Regions of New Zealand: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 02:12, 27 January 2010

The region is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. There are 16 regions of New Zealand. Twelve are governed by an elected regional council, while four are governed by territorial authorities (the second tier of local government) which also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands Council is similar to a unitary authority, but is authorised under its own enabling legislation.^[1]

History and statutory basis

A regional council means one of the regional councils listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002.^[2] That schedule lists the regional councils of New Zealand and their Gazette notices following their establishment in 1989.^[3] The Local Government Act 2002 also requires regional councils to promote sustainable development– the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities.^[4]

The current regions and their councils came about in 1989, as a result of an amalgamation procedure carried out under the Local Government Act 1974. The regional councils replaced county councils, which had themselves replaced provincial councils. The geographic extent of the regions was based largely on drainage basins, the regional boundaries being major drainage divides such as the Southern Alps. This anticipated the responsibilities of the Resource Management Act 1991.^[5] Some regional boundaries conform with territorial authority boundaries but there are many exceptions. Territorial authority boundaries may be adjusted to conform with the regional boundaries. An example is the Franklin District, which lies in both the Auckland Region and the Waikato Region: in 2010 this district is scheduled to be dissolved and its extent divided between a new Auckland territorial authority and the Waikato District.

Responsibilities

Regional authorities are primarily responsible for environmental management, including water, contaminant discharge and coastal management, river and lake management including flood and drainage control, regional land management; regional transport (including public transport) and harbours, biosecurity or pest management; while territorial authorities are responsible for: local-level land use management (urban and rural planning); network utility services such as water, sewerage, stormwater and solid waste management; local roads; libraries; parks and reserves; and community development. Property rates (land taxes) are used to fund both regional and territorial government activities. There is often a high degree of co-operation between regional and territorial councils as they have complementary roles.

Resource management functions

Regional Councils have these specific functions under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Planning for the integrated management of natural and physical resources ^[6]
Planning for regionally significant land uses ^[7]
Soil conservation, water quality and quantity, water ecosystems, natural hazards, hazardous substances ^[8]
Controlling the coastal marine area ^[9]
Controlling via resource consents the taking, use, damming or diverting of water ^[10]
Controlling via resource consents the discharge of contaminants ^[11]
Establishing of rules in a regional plan to allocate water ^[12]
Controlling via resource consents the beds of waterbodies ^[13]

Other functions

Regional councils also have responsibility for a number of other functions under other statutes;^[14]

flood and river control under the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941,
reserves vested in regional councils under the Reserves Act 1977,
civil defence under the Civil Defence Act 1990,
regional pest management under the Biosecurity Act 1993,
harbour and water navigation under the Maritime Transport Act 1994,
hazardous waste under the HSNO Act 1996, and,
public transport planning under the Land Transport Act 1998.

Regional councils were also given responsibilities for the supervision of the safety of dams in the Building Act 2004.^[15]

List of regions

	Region	Regional council	Council seat	Island	Area (km²)^[16]	Population^[17]	ISO 3166-2 Code
1	Northland	Northland Regional Council	Whangarei	North	13,941	184,500	`NZ-NTL`
2	Auckland	Auckland Regional Council	Auckland	North	5,600	1,618,400	`NZ-AUK`
3	Waikato	Environment Waikato	Hamilton	North	25,598	472,100	`NZ-WKO`
4	Bay of Plenty	Bay of Plenty Regional Council	Whakatane	North	12,447	317,800	`NZ-BOP`
5	East Cape ⁽¹⁾	Gisborne District Council	Gisborne	North	8,351	48,900	`NZ-GIS`
6	Hawke's Bay	Hawke's Bay Regional Council	Napier	North	14,164	171,400	`NZ-HKB`
7	Taranaki	Taranaki Regional Council	Stratford	North	7,273	121,000	`NZ-TKI`
8	Manawatu-Wanganui	Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council (Horizons Regional Council)	Palmerston North	North	22,215	246,200	`NZ-MWT`
9	Wellington	Wellington Regional Council	Wellington	North	8,124	522,100	`NZ-WGN`
10	Tasman ⁽¹⁾	Tasman District Council	Richmond	South	9,786	54,000	`NZ-TAS`
11	Nelson ⁽¹⁾	Nelson City Council	Nelson	South	445	52,400	`NZ-NSN`
12	Marlborough ⁽¹⁾	Marlborough District Council	Blenheim	South	12,484	48,800	`NZ-MBH`
13	West Coast	West Coast Regional Council	Greymouth	South	23,336	32,500	`NZ-WTC`
14	Canterbury	Canterbury Regional Council	Christchurch	South	45,346	617,700	`NZ-CAN`
15	Otago	Otago Regional Council	Dunedin	South	31,990	232,300	`NZ-OTA`
16	Southland	Southland Regional Council	Invercargill	South	34,347	100,400	`NZ-STL`
⁽¹⁾ These regions are unitary authorities.

