Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Local Government Act 2002

Structure and reorganisation of local government - Reorganisation of local authorities

27A: Change of name of unitary authorities

You could also call this:

“How a city or district council can change its name if it does both city and regional jobs”

If you live in a place with a unitary authority (which is like a local government that does both city and regional tasks), and it’s called a city council or district council, they can ask to change their name. They would ask to be called “[name of city or district] Council” instead.

To do this, they need to ask the Minister. If the Minister agrees, they tell the Governor-General. The Governor-General can then make an official order to change the name.

When this happens, they might need to update Part 2 of Schedule 2 in the law to show the new name.

This kind of order is called secondary legislation. This means it follows special rules about how it needs to be published, which you can find in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM4929998.

Topics:
Government and voting > Local councils
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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“How to ask for your council to be called a city or district council”

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27B: Orders in Council to be published in Gazette, or

“This part about sharing government decisions in a special newspaper has been removed from the law.”

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

27AChange of name of unitary authorities

  1. A unitary authority that is described as a city council or district council may apply to the Minister to change its name to the [name of city or district] Council.

  2. The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister, give effect to the application.

  3. The Order in Council may consequentially amend Part 2 of Schedule 2.

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

Notes
  • Section 27A: inserted, on , by section 17 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 93).
  • Section 27A(4): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).