Central Otago's economy is going from strength to strength despite a recession, Mayor Malcolm Macpherson says.
At a Central Otago District Council meeting in Alexandra yesterday, Dr Macpherson cited resource management figures which showed a slight decline in activity but nothing like what other parts of the country were facing.
"If the word recession wasn't being bandied about, we would say this is business as usual. Resource management activity is a good indicator of what's happening in the local economy, and our economy is as strong or maybe stronger than last year," he said.
Dr Macpherson said most job losses were in Auckland, and Central Otago was faring far better than other parts of the country.
A monthly activity report for June showed the council processed 80 building consents during the month, compared with 88 during the same period last year.
All consents were processed in less than 10 working days, an improvement on 2008's average of almost 12 days, and a figure to be proud of, Dr Macpherson said.
Despite Dr Macpherson's optimism, parts of the council's financial statements concerned some councillors.
During the council's planning and environment committee meeting councillor Neil Gillespie, of Cromwell, questioned why a cost blowouts - including those for the Project Hayes wind farm Environment Court appeal hearing - had not been formally resolved.
The council spent $128,000 on the wind farm appeal, which is not recoverable.
Cr Gillespie said with all other council budgets, members considered cost blowouts and whether they were appropriate before making resolutions.
"I know we needed to spend the money, but . . . my concern is with the process," he said.
The council's resource management budget for the year to June was $996,631, although it has actually spent $1.2 million.
CODC planning and environment manager Louise van der Voort said in the past year the council had more appeals to deal with than ever before, although that number was projected to decline.
As well as wind farm costs the resource management budget had been spent on making the district plan operative ($50,000), extending consultation on landscape assessment ($30,000), amendments to the Kawarau Conservation Order ($12,000), advertising ($10,000), and legal expenses ($6000).
Professional fees also exceeded the budget by $53,000 but were able to be recovered.
