MINUTES OF Central
HAwkes Bay District Council
Finance and Planning Committee Meeting
HELD AT THE Council Chamber, 28-32
Ruataniwha Street, Waipawa
ON Thursday, 15 August 2019 AT at the conclusion of public forum which
commences at 9am
PRESENT: Mayor Alex Walker
Cr Ian Sharp (Deputy Mayor)
Cr Tim Aitken
Cr Kelly Annand
Cr Tim Chote
Cr Gerard Minehan
Cr Brent Muggeridge
Cr David Tennent
Dr Roger Maaka
IN ATTENDANCE: Monique Davidson (CEO)
Joshua Lloyd (Group Manager, Community Infrastructure and Development)
Bronda Smith (Group Manager, Corporate Support and Services)
Doug Tate (Group Manager, Customer and Community Partnerships)
Nicola Bousfield (People and Capability Manager)
Darren de Klerk (3 Waters Programme Manager)
Helen O’Shaughnessy (District Plan Manager)
None - Cr Burne-Field leave of absence granted as per 20th June Council meeting
2 Declarations of Conflicts of Interest
None
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Moved: Cr David Tennent Seconded: Mayor Alex Walker THAT the following standing orders are suspended for the duration of the meeting: · 20.2 Time limits on speakers · 20.5 Members may speak only once · 20.6 Limits on number of speakers And that Option C under section 21 General procedures for speaking and moving motions be used for the meeting. Standing orders are recommended to be suspended to enable members to engage in discussion in a free and frank manner.
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Moved: Cr Gerard Minehan Seconded: Cr Tim Aitken That the minutes of the Finance and Planning Committee Meeting held on 28 March 2019 as circulated, be confirmed as true and correct. |
Cr Tennent sought clarification on the meaning of Waipukurau Pa site interpretation. Officers explained that this was considered to be both physical and digital interpretation of pre-colonial pā sites including whare korero and pou as well as digital storytelling on websites.
Cr Annand spoke to the motion to thank staff for the work that had been done on this project.
Cr Muggeridge sought clarification about whether putting this funding application in would be likely to be detrimental to future potential funding applications. Officers confirmed that it wouldn’t have an impact on future applications.
Cr Aitken highlighted the concern that at $6000 per annum per child, that a member with multiple children would incur high costs.
Officers confirmed that the committee could decide to cap the amounts per member and include in future policy.
Cr Tennent considered that although it was a positive step forward to encourage people to stand for Council, that it was not in the budget. He then sought clarification on the financial impact it would have in 2020. Mrs Davidson determined that it would be included in future budgets as part of the draft annual plan 2020/21
Cr Sharp sought clarification on whether by the current Council accepting the policy, that it would create a cost that couldn’t not be avoided by the new Council.
Officers confirmed that the newly elected Council did not have to adopt the new policy if they did not wish to.
Cr Tennent asked why a committee in this term was voting on a future council matter.
Mrs Davidson confirmed that an example had been taken from other councils and that it could provide some certainly to incoming candidates about whether the childcare allowance would be available or not.
Mayor Walker spoke to the motion that the allowance was important to local government given that females and all people under 40 are underrepresented and that cost of childcare is a barrier. She spoke in support of the policy because it was important to be clear to the community and new councils that the table supports mixed representation.
Cr Chote spoke against the motion asking what allowances there are for other groups of people.
He raised that the new Council should make the decision and that the policy needs to cover a wider group.
Cr Aitken agreed with both Mayor Walker and Cr Chote.
He would be in favour of capping the amount per elected member.
Cr Minehan spoke against the motion because the determination was light on details and he was concerned about the precedent it could set.
Cr Sharp stated that there were barriers for a number of people to stand for Council but that this would be a simple way of dealing with some of the issues around low remuneration for the work of Councillors.
Mayor Walker highlighted that while there was a perception around fairness of the allowance for groups such as business owners, that there is a particular barrier for people who struggle to be representative at this level due to issues with childcare.
She raised that the remuneration authority had considered this at a national level and determined that there was a need.
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PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to provide an update to the Finance and Planning Committee on the key priorities as identified in the Terms of Reference and work programme for the committee.
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PURPOSE The purpose of the report is to provide information to Council on the progress and status of #thebigwaterstory programme.
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Mayor Walker sought clarification about the Takapau treatment upgrade and the issue with the colouration in the water and whether that had changed anything in the project.
Officers confirmed that it has not changed the timeframe of the project but that the issue did highlight there was a need for contingency and a plan is in place for a flushing programme.
Cr Muggeridge asked about the Otane Wastewater line going through White Road and whether contractors would seal holes where the alternate water supply runs or leave them open.
Mr de Klerk confirmed that separate trenches would be run.
Cr Minehan asked about progress on the Waipukurau 2nd supply and whether we had located other areas to drill in. Officers confirmed that 5 locations had been shortlisted based on a set of criteria and that they were continuing to work through options.
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PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to provide Council with an update of the District Plan Review.
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Cr Tennent asked that Mrs O’Shaughnessy give an explanation of what the implications of the national planning standards would be for the district plan.
It was confirmed that the intention is for plans throughout the country to be consistent in structure but that it did not have an impact on the provisions in the district plan. It is possible that there may be a need to change some definitions and the layout.
Cr Sharp asked whether the national planning standards would have an effect on budget.
Officers confirmed that the Ministry for the Environment would be undertaking this work at their own cost so had no impact on council budgets. Cr Sharp commended Mrs O’Shaughnessy on her relationship with the ministry.
Cr Annand asked whether subcommittee members could provide some insight about the intention for hearings. Cr Sharp suggested that the subcommittee be maintained for those hearings as they have a good understanding of the content of the plan.
Cr Minehan asked whether all Councillors would get a full set of submissions to the draft district plan. It was confirmed that they would.
Cr Tennent highlighted the dramatic improvement from 3 years ago.
Mayor Walker raised that Central Hawke’s Bay’s governance did not have much media attention hence why some of those scores may be low.
Mayor Walker also raised that this data should help the council to set its future long term plan measures.
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PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to provide Council with a summary of the organisation’s quarterly activity reporting for the period April to June 2019.
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Members reflected that some of the measures in the activity reports were not meaningful and that the measures for the next Long Term Plan would be better informed.
Cr Sharp reflected on the council’s presence in social services being better than ever before and this not being reflected.
Discussion around the number of new dwelling this calendar year.
Cr Aitken raised concerns about the Waipawa Transfer Station and that people could not get trailers around the recyclables piled up there. It was confirmed that an improvement plan was in place to address the matter.
RESOLUTION TO EXCLUDE THE PUBLIC
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Moved: Cr Kelly Annand Seconded: Cr Brent Muggeridge That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting. The general subject matter of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:
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Moved: Mayor Alex Walker Seconded: Cr Tim Aitken That Council moves out of Closed Council into Open Council. |
Cr Sharp closed by highlighting the number of achievements of the committee. He congratulated the committee for these achievements and its relationships with other committees. He also congratulated staff on the quality of reports.
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THAT the next meeting of the Central Hawke's Bay District Council be held on 16 August 2019.
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The Meeting closed at 10.57am
The minutes of this meeting were confirmed at the Council Meeting held on 29 August 2019.
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CHAIRPERSON