Question of community board’s future put to public

Silence.

That was the initial response from Wanaka Community Board members when they were unexpectedly asked for their reactions to the recent recommendation by an independent advisory group to disband the board.

The group was set up earlier this year by the Queenstown Lakes District Council and was tasked with reviewing district representation.

Among its recommendations was disbanding the Wanaka Community Board and creating three new council wards, with four councillors representing each.

Towards the conclusion of the yesterday’s meeting of the Wanaka Community Board held in the temporary Luggate Community Hall and attended by Mayor Jim Boult, chairman Barry Bruce asked if there were any questions about his chairman's report.

Queenstown Lakes deputy mayor Calum MacLeod, a board member, said he only had one and that was to ask the board how it felt about the representation review.

Board member Chris Hadfield was the first to break the silence.

"I think it would be a shame to lose the real basic grassroots communication channel that we have in the community board members."

One of the longest serving board members, Jude Battson, said the board "used to have a model that worked really well" and it almost seemed as if there had been a strategy to reduce the number of meeting agenda items and its involvement in Upper Clutha projects.

The board liaised with 37 delegations and groups and "four councillors cannot take that on", she said.

Board deputy chairman Ed Taylor said it was the "calibre" of the councillors that mattered.

"If you have four really top people absolutely focused on the job they would do a better job than seven muppets [community board members]," he said.

Councillor and board member Niamh Shaw questioned whether the board "was effective enough to justify the resources and funding that council puts to it".

She said it was not either four councillors or the Wanaka Community Board — the community could choose to have both.

Councillor and board member Quentin Smith said he would wait for feedback from the community to see how they wanted to be represented.

Mr Bruce said he was in favour of retaining the board.

"Throughout New Zealand there are 67 councils and among those councils there are 110 community boards," he said.

"Community boards have been a part of local government since 1989 and perform a grassroots role enabling neighbours and communities to have some input into local government.

"Ultimately this is a community decision and the community has an opportunity over the next four weeks to submit their thoughts on the future of the community board, and I encourage people to take part in that process."

Mr MacLeod did not make his views known.

Mr Boult said councillors were elected to look after the district as a whole and there were "very capable councillors around our table who put their particular interests aside and do the right thing by the entire district".

He said he was open-minded and looked forwards to community feedback.

Community consultation on the advisory group’s recommendations opened on Monday and will continue until August 6.

A final proposal is expected to be put to the council in September following formal hearings, with the outcome taking effect for the October 2022 elections.

kerrie.waterworth@odt.co.nz