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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Local Government Act 2002

Governance and management of local authorities and community boards - Local authorities - Governing bodies and chief executives

41: Governing bodies

You could also call this:

“How local councils are run and who's in charge”

You should know about how local councils are run in New Zealand. A regional council has a group of people who make decisions. This group is called the governing body. The people in this group are chosen by voters, following the rules in the Local Electoral Act 2001. The group also has a chairperson. The other members of the group choose the chairperson.

For a city or district council (called a territorial authority), the governing body is made up of members and a mayor. Voters choose these people according to the Local Electoral Act 2001.

The governing body is in charge of making decisions for the council. They have to answer to the people who live in the area.

When someone becomes the chairperson of a regional council or the mayor of a city or district council, they also become a Justice of the Peace. This means they can do special legal tasks while they are in that job.

If someone who works for a council gets elected to be on the governing body, they have to quit their council job before they can start as a member of the governing body.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM171858.

Topics:
Government and voting > Local councils
Government and voting > Elections
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40: Local governance statements, or

“How your council tells you about its work and rules”

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41A: Role and powers of mayors, or

“The mayor leads the city and makes important decisions”

Part 4 Governance and management of local authorities and community boards
Local authorities: Governing bodies and chief executives

41Governing bodies

  1. A regional council must have a governing body consisting of—

  2. members elected in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001; and
    1. a chairperson elected by members of the regional council in accordance with clause 25 of Schedule 7.

      1. A territorial authority must have a governing body consisting of members and a mayor elected in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001.

      2. A governing body of a local authority is responsible and democratically accountable for the decision-making of the local authority.

      3. A chairperson of a regional council, or a mayor of a territorial authority, is a Justice of the Peace during the time that he or she holds the office of chairperson or mayor.

      4. An employee of a local authority who is elected to be a member of the local authority's governing body must resign from his or her position as an employee of the local authority before taking up his or her position as a member of the local authority.

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