10am, 10 September 2025
The annual Waipā residents’ survey for the year ended June 30, which provides the council with a guide on what residents think of its performance, has been released to The News in advance of today’s workshop.
Candidate meetings are being held under the watchful eye of Good Local Media. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Print Version after The News went to press
District councillors will consider the findings at a workshop, after this edition went to press.
The News understands the report shows a modest rise in satisfaction, but concerns about transparency, rates, and council communications.
The council is not required to post a full agenda for workshops, as they are not formal decision-making meetings under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. However, the agenda for this week’s workshop also includes an open session item on whether or not to return council meetings to Tuesdays, and reinstate staff reports in public agendas. Meetings moved to Wednesdays at the start of the year.
The workshop agenda proposed the public be excluded from 1.25pm for three items, citing the reason “free and frank expression” for two of them.
John Allen at National Library. Photo: Ombudsman’s office
Chief Ombudsman John Allen recently said Marlborough District Council held too many closed-door workshops for invalid reasons. He said councils should adopt an “open by default” approach and only exclude the public when absolutely necessary.
The News understands 38 per cent of Waipā’s workshops last year were held in closed door sessions. The newspaper has two outstanding complaints with the Ombudsman, alleging that councillors are making decisions in workshops under the guise of “giving staff guidance”.
One relates to a December meeting which discussed putting the meeting dates back 24 hours, after the print deadlines of Good Local Media.
The News learned of those plans, and to remove staff reports from public agendas, in January. Alternative ways to provide the information resulted in a fortnightly newsletter called On the Radar being sent to councillors and senior staff.
The publication is not shared with The News unless the paper goes through a time consuming request under Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. On the Radar contains stories from reports which The News previously presented to readers in print.
Roy Pilott
Good Local Media editor Roy Pilott said he believed the decision on meeting days and information only reports was made in a confidential briefing workshop last December and rubber stamped in January.
He made a written submission to council at its January meeting – before the decision was announced in public – after being alerted to the agenda item on switching meetings from Tuesdays to Wednesdays.
Mayoral candidate Mike Pettit told the Cambridge Town Hall meeting last week that when the meeting date decision was made “none of us actually thought about the consequences for the newspaper”.
Kelly Bouzaid explains the ground rules ahead of last Thursday’s candidates’ session in the Cambridge Town Hall. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
