Teachers vote for more strikes

A mixed report card for the Nelson City Council has drawn mixed reactions from councillors.

The council on Thursday discussed its annual report for the financial year ending on June 30. It revealed a strong financial position, particularly with debt more than $20 million less than budgeted, but under-delivery on works.

Acting mayor Ian Barker said he thought the report outlined a ‘‘very good picture’’ of what council had achieved compared to what it set out to achieve.

‘‘We came into this particular council knowing that our infrastructure was in need of upgrade and repair and improvement and I think we’ve achieved a lot in that area . . . I think the achievements that you see in the report demonstrate an effective and successful council,’’ he said.

However, Cr Tim Skinner described the results as a ‘‘lolly mixture’’.

‘‘There’s some sweet, some sour, and some sugar coated in here,’’ he said.

‘‘My main concern has been the transport: less use of bikes, less use of bus, longer travel times on Waimea, those things are going to ring loudly with our public.’’

Councillor Mel Courtney said council had failed at its key objectives, saying up to 40 per cent of council’s targets had not been met.

‘‘We haven’t performed in our core areas, doesn’t matter which you slice it and dice it. We have not performed,’’ he said.

‘‘We had a vision at the beginning of the year and right at the top was infrastructure, environment, performance ... and we’re way down. For example in stormwater we haven’t achieved 67 per cent, transport 63 per cent, and environment 50 per cent of the target [project delivery].’’

‘‘We haven’t spent something close to $45 million or something of that kind, and that generates a lot of activity and a lot of jobs for people and a good indication that we’re moving forward.’’

Courtney said he was disappointed, and said the current council would ‘‘be history’’ if it delivered a similar report next year.

Councillor Matt Lawrey counted aloud pages from the agenda outlining non-achievement of goals.

‘‘This concerns me, seeing all these red not achieved marks, and I’m sure it would concern members of the public looking at this.’’

Councillor Mike Rutledge had a brighter outlook, saying there was ‘‘probably little benefit to be gained from looking backwards at all this stuff and more to be gained looking forward’’.

‘‘We knew a lot of these results were coming, and we saw them and responded with the chief executive to resource them up so the organisation can perform going forward.’’

Council chief executive Pat Dougherty said that hearing the report now was ‘‘too late’’, which was why he was introducing quarterly reports to committees.

‘‘During the year you will have an opportunity to look at those KPIs [key performance indicators] and make an assessment . . . we’re changing the way that we manage our projects, making them more streamlined, so that we do start to deliver better against our projects and against our KPIs.’’

He said one of the key issues that led to the low performance was the high staff turnover, but the council was now slightly below the average turnover rate and so was in a ‘‘much stronger position’’.