Councillor Radich not feeling the love
Far North District councillor Mate Radich says he is disillusioned with the council because of the time it takes to get anything done.
Mayor John Carter acknowledged there were challenges, but plenty of good things had been achieved.
Cr Radich, who had a 38 per cent attendance rate at formal meetings and workshops in the four months to October, said bereavements had affected his ability to attend over that time, but admitted he was feeling disillusioned with the council and the lack of progress.
Many of the workshops, such as a recent one on self-evaluation, did not seem to have any purpose, he said, but cost ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars in mileage every year. He was still passionate about issues such as road sealing, Kaitaia’s dam and the Kerikeri squash courts — “When there’s a problem in the Far North and the roads, I’m the one that goes and checks the roads and all that” — but the lack of progress was disheartening.
Mr Carter accepted that there were some frustrations within the council, many of them the result of staff vacancies.
“We’re under the gun in regards to building and resource consenting. The whole building sector has just exploded, and so our consenting applications have gone up somewhere between 25 to 40 per cent in the last while,” he said.
“We have staff challenges — the whole sector is recruiting from us, and we have to recruit new people.”
The council was also struggling to attract staff in the infrastructure sector, which caused some delays, and he understood Cr Radich’s frustration.
“We’re conscious of it and we’re managing it as hard as we can. Like everyone, I would like it
all to happen tomorrow,” he said.
The council had done some good things though, such as securing a new roading contact which, over time, would improve roading standards.
“We’ve had a good look at ourselves and how we’re operating, and how we could’ve done better as a group. Unfortunately, Mate hasn’t been part of that discussion,” he added.