Tag Archives: Bob Parker

Christchurch Council Does Not Listen

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Residents Already know what an $80,000 report told them…

 

That Christchurch City Council simply does not listen to their constituents.

From The NBR:

Christchurch council audit confirms complaints

Chris Hutching | Wednesday July 25, 2012 | 8 comments

An $80,000 audit into Christchurch City Council’s communications says what many residents already know. It concludes the council is culturally reluctant to communicate with residents, giving the impression it is isolated from the community.

The council’s own media understatement today says:

“The review found that the council was doing an excellent job keeping people informed about the projects and services it delivers….

“The report makes a series of recommendations which it says outline a need for council (elected members and management) to adopt a culture of open communication and engagement with residents and stakeholders so that the council can build understanding and mutual support for its objectives, plans and decisions.”

The communications report, written by Christchurch public relations consultant Felicity Price and Wellington-based Wilma Falconer, comes after strong dissatisfaction culminating in unprecedented street demonstrations outside council offices earlier this year. The sources of deepest dissatisfaction arguably go back to the 2008 purchase of $17 million worth of properties from now-bankrupt Dave Henderson. The council’s chief executive divided up the deal into five motions to put to councillors at their monthly meeting, each under the $5 million threshold that would trigger public consultation. One of the so-called “strategic” development properties is now advertised for sale.

Another irritation for many residents was the secrecy over the cost of buying the Ellerslie Flower Show.

The earthquakes triggered many other revelations – failure to adequately insure city infrastructure and the questions over the role played by the chief executive Tony Marryatt on the board of the insurance company.

Outrage at Mr Marryatt’s subsequent pay rise by $70,000 to $550,000 proved the trigger for demonstrations earlier this year. Mr Marryatt appears unfazed and is still deciding whether or not to keep a pledge that he would give some of the pay rise to charity.

It became routine for mayor Bob Parker and Mr Marryatt to announce initiatives, including a potential $100 million ratepayer-funded payment to red-zoned hillside residents, and, more latterly, mayoral trips abroad without reference to other councillors, let alone the public.

Accusations that the council was dysfunctional led to a government-appointed observer, Kerry Marshall, who on one occasion was photographed asleep while sitting next to the mayor at a council meeting. His subsequent report blamed councillors who disagreed with the mayor and chief executive. These councillors had also sought information from staff.

The next step in the communications saga is the council’s official consideration of the report at its next meeting. But the catalyst for another upwelling of outrage from residents is more likely to be the review of the chief executive’s salary which is due to be announced soon.

 

Remind me never to bitch and whinge about Auckland Council or our Council Controlled Organisations after reading the sorry mess that is Christchurch City Council. I feel for Christchurch residents and ratepayers (to which I have family down there) who have an incompetent Council leadership and an MP who is quite fond of getting verbal sprays from the Courts for overstepping his mark, or making an ass of himself with the Auckland CRL.

 

However while I do feel sorry for Christchurch, I did have to shake my head with this:

The council’s own media understatement today says:

“The review found that the council was doing an excellent job keeping people informed about the projects and services it delivers…. ”The report makes a series of recommendations which it says outline a need for council (elected members and management) to adopt a culture of open communication and engagement with residents and stakeholders so that the council can build understanding and mutual support for its objectives, plans and decisions.”

FFS The Council (Christchurch) is so bloody well incompetent and sealed off from reality (and probably common sense too) that it can not even see its own failings… I have a saying for that, it is called: “Unable to find yourself out of a wet paper bag.”

 

Even the Crown appointed monitor also sounds as useless as tits on a bull with this apparent sleeping on the job and unable to also do fault finding and remedies. What a waste of my taxpayer money that monitor is.

Solution? Sack the entire lot including the monitor and start over from scratch – that is the least Central Government could do to relieve a besieged Christchurch. Besieged from a hopeless Council, and further besieged by a useless Crown Monitor…

 

Message to Auckland Council: Take heed of Christchurch’s misery as I have already blasted you for some of your failings…

 

Muldoon Would Be Proud (or Would He?)

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CERA to take control of Christchurch CBD rebuild – Brownlee | The National Business Review.

 

I was reading this during my lunch break as well as THIS, THIS, AND THIS from various over sources over Central Government “taking over” the rebuild of Christchurch.

