Media release
13 April 2005

RMA performance taken out of context

Media reports citing Waitakere City Council as the “worst performing” council in the country for processing resource consents on time are inaccurate and gross distortions of the truth, says Councillor Vanessa Neeson, chair of the Planning and Regulatory Committee.

“The report by the Ministry for the Environment has been selectively picked through to make Waitakere look as bad as possible and does not reflect the true performance of the council,” says Councillor Neeson.

The reporting in the media yesterday refers only to notified resource consent applications for the 2003/2004 year. During that time there were only two applications, neither of which was processed on time because of their complexity.

The media reports do not mention that in the same period a total of 85.5% resource consents overall, were processed on time.

“It is disappointing that an up and coming politician like Helensville MP John Key sees fit to slap Waitakere around with an old figure that is so transparently taken out of context. He of all people should know that statistics do not tell the real story,” says Councillor Neeson

“By their nature, notified resource consents are lengthy and time consuming and we’re working to improve this area of performance,” she says.

During the 2003/2004 period, non-notified resource consents made up the bulk of applications. A total of 1805 were processed, of which 86% of land use and 87% of subdivisions were processed on time.

Compared with councils of a similar size, Waitakere is on a par with Manukau and Wellington, and ahead of Auckland and North Shore for non-notified resource consent applications.

Detailed Statistics for Waitakere City Council

Table 1
1999/2000 Year Percentages 2001/2002 Year Percentages 2003/2004 Year Percentages

Total number of resource consents processed 2092 1506 1815
Total number of resource consents processed within statutory timeframes 1704 81.45% 1445 96.61 % 1551 85.5%

Total number of Land use consents processed
(notified, Non-notified, LUC/SUB “Combos”
(2001/2002 figures: 9 + 1257 + 4 =1270 1616 1491 on time
125 over time
93% on Time 1270 1233 on time
37 over time
97% on Time 1475 1257 on time
218 over time
85.2% on time
Total number of Subdivision consents processed 395 148 on time
247 over time
37% on time 229 210 on time
19 over time
91.8% on time 340 294 on time
48 over time
85.8% on time
Total number of Air Discharge consents processed
(during this year delegation to process these was returned to the ARC, as WCC no longer has the expertise to undertake this task) 81 65 on time
16 over time
80% on time 7 1 on time
6 over time
14% on time N/A

Number of Notified Land use consents processed 9 3 on time
6 over time
33% on time 9 9 on time
0 over time
100% on time 9 3 on time
6 over time
33% on time
Number of Notified Subdivision consents processed 7 1 on time
6 over time
14% on time 0 2 0 on time
2 over time
0% on time

Number of Non notified Land use consents processed
(LUC/SUB + “Combos” (1257 + 4 - 2001/2002 figures) 1607 1488 on time
119 over time
93% on time 1261 1224 on time
37 over time
96.9% on Time 1465 1254 on time
212 over time
85.5% on time
Number of Non notified Subdivision consents processed 388 147 on time
241 over time
37% on time 229 210 on time
19 over time
91.8% on time
340 294 on time
44 over time
87% on time
Number of Certificates of compliance processed 61 57 55
Number of applications that prompted additional information requests 692 624 967
Number of times section 37(1) was used
(Never used in 1999/2000) 0 21 964

Table 2
Council Total consents Processed % within statutory timeframe
Subdivisions % within statutory timeframe
Landuse
Auckland 7215 66% 52%
Northshore 2563 65% 61%
Manukau 1901 88% 84%
Rodney 1603 80% 89%
Wellington 1423 83% 91%
Christchurch 2721 76% 91%
Dunedin 1073 99% 100%
Waitakere 1815 87% 86%

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