BISHOPDALE RATEPAYERS FUND $84,000 REPORT THAT CONCLUDES REPORTS ARE UNDERFUNDED
The report recommends a follow-up report. The follow-up report will cost more than the first one.
Bishopdale ratepayers have funded an $84,000 Christchurch City Council report whose central finding is that the council is not spending enough on reports.
The 142-page document, commissioned in February and delivered last week by a Wellington consultancy nobody in Bishopdale has heard of, recommends a second report to scope the cost of producing reports. It does not recommend fixing the footpath outside the Bishopdale Mall, which was the original tip-off.
Lorraine Pethrick, 71, who has lived on Greers Road since the late seventies, said she'd read the executive summary twice and still couldn't tell what it was for. "Eighty-four grand. For what. They've spelt Bishopdale wrong on page six. It says Bishopsdale. We're not a cathedral, love."
A second ratepayer, Murray Kett, said he'd rung the council and been told the report was "a strategic input into the wider reporting framework". Murray said he asked what that meant and the woman "went quiet for a bit and then transferred me to a different quiet woman".
A Christchurch City Council spokesperson confirmed the report was "a foundational piece" and that the follow-up report, currently out for tender, was expected to cost between $90,000 and $110,000 depending on scope. Asked whether anyone had read the first report, the spokesperson said the question would be "taken on notice".
The footpath outside the Bishopdale Mall remains cracked. A cone has been placed on it. The cone, according to council records, is on its third report.
The 142-page document, commissioned in February and delivered last week by a Wellington consultancy nobody in Bishopdale has heard of, recommends a second report to scope the cost of producing reports. It does not recommend fixing the footpath outside the Bishopdale Mall, which was the original tip-off.
Lorraine Pethrick, 71, who has lived on Greers Road since the late seventies, said she'd read the executive summary twice and still couldn't tell what it was for. "Eighty-four grand. For what. They've spelt Bishopdale wrong on page six. It says Bishopsdale. We're not a cathedral, love."
A second ratepayer, Murray Kett, said he'd rung the council and been told the report was "a strategic input into the wider reporting framework". Murray said he asked what that meant and the woman "went quiet for a bit and then transferred me to a different quiet woman".
A Christchurch City Council spokesperson confirmed the report was "a foundational piece" and that the follow-up report, currently out for tender, was expected to cost between $90,000 and $110,000 depending on scope. Asked whether anyone had read the first report, the spokesperson said the question would be "taken on notice".
The footpath outside the Bishopdale Mall remains cracked. A cone has been placed on it. The cone, according to council records, is on its third report.