Auckland Council capital projects are facing greater scrutiny, as the council considers ten principles to ensure all investments provide good value for council spend.
The Better Value Projects initiative at Auckland Council, driven under the direction of Mayor Wayne Brown, means additional rigour in project planning and execution and even more emphasis on delivering value for money.
Through the mayoral proposal for the Annual Plan 2025/2026, Mayor Wayne Brown is calling for a more robust approach to council investment, on behalf of ratepayers.
“I have wanted to see change in how the council group effectively spends ratepayers’ money on capital projects. As a result, there are now 10 delivery principles to provide rigour across the council group and ensure decisions on projects and spending are considered carefully,” says Mayor Brown.
“It’s good to see case studies presented this month that show there are lessons to be learned and how these projects are being actioned by the council. We can see that a more robust process around things like problem definition, affordable designs, the greater use of local contractors, and setting maximum prices will lessen the chance of overspend in future.
“One of my key policies was the need to stop wasting money. These principles will help make sure we can consistently deliver projects affordably. It’s a win for Aucklanders.”
The Long-term Plan 2024-2034 has seen the council introduce new ways to control and prioritise expenditure and increase transparency. Details of the new programme were presented at today’s Revenue, Expenditure and Value Committee, chaired by Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson.
Better Value Projects builds on this through 10 principles to improve the value ratepayers receive from the council procuring and delivering capital projects.
“Identifying the problem is the first step, followed by setting a budget not to be exceeded,” says Mayor Brown.
The programme identifies short, medium and long-term initiatives. The short-term initiatives include identifying standard designs that can be adopted for other projects, targeted use of maximum prices, and stronger problem definition and value assessments.
Delivering added value
Revenue, Expenditure and Value Committee chair, Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, says Better Value Projects are part of the council’s drive to assure ratepayers that every effort is being made to spend wisely.
“The 10 principles will be used by council group staff to explore suitable options at each phase of a project. We will bring this new process to other project case studies, so we can improve our planning, design, procurement and contracting.
"Fundamentally, this is positive for ratepayers and for the council as each project has to be able to stand up to the scrutiny of delivering both outcomes and value for money,” says Cr Simpson.
The results showcased that better and more cost-effective decisions could have been made across all three case studies.
“This work sees us focusing on good practice by learning from examples of what works well and has been successful, as well as where we can make improvements across the council group,” concludes Cr Simpson.
The Revenue, Expenditure and Value Committee heard three case studies at this week’s meeting – the replacement of concrete steps to access Milford Beach, the replacement of the walking/cycling Jubilee Bridge at Panmure Basin and the Meola Rd upgrade for Point Chevalier to Westmere.
There was acknowledgement from council staff that good learnings have been taken from the project reviews undertaken to date. The 10-step process will be further refined as it is implemented.
Lessons from previous projects will be prioritised and changes embedded into the council’s capital delivery process.
Find out more about the council's 10-step approach to Better Value Projects.
