Waipā council has identified five “very high” risks to its operations and 14 risks in total.
In her report to the council’s Audit and Risk committee this week, risk advisor Genny Wilson listed inadequate staffing, failure to respond to Covid 19 impact, risk to financial sustainability, failure to prepare for climate change impacts and Three Waters reform as very high risks.
The committee meeting was not live-streamed. A request from The News to be present via Skype or Teams was declined. The independently owned News is the only media which consistently covers Waipā council meetings.
Wilson’s report was for the quarter to April while the risks were those present early last month.
She said the executive had moved to lessen the staffing risk by introducing a new flexible working policy. This includes a hybrid working model where staff could work a blend of onsite and remotely
Covid 19 continues to be a risk to achieving the Long Term Plan goals. Managing that response continues to divert resources from other work, her report said.
A risk trending upwards is the failure to realise asset sales, a vital component to the success of the council’s Long Term Plan projects.
The council was told the property market’s uncertainty make the risk an issue and likely to have negative impacts on the council’s reputation and community wellbeing.
They would include a delay in implementing the council’s digital programme because of supply chain delays and hold ups to Flourish, the first district-wide Waipā Community Spatial Plan.
The plan will be a blueprint for the district for the next 30 years.
