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Local Government Act 2002

Structure and reorganisation of local government - Reorganisation of local authorities

25: Order in Council to give effect to reorganisation plan

You could also call this:

“The government makes a special rule to put local government changes into action”

When a reorganisation plan is made for local government, it needs to be put into action. This happens through an Order in Council, which is a special type of rule made by the government.

The Minister in charge must recommend making this Order unless they have good reasons not to. These reasons could be if the plan wasn’t made properly or if it didn’t consider all the important things it should have.

The Order will say when the changes will start. It might also set up special groups to help with the change. Sometimes, it can pause certain rules that local councils usually have to follow, if those rules don’t make sense during the reorganisation.

The Order can change some parts of the law about local government if it needs to. It’s still valid even if it’s a bit different from the original plan, as long as the differences are small things like fixing spelling mistakes or adding necessary legal words.

This Order is a type of law, so it needs to be published for everyone to see.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM171834.

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Government and voting > Local councils
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“Changes to local council rules when big changes are being planned”

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25A: Order in Council to give effect to reorganisation implementation scheme, or

“Government makes official changes to local councils through a special order”

Part 3 Structure and reorganisation of local government
Reorganisation of local authorities

25Order in Council to give effect to reorganisation plan

  1. A reorganisation plan to which clause 22C(5) or 33 of Schedule 3 or clause 17(5) of Schedule 3A applies—

  2. is given effect to by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister; and
    1. has effect on and from the date or dates specified for that purpose by that Order in Council (as required by subsection (3)(a)).

      1. The Minister must recommend the making of an Order in Council under subsection (1) unless the Minister is satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that—

      2. the process followed in developing the reorganisation plan was not in accordance with the requirements of this Act; or
        1. the development of the reorganisation plan failed to give proper weight to the relevant principles, considerations, and criteria set out in this Act.

          1. An Order in Council made under subsection (1)—

          2. must specify the date or dates on which its provisions come into effect; and
            1. in the case of a reorganisation plan to which clause 33 of Schedule 3 applies, must establish and provide for 1 or more transition bodies in accordance with—
              1. clauses 33 to 40 of Schedule 3; and
                1. the provisions in the reorganisation plan relating to transitional matters; and
                2. may, with the agreement of the Commission, suspend any statutory requirement that an affected local authority would otherwise be subject to if the reorganisation would make compliance with the statutory requirement unnecessary or inappropriate.

                  1. An Order in Council made under subsection (1) may, if appropriate, amend Part 1 or 2 of Schedule 2 of this Act.

                  2. An Order in Council giving effect to a reorganisation plan is not invalid merely because it is inconsistent with the provisions of the reorganisation plan if the inconsistency relates to—

                  3. corrections of clerical, grammatical, or typographical errors; or
                    1. the inclusion of provisions that are necessary to give legal effect to the reorganisation plan; or
                      1. the omission of explanatory material or other material that is not necessary to give legal effect to the reorganisation plan; or
                        1. matters of a format or referential nature that do not alter the substance or effect of the reorganisation plan.

                          1. An order under subsection (1) is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                          Notes
                          • Section 25: replaced, on , by section 11 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 54).
                          • Section 25(1): amended, on , by section 41(1) of the Local Government Electoral Legislation Act 2023 (2023 No 57).
                          • Section 25(3)(b): amended, on , by section 41(2) of the Local Government Electoral Legislation Act 2023 (2023 No 57).
                          • Section 25(4): amended, on , by section 12(1) of the Water Services Acts Repeal Act 2024 (2024 No 2).
                          • Section 25(4): amended, on , by section 223 of the Water Services Entities Act 2022 (2022 No 77).
                          • Section 25(6): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).