Consent problems worse than Parker letting on

Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson says comments from Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker that Christchurch City Council has been consenting more than 80 per cent of its consents on time are not correct.

“Reports from the council show it is only meeting the statutory time frame in around 75 per cent of applications. However, from issues identified by International Accreditation New Zealand’s (IANZ) assessment on recording and monitoring timeframes, it actually appears likely the council is meeting processing deadlines in less than 75 per cent of applications.

“This is supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s experience in seeking building consents for temporary accommodation in Christchurch at the Rangers Park development.

“I have also had contact from one person who followed up with the council 20 days after lodging her consent only to be told it had not even been looked at,” Mr Williamson says.

IANZ has identified several areas where the council is failing to meet the accreditation criteria, such as not carrying out competency assessments on many of their staff and substandard IT systems to measure regulatory timeframes.

“The assessment also found its administrative procedures are onerous and sometimes incorrect.

“It’s a serious situation that has to be corrected immediately; otherwise it will continue to hinder the Christchurch rebuild.”