Areas outside regional boundaries

New Zealand has a number of outlying islands that are not included within regional boundaries. The Chatham Islands is not in a region, although its council has some of the powers of a regional council under the Resource Management Act. The Kermadecs and the sub-Antarctic islands are inhabited only by a small number of Department of Conservation staff. The Conservation Minister is empowered to act as a regional council for these islands.

Governance

Regional councils are popularly elected every three years in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001.^[18] Councils may use a first past the post or single transferable vote system. The chairperson of a regional council is selected by the elected council members.^[19]

References

^ Chatham Islands Council Act 1995, Parliament of New Zealand, 1995, Statute No 041, Commenced: 1 November 1995, retrieved 4 February 2008.
^ "Local Government Act 2002 No 84 - Interpretation". Retrieved 2008-07-17.
^ "Local Government Act 2002 No 84 - Part 1, Schedule 2". Retrieved 2008-07-17.
^ Relationship between the Local Government Act and the RMA Quality Planning The RMA Resource, retrieved 11 October 2007.
^ New Zealand Historical Atlas– McKinnon, Malcolm (Editor); David Bateman, 1997, Plate 98
^ Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(a)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
^ Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(b)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
^ Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(c)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
^ Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(d)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
^ Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(e)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
^ Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(f)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
^ Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(fa)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991. NB this is a new subsection added in 2005.
^ Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(g)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
^ Harris, R. (2004) 'Local government and development legislation', Chapter 3G, Handbook of Environmental Law, Editor Harris, R., ISBN 0959785183, Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, Wellington 2004, page 130.
^ Sections 135, 142, 150, and 154 Building Act 2004, Parliament of New Zealand.
^ Living Density: Table 1, Housing Statistics, Statistics New Zealand. Accessed 25 January 2009. Areas are based on 2001 boundaries. Water bodies greater than 15 hectares are excluded.
^ "Subnational Population Estimates: At 30 June 2019". Statistics New Zealand. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020. For urban areas, "Subnational population estimates (UA, AU), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996, 2001, 2006–18 (2017 boundaries)". Statistics New Zealand. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
^ Local Government Act 2002, s41(1)(a), Parliament of New Zealand.
^ Local Government Act 2002, s41(1)(b), Parliament of New Zealand.

[1] Chatham Islands Council Act 1995, Parliament of New Zealand, 1995, Statute No 041, Commenced: 1 November 1995, retrieved 4 February 2008.

[2] "Local Government Act 2002 No 84 - Interpretation". Retrieved 2008-07-17.

[3] "Local Government Act 2002 No 84 - Part 1, Schedule 2". Retrieved 2008-07-17.

[4] Relationship between the Local Government Act and the RMA Quality Planning The RMA Resource, retrieved 11 October 2007.

[NZHA98-5] New Zealand Historical Atlas– McKinnon, Malcolm (Editor); David Bateman, 1997, Plate 98

[6] Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(a)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991

[7] Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(b)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991

[8] Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(c)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991

[9] Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(d)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991

[10] Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(e)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991

[11] Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(f)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991

[12] Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(fa)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991. NB this is a new subsection added in 2005.

