Wainui Reserve and other Whaingaroa coastal reserves
The Waikato District Council has dissolved Raglan Coastal Committee by not re-establishing it. After forgetting to let the committee’s members know this, it has now apologised to them.
And at the October meeting of the Raglan Community Board the WDC let the Board know.
WDC Chief Executive, Gavin Ion said, “At its meeting on 12 November 2019, the Council approved its governance structure for the 2019- 22 triennium, which sets out the committees, sub-committees and other decision-making bodies to which the Council delegates specific responsibilities and powers. You can access the current governance structure here, which includes a number of changes from the previous delegations that were in place.
As part of the above process, the Coastal Reserves Advisory Committee was not re-established by the Council for the 2019-22 triennium.
On behalf of the Council, we appreciate the immense time and effort that has been volunteered by you and the other Committee members, and the contribution each of you have made on behalf of the Raglan community.
At its meeting on 12 November 2019, the Council approved its governance structure for the 2019- 22 triennium, which sets out the committees, sub-committees and other decision-making bodies to which the Council delegates specific responsibilities and powers. You can access the current governance structure here, which includes a number of changes from the previous delegations that were in place.
As part of the above process, the Coastal Reserves Advisory Committee was not re-established by the Council for the 2019-22 triennium.
On behalf of the Council, we appreciate the immense time and effort that has been volunteered by you and the other Committee members, and the contribution each of you have made on behalf of the Raglan community.
We apologise for not advising you of this decision at the time.”
After concerned members of the community drew this change to the Community Board’s attention it was discussed at the October meeting of the Board.
Mr MacDougall, a WDC staffer gave an oral report and the
following items were discussed:
• The Coastal Reserves Committee had been dissolved at the end of the last triennium.
• The Community Board had the opportunity to create a subcommittee or other oversight
group to connect between the community and Council on coastal reserve matters.
• Acknowledged a need existed for community input into the management of Raglan
Coastal Reserves’ governance and policy.
• Advised that the Community Board would need to have further discussion before
presenting their decision to Council.
• Mr Shane Gold expressed his disappointment in how the Committee had been dissolved
and lack of communication with its members, a number of which were volunteers.
• Feedback received indicated that the Committee was no longer fit for purpose and was
costly to administer.
• Staff noted that strategic management, appropriate health and safety systems, and operational changes around event management had influenced the decision to dissolve.
Collaborative consultation processes with the community remained a Council priority, particularly with regard to events.
• Staff recommended that the Board made a submission to the (Wainui) Reserve Management Plan if the Board had concerns about the reserve’s use as a farm.
• Staff noted that delegations could not be redelegated once assigned to the Community Board and recommended a Board subcommittee be established. It was suggested that Mr Gold could be added as member of such subcommittee, and that other stakeholder groups would need to be considered.
• Staff apologised to Mr Gold and the other members of the Coastal Reserves Committee for the lack of communication about the Committee’s dissolution and thanked them for their service.
ACTION: Staff to provide the Board with further information on the functions and responsibilities of the Coastal Reserves Committee, including any outstanding issues, before the next Board meeting.
ACTION: The Board to host a workshop to discuss the possibility of taking on a position of oversight in relation to the management of reserves.