Far North council staff ‘thrown under the bus' with restructure, union says
But when the union asked for data about this alleged underperformance, the council pointed to a 2023 review of the NTA.
Ringrose said the information not only did not answer the question, it was provided after the council's consultation period.
Ringrose says this was in breach of the Employment Relations Act - Far North District Council chief executive Guy Holroyd says the council has adhered to all requirements of the act.
Despite the union's protests, the council continued, giving a date of August 4 for implementation.
The workers have been left feeling angry, he said.
'They're really upset at being thrown under the bus. They're being painted as ineffective and unmanageable.'
Some of the workers at Far North District Council's roading department have been working in the district for 20 years. Photo / NZME
A council worker and union representative, who asked not to be named, believes the council has no data to show the in-house team has been underperforming.
The workers have not only responded to complaints, they have planned out work for the next two years of the council's roading-focused Long Term Plan, she said.
Another worry was the council's initial proposal named an incumbent service supplier as the 'winner' of the new professional services contract, the representative said.
After concerns were raised by both the union and NZ Transport Agency, the council moved to an open procurement process. However, workers were told there would not be any opportunities for them to work with the external provider, she said.
The union representative likened the restructure to the Hunger Games and said workers were left feeling 'absolutely gutted'.
'They're extremely disappointed and angry.'
The job losses will result in a loss of expertise, with some working with the council and NTA for 20 years, she said.
Far North District Council chief executive Guy Holroyd says the Employment Relations Act requirements were followed with the moves to outsource the roading department.
Ringrose said the PSA's lawyers are considering legal action.
Change driven by operational needs and market, council says
FNDC chief executive Guy Holroyd said outsourcing the roading department was needed to improve efficiency and gain expertise not available in-house.
'The change is part of efforts to streamline operations, improve efficiency and provide better roading services to the community.
'Outsourcing certain functions will allow us to leverage specialised expertise and resources not currently available in-house.'
Holroyd said communities and ratepayers can expect to benefit from improved service quality and cost-effectiveness.
'By outsourcing to specialised providers, we will achieve enhanced efficiencies and innovative solutions that better meet the needs of the Far North.'
The council has followed a comprehensive process, including stakeholder consultations and risk assessments, and adhered to all requirements of the Employment Relations Act, Holroyd said.
'The council recognises the impact this transition will have on staff and is committed to supporting affected employees through this period.'
The timing of the change was driven by operational needs and market conditions, he said.
'While it has only been a year since NTA was disestablished, the council identified an opportunity to enhance service delivery and achieve cost efficiencies in what is our single biggest budget line.'
Holroyd said the council has been working with NZTA to ensure a fair and transparent procurement process is in place for the new professional services contract.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
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NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
Far North council staff ‘thrown under the bus' with restructure, union says
PSA Te Tai Tokerau organiser Athol Ringrose said workers were made to feel the change was because of their underperformance, lack of technical capacity and an increase in complaints. But when the union asked for data about this alleged underperformance, the council pointed to a 2023 review of the NTA. Ringrose said the information not only did not answer the question, it was provided after the council's consultation period. Ringrose says this was in breach of the Employment Relations Act - Far North District Council chief executive Guy Holroyd says the council has adhered to all requirements of the act. Despite the union's protests, the council continued, giving a date of August 4 for implementation. The workers have been left feeling angry, he said. 