Water job ad ‘error of judgment’
New Plymouth’s mayor has conceded that advertising for a staffer to oversee the installation of thousands of water meters when the job has yet to be approved was a bad look and an error of judgment.
New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) had asked the community for its thoughts on a proposed $18-million water meter roll-out to 26,000 homes.
The proposal, part of NPDC’s 10-year plan, would help cut usage by a quarter.
The plan will not be decided until June, but on Monday the council began advertising for a water meter manager.
The advert was withdrawn yesterday.
In an emailed statement, mayor Neil Holdom said the NPDC team did a great job most of the time ‘‘but every now and then we let ourselves down’’.
‘‘In this instance the advertising of a role before council has made a decision was an error of judgment, is a bad look and has served to undermine the excellent work of the wider team in taking our plan to the community.’’
During the submissions process, the mayor had assured residents that ‘‘if you’re stuck in the mindset that nobody listens, then you’re dead wrong’’.
NPDC group manager planning and infrastructure David Langford said there was no intention to pre-empt the council decision-making process.
‘‘We just wanted to be wellprepared if the council chose to go ahead. In hindsight it was an error of judgment and I apologise,’’ he said in a statement.
‘‘We have removed the advertisement
and will wait until the mayor and councillors have made the call on the 10-Year Plan.’’
Councillor Richard Handley said elected members had received an informal email alerting them to an error.
The job was broader than just new meters, as there were already a lot of water meters in New Plymouth, he said.
‘‘This was very unfortunate. It kind of signals some level of predetermination but there is none.’’
Councillor Dinnie Moeahu said the job advert came as a surprise to him, and created doubt not just for the public.
‘‘To me it’s almost like an assumption already made that it’s going to pass,’’ Moeahu said.
He had been arguing for an alternative to water meters as he was concerned about the extra cost on people amid rising rates.
Councillor Gordon Brown said the timing of the ad was disappointing. ‘‘I would hate for people to think that we’ve already made up our minds. That is simply not the case.
‘‘The councillors were as surprised as anyone else.’’
Councillor Sam Bennett said the advert had discredited him as an elected member telling the community they would listen.
‘‘We say, ‘look we will not make up our minds. We will not pre-empt decisions.’ For that to come out now is not helpful.’’
But submitters could ‘‘100 per cent’’ still have faith in the process, Bennett said, adding he was reading about 100 a day of the 4567 submissions. ‘‘We’ve all been reading every one of those submissions.’’
The Waitara Community Board has opposed water meters due to several factors, including the impact on low-income families and a lack of detail around the charging regime.
‘‘The whole approach of the council with the long-term plan seems about what the council has already ticked and is expecting the ratepayers to approve,’’ board chair Jonathan Marshall said.
The council said New Plymouth uses 60 per cent more water than the comparable regions, and cutting usage by a quarter could reduce the cost for new pipes and equipment from $171m over the next 30 years to $50m.
A public hearing on the plan is set down for the first week of May, with a decision on its contents to be made by June 30.