Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz

The Long Term Strategy meetings held by Council at Waihi Beach and Omokoroa were just briefings.

Any questions from the public were referred to the Council's 451 page plan and any ideas were not debated but were redirected to the formal written submission process. Unfortunately, neither the plan nor the summary arrived in time for the meetings so very few knew what they were talking about. In both meetings the only thing that most people learned was that the council is capable of making a real mess when it really tries. It was ironical that later, when we checked plan in the section on Community Building, we found the council boasting of their skills in communicating with the public, how they responded to ‘issues emerging within our communities' and how they were ‘supporting communities to own their own plans.' They did admit in the document to ‘the time consuming nature of building relationships and the difficulties in engaging with some groups in the community.' The meetings were just a continuation of the Council consultation world that we have had to put up with for the last few years. The council communication models that I mentioned last week have already started elsewhere around the country with some major new developments this week.

The government has released an 8 point plan for ‘Better Local Government' in legislation which will be passed in May. Some councils have chosen to believe that the document will support their ideas for think big amalgamation but others have read the fine print and their redesigned Council structures are already under way. This week, Thames Coromandel announced their new administration which has reduced the operation of its central office and delegated responsibilities to local community boards. Managers with appropriate staff will be appointed in each centre to ensure a supportive and responsive local council presence. This change, amazingly enough, has been accomplished with fewer staff, greater efficiencies and a much reduced running cost for Council. The change didn't just happen. I was shown their planning last year and have seen the work that went in to gain the confidence of the public. Openness and transparency has not been a goal, it has been an integral part of their new system.

In contrast, Western Bay sees the same instructions from the Government only as a review of representation in the Long Term Plan and ‘to be left until later.' It is already too late. The Council doesn't recognise that their platitudes which fill most of the plan are actually their attempt to assure the Government that they have everything under control and three years of documented progress will eventually be available and understood by the public before the 2013 elections. There will be no hidden projects, no money hidden, full documentation of internal loans and a fully budgeted plan for the next three years until 2016.

The current Long Term Plan obfuscation is only delaying the time when Council will have to come clean. The financial situation is in the plan and some miraculous growth figures are forecasted that is expected to solve the Council's current debt problem. The belief that rates might be kept below $4000 was met with derision in Omokoroa. When I asked what the public forum type meetings in Thames Coromandel were like they reported that it was a bit ‘lumpy' at first but that that this was all good. They saw the debate as part of an intelligent conversation and that the lumps smoothed out when all parties started trusting each other. We are just starting to feel the lumpy bits now. The next month is going to be a very rough ride.