'They're really upset at being thrown under the bus. They're being painted as ineffective and unmanageable.' Some of the workers at Far North District Council's roading department have been working in the district for 20 years. Photo / NZME A council worker and union representative, who asked not to be named, believes the council has no data to show the in-house team has been underperforming. The workers have not only responded to complaints, they have planned out work for the next two years of the council's roading-focused Long Term Plan, she said. Another worry was the council's initial proposal named an incumbent service supplier as the 'winner' of the new professional services contract, the representative said. After concerns were raised by both the union and NZ Transport Agency, the council moved to an open procurement process. However, workers were told there would not be any opportunities for them to work with the external provider, she said. The union representative likened the restructure to the Hunger Games and said workers were left feeling 'absolutely gutted'. 'They're extremely disappointed and angry.' The job losses will result in a loss of expertise, with some working with the council and NTA for 20 years, she said. Far North District Council chief executive Guy Holroyd says the Employment Relations Act requirements were followed with the moves to outsource the roading department. Ringrose said the PSA's lawyers are considering legal action. Change driven by operational needs and market, council says FNDC chief executive Guy Holroyd said outsourcing the roading department was needed to improve efficiency and gain expertise not available in-house. 'The change is part of efforts to streamline operations, improve efficiency and provide better roading services to the community. 'Outsourcing certain functions will allow us to leverage specialised expertise and resources not currently available in-house.' Holroyd said communities and ratepayers can expect to benefit from improved service quality and cost-effectiveness. 'By outsourcing to specialised providers, we will achieve enhanced efficiencies and innovative solutions that better meet the needs of the Far North.' The council has followed a comprehensive process, including stakeholder consultations and risk assessments, and adhered to all requirements of the Employment Relations Act, Holroyd said. 'The council recognises the impact this transition will have on staff and is committed to supporting affected employees through this period.' The timing of the change was driven by operational needs and market conditions, he said. 'While it has only been a year since NTA was disestablished, the council identified an opportunity to enhance service delivery and achieve cost efficiencies in what is our single biggest budget line.' Holroyd said the council has been working with NZTA to ensure a fair and transparent procurement process is in place for the new professional services contract. Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Scoop
Growth In The District - What It Means For All Of Us
At Council, we often get asked about growth and what it means for us in the Horowhenua. Here's a breakdown of how we're growing, where it's coming from and what we're doing to plan for it. If you were to compare Horowhenua to a life stage, we would be that slightly awkward, pimply faced teen. We'd be trying out different hair colours, growing out of school uniforms, listening to angsty teen anthems and fuelled on bowls of Weetbix, frozen dumplings and endless packets of two-minute noodles. As a district, we're in between big and small. We have a beautiful mix of urban and rural, made up of towns and settlements that are home to close knit communities. But it won't be long before Levin (our biggest town) is on its way to becoming a city. It's hard to imagine what that change will look like for us, or what it will mean for our communities, houses, town centres, schools and businesses. Speak to one of the many 65+ year olds that call Horowhenua home and they will say it wasn't that long ago that St Annes Street in Levin backed onto paddocks filled with sheep and you could buy your first house for the same price as a ride on lawn mower in today's currency. So how fast are we actually growing? Up until about 2014, Horowhenua had almost no growth, according to Census data, between 1991 and 2013 our population grew by just 200. This began to change, when we saw our population jump by more than 3000 in 2018 – a trend that has continued in the 2023 Census when our population increased by another 4000. Growth forecasts have pulled back since 2021, lowering the population and household numbers originally forecast, but Horowhenua is predicted to continue as the fastest growing district in the Manawatū-Whanganui region, and to grow strongly alongside the greater Wellington region councils. Our district's population is projected to grow at a rate of 1.5% per annum from 