1 Jul 2015

Jobs to go at Auckland Council

11:55 am on 1 July 2015

Auckland Council will cut up to 23 jobs as part of a plan to hand over some local projects and services to community groups.

Auckland City Council building

Auckland City Council building Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski

Under the plan, announced today, local communities will be given the option of running services such as community halls, beautification projects and night markets themselves.

Council general manager of community engagement Graham Bodman said it was part of making sure communities had enough say, after the council amalgamation in 2010.

"We're at the stage now of saying, 'Is the balance right? Can we actually re-balance things to make sure we're empowering communities as much as possible'?"

The council's local boards would oversee the work, Mr Bodman said.

The plan would save the council money, some of it through re-structuring.

"At the moment we've got 101 full-time-equivalent positions. Ten of those are currently vacant and the proposal is for 78 full-time equivalent positions."

Staff whose jobs were cut would be employed by other council divisions wherever possible, Mr Bodman said.

The plan was not about forcing communities to take on things they did not want to do and the council would keep running services where communities chose not to take over, he said.

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