Timaru District Council is welcoming the publication of the Ombudsman report into meetings and workshops.

Council Chief Executive Bede Carran said that the process, which was started in 2022, was a valuable one for council, offering the opportunity to ensure all processes were up to ratepayers’ expectations.

"The process of the Ombudsman investigation was a valuable opportunity for us to run the ruler over our processes and identify where improvements could be made, and we’ve gone ahead and made them,” he said.

"We had already made significant strides in increasing out openness through investments in livestreaming of all council and committee meetings and making workshops open to the public by default.  

"We are also more strongly testing officers’ reasoning for any items being held in public excluded, with the aim that as much as possible should be discussed publicly.

"I think it’s reasonable for every ratepayer in Timaru District to expect excellent quality work from their public servants, so I make no apologies for demanding a high standard of report writing to ensure best value for our community, but I accept the findings of the Ombudsman when it comes to clarity of feedback to officers.

“We’ve already made changes to this process so we can take a more collaborative approach to continuous improvement in the future.

"This process has been a positive one for the organisation, and we welcome the ombudsman’s feedback as we’re always looking at how we can better ensure more public engagement between the council and its community."

The ombudsman reports can be found on their website ombudsman.parliament.nz