2025 until 2030, increasing to 2.1% per annum until 2044. This means our population will increase to more than 54,000 by 2044 and more than 66,000 by 2054. According to the 95th growth rate, in the first 10 years of the Long Term Plan our population is expected to grow by 700 per year on average. Looking back over the last 10 or so years, our annual population growth has been (on average) 2013-2018 – 400 per year 2019-2023 – 800 per year From the 2023 Census to the 2024 population estimates, our population grew by 900 in that year alone. This all indicates that our real-world growth is tracking very close to what our population projections expected. We also regularly review these projections – however it is important to remember that short term shocks and year to year variation occurs – given the long range nature of our work, we need to plan for the trendline, not the headline. People are moving from places like Wellington, Kāpiti and Auckland due to rising house prices, congestion and a change in flexible/remote working arrangements. Domestic migrants are looking for affordable, lifestyle-focused alternatives. Our proximity to Wellington and the highway means we're appealing to these former city dwellers. We've noticed it in subdivision growth in Levin, Foxton Beach, Ōhau, and Waitārere Beach, and in an increase in residential building consents and infrastructure pressure in semi-urban and rural areas. Where are we growing and does this impact how we prioritise infrastructure investment? Census data tells us that our district had 36,696 residents across the district in March 2023. With Levin having more than half of the total district's population, we need to ensure water and wastewater service delivery is adequate and resilient for residents of today and into the future. Council has committed to spending $284m on water projects alone over the next 10 years, with a further $340m investment anticipated for the following 20 years. Significant projects include upgrades to the Levin Wastewater Treatment Plant and building a more resilient water supply for Levin and Ōhau, with major investment committed to projects across the district. Horowhenua District's Population as of 2023 Census data Levin – 19,539 Rural – 4,491 Foxton – 3,384 Waitārere-Waikawa-Hōkio - 3,342 Ōhau -Manakau** - 2,262 Foxton Beach – 2,130 Shannon – 1,548 TOTAL – 36,696 *Hokio Beach is split between Waitārere and Waikawa for SA2 (Census Unit) purposes, we have grouped into a single unit. **Ōhau-Manakau is a single SA2 (Census Unit) From 2018-2023 we've seen the biggest percentage change in the 15-29 year age group at 31%, 65+ age group at 28%, 30-64 age group at 19% and under 15's changed by 15%. Is it just population growth, or are we also seeing economic growth? The two go hand-in-hand. As a district we've experienced consistent growth in both new and existing businesses since 2018. This has been driven by a combination of entrepreneurship, infrastructure investment, industrial expansion, and coordinated support from Council and economic development agency The Horowhenua Company Limited. The district has benefited from diversification, modern business park development, and targeted efforts to build workforce capability and attract private investment. What's Council doing about growth? Council has prepared the Horowhenua Growth Strategy 2040, which sets out where we expect to grow over this period. It covers urban growth areas for both housing and business – but land needs to be rezoned under the District Plan before development can occur (e.g. change the zoning from Rural to Residential) – so the growth strategy is pretty high level. We have started rezoning land already, with Tara-Ika rezoned to allow development last year and a proposal to rezone land in the north-west Levin area currently underway. When planning urban growth areas, we consider things like infrastructure requirements, transport links, environmental suitability, and community amenities—doing our best to ensure growth is coordinated rather than reactive. Council is required by the National Policy Statement for Urban Development to provide sufficient zoned and serviced land to meet demand for housing and business land – the Growth Strategy, the District Plan, and other key Council documents like the Infrastructure Strategy and Long Term Plan help us to do this. We are aware the Government announced a 'stop work' notice on District Plan changes last week – with a few exemptions. This announcement does impact some of the growth-related plan changes we were intending to do and may impact our ability to enable development in the way needed to support growth. However, this announcement is very fresh and we are awaiting further details and direction to understand how this will impact our work, including