https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/108314634/plain-dumb-ratepayers-fork-out-50k-for-a-15k-wall-repair
If you ever needed proof that council expenses and paperwork are out of control, there you have it. I don't see how the above costs could possibly be justified. Both in relation to wasting ratepayer money, when there are lots of more important things that need funding. And that such consent expenses also fall onto the private sector and central government. As such costs are a "parasite tax" on things like new schools, hospitals, roads, virtually any other physical infrastructure that is provided by central government. As well as extra costs that get added onto the price of new homes, as well as indirect price increases since marginal projects simply never happen. So developers of the remaining projects are able to command higher prices.
Consider the above in relation to Kiwibuild. Assuming that the 100,000 houses get built as promised. If consent fees per house could be reduced by just $1,000. That is a saving of $100million over the whole project. So very significant savings are possible.