Holdups in the Dunedin City Council's building consent process are most disappointing - not only for builders and clients but also for Dunedin's reputation.
Dunedin is showing promising signs of life and growth and this needs to be encouraged on every front.
One of these is the ease of doing business, including building and developing.
But, at the same time as one arm of the council spends on economic development another stymies it.
Dunedin builders, both large and small, have reported being frustrated by the delays, with some consents blowing out to more than twice the legal expectation of 20 days.
The average consent is taking 24.5 days and more than a quarter are over the statutory limit.
The council says the issue is abating, and in the past month the percentage of consents issued over the statutory time limit has dropped from more than 50% and the average time fallen from 27 days.
That is not the feeling among thwarted builders, with Registered Master Builders Otago president Steve Jory saying matters were being exacerbated by difficulties in getting inspectors on site.
Many companies were, as a result, losing productivity, and stress was compounded for builders and clients.
Mr Jory had received assurances from the council it was working to resolve the issue but ‘‘they have been reassuring us forever and a day''.
The council, meanwhile, says it is sending applications outside the city, staff are working overtime and it hopes to be back under 20 working days within weeks.
There is also a widespread suspicion within the industry that further council requests for information are being used to ‘‘stop the clock'' and extend deadlines.
As well, there are claims other councils operate more effectively.
While builders have said there are some very good staff, questions have to be asked about efficiency and systems.
What might have been all right 10 years ago might not be now.
It is important for the council and its staff - not facing the blow torch of competition - to adapt.
Sometimes, it is a matter of resources because there are not enough staff.
But the history of councils and government departments in general shows how difficult it is for them to adapt, at least without substantial cost increases.
After all, Dunedin residents were told in January 2013 the building control unit was being redesigned and that should mean processing being reduced to 10 days within six months.
The building control unit, under the changed name of Building Services, was the first council department to be overhauled as part of council chief executive Paul Orders' efficiency review.
Building services staff were to be dedicated to either processing consents or inspecting building rather than being rotated.
There would be a central electronic processing systems and administrative staff would free up processors and inspectors.
Six vacant positions were not to be filled. Building consent costs had been cut by 20% in late 2011 after, disconcertingly, an independent report showed both the cost of consents and the cost of running the building control department were significantly higher in Dunedin than other areas.
Perhaps, with not a little prescience, the then Otago Master Builders Federation president said with caution he hoped the changes would improve a service which had been below par for a long time.
It had always concerned builders than consents could be processed in half the time by outside organisations contracted to help.
By the middle of 2014 a new chief executive, Sue Bidrose, was assuring the public more resources and a series of measures would speed up the processing of building consents, although the problem would not be fixed overnight.
Again, Dunedin builders were frustrated as about a third of consent applications were taking more than the 20 working days.
So much for the processing being reduced to 10 days.
Now, well into 2016, the issue has surfaced yet again.
It is little wonder builders are sceptical about council reassurances.