whether the exemptions will apply to this work. We don't build houses, but we help create the conditions for housing supply to meet demand. This includes rezoning land to allow for housing or mixed use, working with developers and iwi/hapū to bring land to market, improving consent processes and development guidance, advocating for central government investment in housing and infrastructure, and planning and delivering infrastructure projects. We prioritise infrastructure investment through our Long Term Plan, with a focus on: Expanding and upgrading water and wastewater systems Strengthening transport networks and connectivity Future-proofing community facilities like libraries, pools, and recreation areas We may be in our awkward teenager phase, but Council doesn't prepare for growth alone. We engage with and listen to you, our community, to help guide our decision making. We work with government agencies like Waka Kotahi NZTA, Kāinga Ora and the Ministry for the Environment. We engage Iwi/hapū to ensure mana whenua aspirations are reflected in planning and we work with the likes of developers, schools, the Ministry of Health and community providers to align services and infrastructure with growth. What does growth mean for all of us? A growing district brings both pros and cons. The benefits include: A larger rating base As more homes are built, the total rates burden is shared by more ratepayers, which can help reduce the impact on existing households in the long run. A stronger local economy More people means more spending in local shops, cafes, and services—helping our businesses grow and supporting local jobs. Better infrastructure funding Growth unlocks access to central government and developer funding for key infrastructure projects—roads, pipes, parks, and community facilities—that might not otherwise be affordable – the more people per pipe to share the costs, the more affordable. We might also get improved services by other infrastructure providers – such as more schools, or a public transport system. More housing choice Growth encourages more housing supply, including smaller homes, retirement options, and rental choices—helping to ease pressure on the housing market over time. Vibrant communities New families, businesses, and community groups bring fresh energy and ideas, making Horowhenua an even more vibrant and connected place to live. The challenges of growth that need to be navigated are: Upfront infrastructure costs To prepare for more people, we often need to invest in roads, pipes, and services before the growth fully arrives. That can feel unfair if you're already paying rates and struggling with costs, but in Horowhenua we have development contributions, which means the 30% of total expenditure that relates to growth is paid for not by current ratepayers, but by developers and people subdividing or building new homes in the district who will benefit from the infrastructure that's required to support that growth. Pressure on services Rapid growth can strain existing services—like waste collection, libraries, roads, and stormwater—if we don't plan carefully. Changing character Growth can bring change to neighbourhoods, landscapes, and how places feel. That change can be exciting—or unsettling. Uncertainty It can be difficult to predict the exact when, where, and what type of growth – factors outside of Council's control (like market forces, interest rates, and central government policy) could cause growth to happen more quickly or more slowly than we expect, or limit the actions Council can take to keep up with growth. To counteract this, we regularly review growth projections and are improving monitoring of development uptake. This means we can adjust our approach if needed – such as speeding projects up or slowing them down. However, the Government's direction to 'stop work' on plan changes puts us at risk of being unable to keep up with demand for housing and business land. We are awaiting further detail from the Government about this. Have you noticed a change in traffic congestion, available GP appointments, the lead in time required to enrol the kids in a local school, or perhaps more options to eat out at night? Much like a caring parent, who's navigating the angsty teenage years, as kaitiaki we want to make sure that Horowhenua is not just prepared for growth and our next 'life stage', but that with clever strategic planning, collaborative partnerships and our community's best interests at heart, in years to come we will look back and be proud of the decisions we've made and the work we've done to shape our district. We'll be discussing growth among other things tonight in a Facebook Live session - feel free to join us and share any questions you may have, and we will do our best to answer them.
