NPDC’s focus and vision puts it in a strong position to face the future

NPDC’s focus and vision puts it in a strong position to face the future

NPDC has a clear plan to accomplish its vision of a ‘sustainable lifestyle capital’ and has the right financial tools to achieve it – leading Local Government New Zealand to award us an A grade in its CouncilMARK programme.

The independent assessment report published today, sees us improving on our previous score of BBB, awarded in 2019.

LGNZ President Stuart Crosby says that residents should be pleased with the high standards being set at a time where local government grapples with some of the biggest challenges they’ve faced in over three decades.

“The report shows that the NPDC is in a strong financial position, Community Boards are being well utilised, and elected members have worked collectively despite differences of opinion. Chambers are a place where we need to respectfully challenge one another, and the Mayor has done well to grow an open and inclusive meeting culture.

“While it remains an area for improvement, it’s encouraging to see that the Council has made progress over the last two to three years strengthening relationships with iwi and hapū.”

The independent assessment report also notes that NPDC is performing well when it came to service delivery, asset management and that its broad investment portfolio would potentially be the envy of territorial authorities across the country.

NPDC Acting Chief Executive Jacqueline Baker says the organisation was well prepared and responded well during the global Covid pandemic and the results of the CouncilMARK report reflect that.

“This is a great result for our team after years of hard work and reflects our focus on providing great services for our residents, value for our ratepayers and a continuous improvement ethos across all aspects of our operations.”

She was also pleased CouncilMARK noted the substantive work programme to improve the District’s water network.

 “An independent peer review of our 3 Waters network and Cyclone Gita in 2018 was a real wake-up call about our ageing and under invested in water network.

The independent CouncilMARK report recognises the efforts we have made since then to rectify that and how our $248 million campaign to Fix the Plumbing has taken councillors, mana whenua and residents along on the journey,” says Baker.

The full CouncilMARK report can be found here.

About the CouncilMark Programme

CouncilMARK™ is an independent assessment programme that assesses how councils are performing and is designed to support individual councils to improve the service and value they provide.

Councils receive an overall performance rating from the Independent Assessment Board, from C to AAA, as well as commentary on their performance provided by way of an assessment report after a comprehensive review process.

About LGNZ

LGNZ provides the vision and voice for local democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand. We’re a membership organisation, supporting and advocating for councils and their communities. LGNZ is involved in policy, reforms, programmes and advocacy as well as providing advice, consultancy and training to councils and their staff.