Kerikeri staff move scheduled for late May

The Far North District Council is now looking towards the end of May to relocate between 50 and 60 development consent and monitoring staff to Kerikeri and Kaitaia.


The move was flagged earlier this year as a means to streamline operating efficiencies by bringing building, resource consent and monitoring staff closer to the areas of greatest customer demand- a move welcomed by builders and investors across the district.


The decision to relocate some staff from Kaikohe to strengthen services in the two satellite centres was incorrectly read by Kaikohe locals as diminishing the council's commitment to their town, with potentially damaging economic and social impacts for the community.


However Far North Mayor Wayne Brown said today there were no plans to move the council's overall administration from Kaikohe. More than 200 council staff would remain at Kaikohe. Of the staff expected to move to either Kaitaia or Kerikeri, only nine were not already residing on the eastern seaboard.


The cost of establishing increased services at Kerikeri and Kaitaia would not be paid by rates –it would be paid by applicants seeking the services.


"We have also made a commitment to work with the Kaikohe business community to help strengthen the town's economic base by encouraging investment and employment opportunities.


"We are looking to be more pro-active in terms of Kaikohe's businesses advancement. The town has cheap industrial land and a stable labour force, and I am sure there are small manufacturers in centres such as Auckland who can be convinced Kaikohe has advantages as a place to conduct their business," Mayor Brown said.


The first move had already been made to encourage settlement and investment in areas such as Kaikohe with the decision to review the council’s development contributions policy to make it cheaper for people to build in these areas.


The intention to concentrate council staff in the areas in which the demand was being generated and the reasons for the move, had both been clearly flagged in the election campaign. There was a long list of lost opportunities for the Far North because of slow and ineffective service delivery and the trend was not going to reverse without changes being made, he said.


General Manager for Development Consents Patrick Schofield said today the council was seeking a seven-year lease of office space at the Butler Centre to accommodate the increased staff numbers at Kerikeri.