Scoop
16-07-2025
- Scoop
Parliament Considering Big Changes To Employment Law
, Editor: The House Parliament has kicked off a three-week sitting block this week, and the first legislative business was initial debates and votes on three new bills. Two are contentious, including a bill to amend current Employment Relations law. Among its measures, it would restrict or even rule out grievance claims, make it harder for contractors to argue they are employees, and remove various rules relating to new employees. The minister in charge of both the bills is ACT MP Brooke van Velden. She described the intent of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill using a variety of common euphemisms (rebalancing, flexible labour markets, greater certainty, competitive business settings), but also described the proposed changes. Below are the major changes, as described by the minister herself, along with comments by opposition MPs. Hindering contractors from being declared employees by the courts "Currently a contractor can challenge their employment status in law despite being a contractor … To give greater weight to the intention of the contracting parties, the bill establishes a gateway test establishing an exclusion from the definition of 'employee' in the Employment Relations Act." - Brooke van Velden (ACT) "At the moment, there is a test of the real nature of the job … 'is this actually an employment relationship or is it a contracting relationship?' That's what our judges can do at the moment. This bill takes that away. It says if you have the word 'contractor' written in a document, then you're a contractor. Well, this is against all the international examples, this [is] totally different to the common law that applies in many other countries that we compare ourselves to, and is an absolutely disgusting, unprecedented attack on workers' rights." - Camilla Belich (Labour) Changes to personal grievance 'remedy' settings "I'm introducing a suite of changes to address this imbalance, which are: removing eligibility for any remedies for employees whose behaviour amounts to serious misconduct; removing eligibility for reinstatement into a role and compensation for employees who contribute to the situation that led to the personal grievance; clarifying that the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court have the full spectrum of remedy reductions - up to 100 percent - available to them; requiring the Authority and Court to consider if the employee's behaviour obstructed the employer's ability to meet their obligations to act as fair and reasonable employers; and increasing the threshold for procedural error to shift the focus solely to whether any errors in the employer's process resulted in the employee being treated unfairly." - Brooke van Velden (ACT) "In an employment relationship, often there is a situation where an employee may do something that is not 100 percent perfect; an employer might do something which is not 100 percent perfect. The situation that they're bringing in says if the employee is anything less than perfect, they can't get their remedies." - Camilla Belich (Labour) "It's going to heighten the workers' vulnerability to be unjustifiably dismissed. And it's great if you have employers that are good, but, unfortunately, this opens the doors, as it does for many situations, for those worst-practising businesses and employers. That's why employees' rights were put in place in the first place. …This gives the employers more power. When you're in a climate where there isn't a heck of a lot of work, that then creates an opportunity for employers to exploit the most vulnerable." - Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (Te Pāti Māori) No personal grievance option for the well-paid "This bill introduces an income threshold of $180,000 per annum, above which a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal cannot be pursued. … By making it easier to remove poorly performing managers and executives while giving new talent a chance, I expect to help improve management capability and thereby lift economic performance across New Zealand." - Brooke van Velden (ACT) "The first thing that they're doing is actually making it so anyone earning over $180,000 in New Zealand can be fired at will." - Camilla Belich (Labour) Employer obligations to new staff "Currently, if an employer is party to a collective agreement that covers the work of the new employee, an employee's individual employment agreement terms must reflect the terms of the collective agreement for the first 30 days of their employment. This is known as the '30-day rule'. …The bill removes the requirement that the terms of a new employee's employment agreement should reflect the terms of the applicable collective agreement for the first 30 days of employment. …The employer would still need to inform an employee that a collective agreement exists." - Brooke van Velden (ACT) "The 30-day rule acts as a lifeline. It gives kaimahi time to consider union membership before being pressured into an individual agreement. Without this rule, employers could use the divide and rule tactics, which is real - the peer pressure to keep Māori kaimahi, to keep Pasifika kaimahi, to keep those who are not savvy on what their rights are, on weaker contracts from day one. And that's a really tough position to claw back from. It allows employers to opt out of collective conditions on day one, and it creates a race to the bottom." - Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (Te Pāti Māori) Union sign-up The minister in charge of the bill, Brooke van Velden did not mention this aspect of the 30-day rule: that the new law removes any obligation of employers to inform new staff of the option of joining a union, or facilitating that option. "It removes the obligation to provide an active choice in which the employer asks the employee whether they want to join their relevant union and receive that advocacy." - Ginny Andersen (Labour) A note on international obligations "We have a regulatory impact statement where all of the information in relation to international obligations is redacted. And why is this? Because we have free-trade agreements with lots of different countries that state that our employment situation should not decrease - and I bet you that that's exactly what it says in this regulatory impact statement. They won't share it with the House." - Camilla Belich (Labour) The Employment Relations Amendment Bill will be considered by the Education and Workforce Committee, which will be asking for public feedback on the bill. *RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk. Enjoy our articles or podcast at RNZ.