Quoting from the NBR (honestly they had the best description of it):

BUSINESSDESK: Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has directed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority to set up a new unit tasked with implementing the Christchurch CBD rebuild plan. The Christchurch Central Development Unit has 100 days to come up with a blueprint that will deliver on Christchurch City Council’s draft plan to rebuild the city’s central business district, Brownlee told an audience in Christchurch today

After reading the respective articles, one would think the late former Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon (also of National Party and Government) had come back from the grave and decided to go for Think Big Mark Two (in Christchurch this time) rather than the Neo Liberal Agenda of the (former Finance Minister) Bill Birch and Ruth Richardson 1990′s era. Honestly I am rather appalled by Central Government for its Stalinist approach to the rebuild of Christchurch. The Muldoon-Brownlee Plan of Christchurch would put the ultra-lefties in Auckland Council, as well as the “interventionist”  C- Grade Auckland Plan to utter shame – ouch!

I thought National embraced Individual Choice, Freedom, and Responsibility, as well as the Neo Liberal ideology which includes LIMITED (CENTRAL) GOVERNMENT and the MARKET LEADING! It seems to me that this National Government is embracing the Neo-Conservative ideals seen in the George W. Bush era (2000-2008) of big (and expanding) intervening government, the State leading (crony-ism included) and the mantra of “Do as I say, not as I do!”

I would say for Auckland’s sake, lucky Central Government is focusing down there and not up here at the moment – although I am feeling for Christchurch a lot. Furthermore I caught this:

It also proposes a low rise skyline, with a maximum height of seven storeys.

What the hell is this and why? You can build 14-30 storey buildings in the CBD of Christchurch still and they would not fall down in earthquakes if built properly (Japan and the USA are able so why aren’t we)… Without high-rises if the market demand was high enough well where does economies of scale go you can get in a high-rise.

The more I look into Christchurch and the rebuild, the more I just want to shake my head and the ever-growing incompetency of Central Government in the entire affair. Bryce Edwards of Otago University had this to say:

Christchurch now has a new bureaucratic title to add to CERA – the latest acronym is CCDU, which stands for the Christchurch Central Development Unit within CERA, and is headed by CERA’s current general manager of operations Warwick Issacs – see: 100-day action plan for Christchurch rebuild. 

 
It seems that the final plan for Christchurch’s CBD build is still 100 days away, with the CCDU’s ‘Blueprint for Action’ being the vehicle to identify key projects and push them through using CERA’s wide-ranging powers. Mayor Bob Parker is welcoming the unit and says the government has ‘essentially accepted’ the Council’s original plan, although traffic and light rail proposals have not been included. The question will be: will the Council end up merely acting as a rubberstamp for decisions made by the CCDU? 
 
John Hartevelt thinks that Parker is very much in danger of living up to his ‘Sideshow Bob’ nickname:  ‘A less charitable interpretation would have Parker now officially cast as town jester – an amiable knave useful for relating with the plebs but without much of a clue or any real power’ – see: The whiff of ‘takeover’ grows. Sam Sachdeva also reports that Council chief executive Tony Marryatt is still using his pay increase as leverage over the councilors – see: Payback awaits observer’s exit. 

Much-Ado-About-Nothing

Now this is enough to make your heart really sink (and Auckland, take note):

Today, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee ditched the Christchurch City Council’s recovery plan. Mayor Bob Parker put a brave face on things at the media conference today, even claiming the city plan’s “visionary” Volume 1 themes had been enshrined. The new arrangement would be a “true partnership”, he said. But the reality is that the actual proposals contained in Volume 2 have been thrown out of the recovery scenario.

Bloody hell, now that is a plan of Much-ado-about-nothing – all vision and no action or action plan even to get the rebuild rolling. Oh well there goes a few more forests on paper and pencils…
And check this out:
Mr Brownlee said volume one of the council’s Central City Plan – featuring the vision for the city centre – would be accepted in the main, but transport aspects would be “put to one side for the time being”.
Auckland syndrome here we come (for Christchurch), build the transport system last rather than together (with the urban development) and end up with what Auckland has now with a transit network deficit…
So it seems Tokenism and Much-Ado-About-Nothing seems to be alive and well down south :( – something Muldoon would have been disgusted of – least the man was man of action (whether you agree or not is something else) rather than words as we currently see.
And if you are wondering do I have a plan – the answer is yes and its right HERE, just translate it for Christchurch!
Oh for Auckland you might want to pay attention:
But the reality is that the actual proposals contained in Volume 2 have been thrown out of the recovery scenario. They included the mayor’s pet light rail project that would have soaked up $500m of the $2 billion recovery plan.
Watch-out, Brownlee could throw out the CRL in its entirety.