More Manukau resource consents on time

Manukau City Council now processes 82 per cent of resource consents on time.

Manukau City Council Environment Director Ree Anderson says the council has vastly improved its consent processing times since the 2007-2008 year.

“We are currently tracking at 82 per cent of all consents processed within the statutory time limit. This is more than double the rate reported in the Ministry for Environment’s survey, which uses figures more than a year old.

“We acknowledge our processing system had gaps so we put into action a range of initiatives to improve our performance.

“First we focused on clearing the backlog of consents, many of which were waiting for applicants to provide more information. In January 2007 there were 905 consents in the system and we have reduced this to 175 in the system today.

“We also now have a more rigorous vetting at the lodgement stage of the consent. Our council officers are helping applicants to get all the necessary information at the beginning of the process, saving them time and money.

“I’m pleased with how things are going and the new systems we have in place. We’re confident that when the economy picks up again and more consents are coming in, we’ll continue to maintain a high standard,” says Ms Anderson.

Manukau City Council’s ultimate aim is to get all consents processed within the statutory 20 working days and at the same time make sure that resource consents help to create the quality environment the community expects.

New initiatives introduced to speed up consent processing include:

• New data system to track consents accurately and prioritise
• Rigorous vetting of consents before lodgement
• Changes to management to align with operational business needs
• Clearing backlog of consents.