Local Government

District councils – Who are you?

8 Comments

I thought it might be important for dealing with the Rotorua District Council to find out precisely what the Council is… so I asked. It took a few weeks to get a considered response.

Dear Reed

My email below refers. Kathy confirmed that Council is a territorial authority. Below, please find an explanation.

Territorial authorities of New Zealand
Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils, and the Chatham Islands Council. Six territorial authorities (Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, Gisborne, Tasman, and Marlborough District Councils and the Chatham Islands Council) also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. Territorial authority districts are not subdivisions of regions, and some of them fall within more than one region. Taupo District has the distinction of straddling the boundaries of four different regions (see below). Regional council areas are based on water catchment areas, whereas territorial authorities are based on community of interest and road access. Regional councils are responsible for the administration of many environmental and public transport matters, while the territorial authorities administer local roading and reserves, sewerage, building consents, the land use and subdivision aspects of resource management, and other local matters. Some activities are delegated to council-controlled organisations.

I trust the above information answers your question.

Thanks

**** ******
Policy Planner

Their considered response was the same as their unconsidered response – which I’d already explained couldn’t be correct. Try again…

Thanks for that but it doesn’t answer the question I asked.

The Local Government Act 2002 states: –
territorial authority means a city council or a district council named in Part 2 of Schedule 2

The Rotorua District Council must have existed prior to the existence of territorial authorities.
Territorial Authority is a title/role that has been given to the Council. This doesn’t tell me what type of organisation the Council is.

The type of organisation that the Council is should be defined by its establishment.
When was the Council established and which Act was it established under?

Cheers

Reed Robinson

And their response…

Hi Reed

I will investigate further and get back to you.

Regards

**** ******
Policy Planner

Sent today…

Hi ***

Can you please investigate these related questions at the same time.

1. Do the Rotorua District Council and Council employees have a fiduciary duty to Rotorua property owners?
2. If not, what duty do the Rotorua District Council and Council employees have to Rotorua property owners?

I asked these questions in June 2011 and the following is a summary of Council’s response at the time…

I re-asked these questions in July 2011 and Council has not responded.

Cheers

Reed Robinson

I’ll post Council’s responses if I get any.

** Related blogpost from 2011 – Something stinks in Rotorua.

8 thoughts on “District councils – Who are you?”

  1. Received today…

    Good Morning Mr Robinson

    The Rotorua District Council was constituted by the Local Government (Bay of Plenty Region) Reorganisation Order 1989, Gazette 1989, p 2275, as stated in Schedule 2, Part 2 of the Local Government Act 2002.

    Regards
    *****

    ***** ********
    Legal Administration Officer

    And this…

    Good Afternoon Mr Robinson
    Kindly advise with whom you were corresponding with in regards to the below questions in June & July 2011, as Council employees do not have access to ‘youtube’.
    Thank you.

    Regards
    *****

    ***** ********
    Legal Administration Officer

    Reply

  2. Hi *****

    I’d already seen that reference in the legislation but the reference doesn’t tell me anything about what the Council is. I couldn’t find the Reorganisation Order 1989 online and I’m not sure it’s the right place to look.

    Do you have access to this document and does it define the Council?
    If you do and it does please send me a copy.

    Regards

    Reed Robinson

    Reply

  3. Your correspondence convinces me that the only possible conversation with socialists has only one dimension of variance: semi- or fully-automatic.

    why on earth did you expect anything else?

    Reply

  4. There’s been a bit of correspondence. A bit too messy to put up so I’m just going to post my latest reply to Council which follows Council sending me a copy of the Gazette.

    Hi *****

    Thanks for that.

    As I understand it the Gazette says that the Rotorua District Council was dissolved and replaced with a new entity of the same name on 9 June 1989. This was done by the Governor-General acting for the Crown and the Statutory Authority was section 36 of the Local Government Act 1974. The duties transferred to the Rotorua District Council were those included in the LGA 1974, those in any public act or local act that referred to the former RDC.

    What I don’t understand is what type of organisation the Council was before or after the reconstitution. Surely the Council kept the same bank account and continued trading as the same legal entity. Perhaps that is detailed in the LGA 1974 but I don’t have access to a copy. If you have access to the LGA 1974 can you please send me a copy?

    Also, have you considered my related questions about what duty Council has to property owners?
    It may be that Council has no duty at all to protect property owners’ rights. I am just trying to establish the facts.

    Regards

    Reed Robinson

    Reply

  5. Good Morning Reed

    In reply to your email that I received this morning.

    The below email that I sent last week states that Rotorua District Council is a body corporate.

    All NZ legislation is available free to the public at: http://www.legislation.govt.nz

    Legislation sets out Rotorua District Council’s responsibilities.

    … and here is the email referred to…

    Good Morning Mr Robinson

    I have attached section 12 of the LGA 2002 which defines the status of a local authority as a body corporate with perpetual succession.

    Section 10 states the purpose of local government and section 11 sets out the roles of local authorities.

    Does the above and attached help to answer your questions?

    Regards
    *****

    Reply

  6. Good Morning Reed
    I have replied to your questions in my just sent email. Legislation covers all Rotorua District Council’s duties.
    Thank you.

    Regards
    *****

    ***** ********
    Legal Administration Officer:

    Reply

  7. Thank you for your patience ****

    I was hoping that Council would be something like a trust and that the relationship between Council and Citizens would be similar to the relationship between a trust and its beneficiaries. Unfortunately this doesn’t appear to be the case.

    It seems Council is purely an extension of the Crown without any duty to citizens or property owners other than those defined in legislation by the Crown.

    I’ll still try to find the LGA 1974 and see if there is anything more to the story.

    Kind regards

    Reed Robinson

    Reply

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