Latest news with #CityDeliveryCommittee
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Tauranga City Council Improves Consenting Performance With More Improvement To Come
Press Release – Tauranga City Council A report presented at the City Delivery Committee meeting on Wednesday highlighted efficiency gains in processing both building and resource consents on application volumes that were slightly lower than the year prior. Tauranga City Council has made good progress in improving its consenting performance for the 2024/25 financial year, but acknowledges there is still room for improvement. Despite economic challenges throughout the country, application volumes overall have remained steady, which is a positive sign of continued growth in Tauranga. A report presented at the City Delivery Committee meeting on Wednesday highlighted efficiency gains in processing both building and resource consents on application volumes that were slightly lower than the year prior. Tauranga City Council City Delivery Committee Chair and Deputy Mayor, Jen Scoular acknowledged the progress made, while also noting the need to keep making improvements. 'The team have worked hard to refine processes, and it's good to see tangible results. Going forward we have asked the team to keep a focus on making consenting faster and more efficient for our community. 'Council gave staff a steer to set a plan that engages with the construction sector, to better understand the blockages and issues. Staff were also asked to look at comparison times with other councils to help define what good looks like.' Staff confirmed they are committed to refining the Building Consent processes further, and continue to enhance its systems, including piloting a new 'reference consent' system where the team can pre-approve simple repeat buildings. This is expected to increase the speed of consenting for these buildings, but also free up staff time to speed up other more complex applications. Tauranga City Council staff are gearing up for the next IANZ audit in September 2025 after achieving its best Building Control Authority audit result in over a decade in 2023. Jen emphasised the importance of adapting to future legislative changes and noted that while council is moving in the right direction, consents will remain an area of focus. 'Upcoming reforms in the Building Act and Resource Management Act will bring further changes to how consents are processed. Changes being proposed by Central Government will take away some of the risk adversity we are seeing, as a number of activities will no longer need consent.' Building Consents: 1,471 applications received year-to-date, showing a slight decline compared to previous years. Compliance with the 20-day statutory timeframe has improved to 82%, up from 75% in 2023/24 and significantly higher than the low of 35% in April 2022. Median processing time has dropped to 14 days, matching national benchmarks. Reliance on external contractors has reduced from 60% to just 18%, signalling strong internal capability growth. Inspection wait-times remain under two days, with 97% of Code Compliance Certificates issued on time. Resource Consents: Application volumes remain stable, with a 22% increase in subdivision consents suggesting future development opportunities. On-time decision-making has increased to 96% compliance year-to-date, a significant improvement from 38% in July 2022. The average processing time is 56 working days, with 31 days typically spent on hold. External consultant use has decreased due to strengthened in-house expertise.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Tauranga City Council Improves Consenting Performance With More Improvement To Come
Tauranga City Council has made good progress in improving its consenting performance for the 2024/25 financial year, but acknowledges there is still room for improvement. Despite economic challenges throughout the country, application volumes overall have remained steady, which is a positive sign of continued growth in Tauranga. A report presented at the City Delivery Committee meeting on Wednesday highlighted efficiency gains in processing both building and resource consents on application volumes that were slightly lower than the year prior. Tauranga City Council City Delivery Committee Chair and Deputy Mayor, Jen Scoular acknowledged the progress made, while also noting the need to keep making improvements. 'The team have worked hard to refine processes, and it's good to see tangible results. Going forward we have asked the team to keep a focus on making consenting faster and more efficient for our community. 'Council gave staff a steer to set a plan that engages with the construction sector, to better understand the blockages and issues. Staff were also asked to look at comparison times with other councils to help define what good looks like.' Staff confirmed they are committed to refining the Building Consent processes further, and continue to enhance its systems, including piloting a new 'reference consent' system where the team can pre-approve simple repeat buildings. This is expected to increase the speed of consenting for these buildings, but also free up staff time to speed up other more complex applications. Tauranga City Council staff are gearing up for the next IANZ audit in September 2025 after achieving its best Building Control Authority audit result in over a decade in 2023. Jen emphasised the importance of adapting to future legislative changes and noted that while council is moving in the right direction, consents will remain an area of focus. 'Upcoming reforms in the Building Act and Resource Management Act will bring further changes to how consents are processed. Changes being proposed by Central Government will take away some of the risk adversity we are seeing, as a number of activities will no longer need consent.' Building Consents: 1,471 applications received year-to-date, showing a slight decline compared to previous years. Compliance with the 20-day statutory timeframe has improved to 82%, up from 75% in 2023/24 and significantly higher than the low of 35% in April 2022. Median processing time has dropped to 14 days, matching national benchmarks. Reliance on external contractors has reduced from 60% to just 18%, signalling strong internal capability growth. Inspection wait-times remain under two days, with 97% of Code Compliance Certificates issued on time. Resource Consents: Application volumes remain stable, with a 22% increase in subdivision consents suggesting future development opportunities. On-time decision-making has increased to 96% compliance year-to-date, a significant improvement from 38% in July 2022. The average processing time is 56 working days, with 31 days typically spent on hold. External consultant use has decreased due to strengthened in-house expertise.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Cameron Road Changes To Remain At Seventh And Twelfth Avenues
Roading improvements at Seventh Avenue and Twelfth Avenue made as part of the 2021-2024 upgrade of Cameron Road will remain in place it was decided yesterday. Tauranga City Council's City Delivery Committee was presented with options for the future of the two city centre intersections following concerns raised by local businesses about the improvements limiting their customers' ability to reach them. For Seventh Avenue, there was also concern that reduced access was affecting leasing opportunities. Councillors acknowledged that the feedback received from the community did not give this outcome unanimous support but they were making decisions for the future. They recognised that businesses had already suffered from long delays on Cameron Road Stage 1, and they felt that the roading improvements already made were the best option. A vote was carried to maintain the status quo of the Seventh Avenue cul de sac because reopening the intersection with Cameron Road would result in a loss of parking on Cameron Road which a recent survey identified was of high value to local businesses and had implications for the future form and function of Cameron Road. Parking concerns raised by both residents and businesses as part of the survey also identified the need to provide more parking in the area, so a vote was also carried to add additional on-street parking on Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Avenues. While there was real concern expressed for the challenges experienced by the businesses on Twelfth Avenue, a decision was made to keep the 'no right turn' from Cameron Road into Twelfth Avenue in place due to safety concerns with vehicles having to cross two traffic lanes, a bus lane and a cycleway when making a right turn into Twelve Avenue. Head of Transport Mike Seabourne told the committee that because the Cameron Road improvements had been designed to accommodate future growth in the city, particularly in Te Papa and Tauriko West, it was a very 'future-like' design which he acknowledged was 'awkward' for the community to understand and get behind. Councillor Kevin Schuler said it was important to address the parking issues identified in the Seventh Avenue area so he believed that should be done now and if there was still ongoing disquiet about the cul de sac that a decision about reopening it could be revisited later. Councillor Marten Rozeboom said reinstating a right turn into Twelfth Avenue from Cameron Road would affect the flow of traffic between Fifteenth Avenue and Elizabeth Street, and while some people were always disaffected or disadvantaged by change, it was working well for most of Tauranga. Councillor Rod Taylor said while the rush of the Cameron Road project and the impact of COVID-19 meant that consultation at the time 'wasn't 100%' there has now been an opportunity for the community to be heard. 'The result isn't going to be what everyone is wanting but the fact we've looked at it again is good for the community and a lot of people now understand the design of the road and long-term intention.'
