The Kāpiti Coast District Council would like to hear from customers that have recently been granted a building consent,” says Housing Portfolio holder Councillor Rob McCann.

“As a Council we need to keep improving customer experience, and one of the best methods is to hear what works and what doesn’t. We’re specifically interested in listening to the experience of mums and dads, as staff already have relationships with professional developers.

“This work also responds to one of the 14 action points within our housing plan. In the housing space, Council is taking on a larger and more proactive role following the adoption of the Long-term Plan. We are moving from being just a regulator, to actively encouraging development, especially where those projects encourage the kinds of homes we need in Kāpiti.

“We need to ensure that we build safely, but also efficiently. That requires Council to continually review its processes and to seek feedback from partners and customers on improvement opportunities, whether they’re professionals, or mums and dads, so that we are enabling people to navigate governments legislative requirements.

“It’s a difficult space with a significant amount of wordy legislation that needs to be followed, failure to do this puts the Council at risk of being financially liable. We are hopeful that changes to the Resource Management Act and other legislation will create easier pathways for projects.

“Building is a complex process, and when developing a building project, multiple Council teams are involved so it’s critical that the left hand and the right hand are working together in the best way possible.

“Within this complex process, we want to ensure all the information required by a developer is provided at the most appropriate time. And that if there are better ways of working, we want to seriously consider them,” says Mr McCann.

If you’ve been granted a consent recently and want to have your say, take part in this short online survey at https://haveyoursay.kapiticoast.govt.nz/your-building-consent-experience

You can reach Councillor McCann directly about the councils housing programme at rob.mccann@kapiticoast.govt.nz

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