Auckland Council in Spin Cycle Over Taniwha Tax

21 APRIL 2015

Auckland Council needs to rein in its spin doctors and give an honest account of how much the ‘Cultural Impact Assessment’ requirements are costing Aucklanders. Last week the Taxpayers’ Union launched The Taniwha Tax: Briefing paper on Auckland Council's new Mana Whenua rules.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says:

"Figures released by the Council show that of the 300 resource consent applicants that have used the Council's facilitation service, 36 resulted in Mana Whenua 'confirming' that a full 'Cultural Impact Assessment' was required. That suggests ten percent of all applicants are being required to fork out thousands for one or more ‘Cultural Impact Assessments’. It could mean the Taniwha Tax is even larger than we had estimated."

“It is about time that the Council came clean on the thousands of other consents. Most, especially consents involving lawyers, engage directly with Mana Whenua groups so aren’t included in the Council’s figures."

“The Council's spin doctors are trying to downplay the issue but still refuse to the tell us how many resource consent applications have been declined due to a lack of a Cultural Impact Assessment. We say that’s not good enough.”

ENDS

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