Christchurch City Council, Waimakariri District Council and Selwyn District Council have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in a bid to give a more consistent building consent experience across the region.
Christchurch City Council General Manager Strategy, Planning and Regulatory Services, John Higgins says the agreement will ensure that customer interactions with the three councils are as straightforward as possible.
“We’re looking at the processes that work best for the industry and how these could be shared across all three councils. For example, Selwyn may have a process that works well for customers, and this could then be implemented by the other two councils,” said Mr Higgins.
“Our end goal is to make the customer experience as streamlined as we can.”
Greater Christchurch is one of the fastest growing areas in New Zealand – with more than 6,500 new houses a year.
The agreement aims to improve processing times while being ready to respond to any legislative change.
The MoU means the councils can support each other by processing paperwork, carrying out inspections, or working together on large scale projects, without needing individual contracting agreements, said Selwyn District Council Executive Director Building, Planning, and Regulatory Services, Robert Love.
“At the heart of this agreement is a desire to deliver the best we can for people in the Greater Christchurch area. We have worked together before, but this formalises what we do and makes things better for builders across council areas,” says Mr Love.
“This agreement should make a tangible difference in the time it takes to process building consents,” says Kelly LaValley, Waimakariri District Council’s General Manager of Planning, Regulation and Environment.
“It makes sense that we share processes and systems and that collectively we aim to have improved and consistent processing times. Builders and homeowners alike want to see consistency and efficiency.”
The councils will also work together to make sure public information is consistent across the region and share training and development and subscriptions to increase skills and reduce costs.
