatively limited," Stevenson said.

"The council will need to strike a balance in addressing each of these factors in its asset management work."

Cameron said the assessment was a "good result and fair reflection" of how the council was currently performing, and the release of the report was timely with the council currently consulting on its Long Term Plan 2021/31.

"Many of the issues we are seeking feedback on are reflected in the report, including improving outcomes around meeting increasing drinking water and environmental standards, and engagement with Māori," Cameron said.

"The Long Term Plan consultation is a great opportunity for people to have their say on these and other issues and whether they want more of a focus (spending) on a particular priority area to improve our performance."