A decision to disband Auckland Council’s lead urban regeneration agency could mean some communities miss out on valuable investments, a councillor says.
At a governing body meeting on December 12, councillors voted in favour of structural changes to council-controlled organisations (CCOs).
This included disbanding Eke Panuku and transferring its responsibilities to council by July.
Manurewa-Papakura councillor Angela Dalton said she heavily opposed the decision.
She was away on personal leave when the governing body met.
“Eke Panuku filled a valuable hole left from legacy councils who were responsible for placemaking in their respective council areas,” she said.
“Without Eke Panuku, suburbs who have benefited from regeneration would have been lost in the Super City.”
Eke Panuku was established in 2015 to lead urban regeneration in Auckland.
Dalton, who wouldn’t be standing in this year’s local body elections, was the liaison councillor on the Eke Panuku Board.
“What I experience is intelligent, pragmatic, experienced decision-making that has seen many successes for Auckland by Eke Panuku.
“It is actually the governing body that has not lived up to its responsibilities in the CCO partnership.”
She said -CCO’s were getting on with the job but the governing body continued to write, “vague and misaligned letters of expectation”.
“They vote in policy and then haul the CCO’s before them when there is public outcry; they cut CCO funding year after year.
“This isn’t about getting control of the CCO’s, this is about failure on the part of Auckland Council and multiple governing bodies over the years to set clear expectations and ensure consistent accountability.”
Dalton feared communities would miss out on valuable investments.
“What we will now see is the governing body dithering over decision-making, playing off one community over the other; not reaching a decision to meet the market demands and, as a consequence, the suburbs who were to benefit from investment will now miss out on regeneration.”
Eke Panuku chief executive David Rankin in a statement said the very clear message from the majority of councillors was that they wished to maintain momentum in the Eke Panuku regeneration programme and not lose the skills and capability of our staff.
“We are focused on supporting our team through this uncertainty to ensure that the changes maximise opportunities for Auckland, the council and our people,” Rankin said.
He said programmes would continue as normal, while awaiting more clarity from council in February about changes to the structure.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
