More time to consult follows cost blowout
Friday, 2May, 2008
By Marianne Gillingham

GisborneDistrict Council has been forced to post urgent public notices about the effects its multimillion-dollar budget blowout has had on the annual plan consultation process.

The consultation period has been extended by a week to take into account the new information and figures that have come out of technical investigations and pre-design work over the past few months.

The consultation period will now extend until Friday, May 16.

Chief executive Lindsay McKenzie says it was important for people to realise that the consultation time extension covered all aspects of the annual plan, not just the wastewater issues.

One of the other key issues this year was the Wainui reticulation proposal and the time extension also applied to that.

Another issue raised in relation to Wainui was reports from the council and in the media that the council was taking a look at other options or alternatives to the reticulation proposal.

Some members of the community feared that people could now relax and not make submissions.

Mr McKenzie said this was not the case. The proposal still officially before them was the one spelled out in the annual plan.

"The proposal still remains, even if the council has asked that other alternatives be looked at," he said.

"The council is still bound to consult on the notified proposal and it cannot make radical changes to that proposal."

If following consultation the proposal was dropped and the council decided to notify an alternative proposal, it would have to consult again.

Therefore, the submission process was still relevant and important.

Likewise, it was bound to continue with the existing wastewater project, as notified in the plan.

If further investigations following this resulted in any radical changes, the council would have to reconsider and, most likely, embark on further consultation.

The close-off time for submissions to the draft 2008 annual plan is 4pm on May 16.

An extra meeting for consultation will be held in the Lawson Field Theatre next Monday at 7.30pm.

The Patutahi community consultation meeting will still be held at the Patutahi Community Hall on Monday, May 5 at 5pm.

The city meeting is a draft 2008 annual plan meeting but will focus on the additional information received about the cost of the proposed city wastewater upgrade.

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