[13] Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(g)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991

[14] Harris, R. (2004) 'Local government and development legislation', Chapter 3G, Handbook of Environmental Law, Editor Harris, R., ISBN 0959785183, Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, Wellington 2004, page 130.

[15] Sections 135, 142, 150, and 154 Building Act 2004, Parliament of New Zealand.

[16] Living Density: Table 1, Housing Statistics, Statistics New Zealand. Accessed 25 January 2009. Areas are based on 2001 boundaries. Water bodies greater than 15 hectares are excluded.

[NZ_population_data-17] "Subnational Population Estimates: At 30 June 2019". Statistics New Zealand. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020. For urban areas, "Subnational population estimates (UA, AU), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996, 2001, 2006–18 (2017 boundaries)". Statistics New Zealand. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.

[18] Local Government Act 2002, s41(1)(a), Parliament of New Zealand.

[19] Local Government Act 2002, s41(1)(b), Parliament of New Zealand.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 poly 214 64 214 56 209 51 199 56 201 61 [[Auckland_Region|Auckland]]
 poly 206 85 190 90 193 106 188 136 195 138 211 127 211 122 215 134 213 144 217 144 217 146 209 150 209 156 220 150 220 146 229 142 231 136 236 126 222 113 222 103 218 96 222 94 221 70 207 65 210 86 [[Waikato (region/district)|Waikato]]
-poly 223 93 217 97 222 104 222 112 235 124 235 129 231 136 232 142 235 144 237 139 243 141 256 133 255 125 274 112 274 98 258 112 229 101 [[Bay_of_Plenty|Bay of Plenty]]
+poly 223 93 217 97 222 104 222 112 235 124 235 129 231 136 232 142 235 144 237 139 243 141 256 133 255 125 274 112 274 98 258 112 229 101 [[Bay_of_Plenty_Region|Bay of Plenty]]
 poly 273 98 274 112 255 125 255 132 270 144 272 136 282 129 283 110 287 102 281 97 [[Gisborne, New Zealand|East Cape]]
 poly 274 147 256 133 241 141 237 137 235 144 224 143 220 147 219 151 230 162 228 176 234 188 240 190 251 163 247 162 247 154 258 147 269 147 269 154 [[Hawke's Bay|Hawke's Bay]]
@@ Line 85: / Line 85: @@
 |align="center"|3 || [[Waikato (region/district)|Waikato]]  || [[Environment Waikato]] || [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]] || [[North Island|North]] || align="right"|25,598 || align="right"|{{NZ population data|Waikato Region|y}} || align="right"|<code>NZ-WKO</code>
 |-
-|align="center"|4 || [[Bay of Plenty]] || [[Bay of Plenty Regional Council]] || [[Whakatane]] || [[North Island|North]] || align="right"|12,447 || align="right"|{{NZ population data|Bay of Plenty Region|y}} || align="right"|<code>NZ-BOP</code>
+|align="center"|4 || [[Bay of Plenty Region | Bay of Plenty]] || [[Bay of Plenty Regional Council]] || [[Whakatane]] || [[North Island|North]] || align="right"|12,447 || align="right"|{{NZ population data|Bay of Plenty Region|y}} || align="right"|<code>NZ-BOP</code>
 |-
 |align="center"|5 || [[Gisborne, New Zealand|East Cape]] <sup><small>(1)</small></sup> || [[Gisborne District Council]] || [[Gisborne, New Zealand|Gisborne]] || [[North Island|North]] || align="right"|8,351 || align="right"|{{NZ population data|Gisborne Region|y}} || align="right"|<code>NZ-GIS</code>

v t e Regions of New Zealand
North Island	Northland Auckland* Waikato Bay of Plenty Gisborne* Hawke's Bay Taranaki Manawatu-Whanganui Wellington
South Island	Tasman* Nelson* Marlborough* West Coast Canterbury Otago Southland
* Governed by a unitary authority rather than a regional council