A high current workload on district council staff, as local government grapple with various reforms, contributed to a performance review programme not being adopted this week.

Some Central Otago District Council(CODC) elected members spoke strongly against the CouncilMARK organisational review system being introduced, following interest from the community in its adoption in this area, according to a council report.

Cr Nigel McKinlay said the demands of reform were ongoing and pressure on staff was already high. Council staff had recommended Central Otago did not participate in the programme, which requires large amounts of information be gathered and submitted for independent review.

“For me the recommendation makes complete sense. We are in no way in a situation to embark onsuch an exercise. Workload and resources do not allow," he said.

Cr Tracey Paterson argued that no time was ideal as workloads were always busy.

“We’re always going to find an excuse. We are never short of work. There’s nothing to be afraid of and if we wait for three months or a year, is there ever going to be a good time as far as workload is concerned.”

Others felt staff wellbeing would suffer from the added workload and that they were already constantly observed as to performance and were doing a good job.

Alexandra residents Don Sparks and Hugh McIntyre spoke in support of adopting the programme during a public forum session of the livestreamed CODC meeting on Wednesday. The pair believed it would assist in the overall running of council and provide opportunity for better transparency to constituents.

The CouncilMARK programme is run by Local Government New Zealand and is designed to improve knowledge around the work councils do and help them provide better service and value. It includes independent assessments where an overall rating is given as well as commentary on performance.

Seven South Island councils, including neighbouring Queenstown Lakes District Council, have participated. Central Otago staff, while opposed to adopting the programme, did see potential benefit in identifying areas for improvement. The cost to participate would have been around $26,000.

Similarities were drawn with the education system’s ERO report reviews, with both having advantages and disadvantages.

With councillors struggling to agree on the matter on Wednesday, Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan resolved to seek feedback from other mayors regarding how they had found the programme and report back to council early next year.