This Council is Out of Control

Auckland Councillors have been completely blind-sided by a move from Auckland Council officials to undermine the Councillors’ decision last week to remove unnoticed, last minute, changes to the Draft Unitary Plan.

Since the NZ Herald reported this morning that Council Chief Executive, Stephen Town, had floated the idea of an “independent group” gathering the views of Aucklanders on housing density, Ratepayers’ Alliance representatives have spoken to Councillors who expressed surprise, shock and a complete lack of knowledge of what the Council had done.

Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson, Carmel Claridge, says:

“Who on earth is in charge at this organisation? The governing body makes a very clear decision and within a week officials are undermining elected representatives.”

“Whose decision was this? The Mayor, who voted to keep the last minutes changes, or the Chief Executive who is supposed to be a servant of the people?”

“What makes this move particularly grotesque is despite the brouhaha last week, the Council wants to appoint a new sock puppet group, pay them the earth, and use them in lieu of consultation on officials’ desired changes. That isn’t consultation. It gives absolutely no say whatsoever to the people that are actually affected. It’s a complete sham and is exactly the sort of thing that got Council into this mess in the first place."

ENDS

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