Notice of Meeting:
I hereby give notice that an ordinary meeting of the Dunedin
City Council will be held on:
Date: Tuesday
10 August 2021
Time: 1.00
pm
Venue: Edinburgh
Room, Municipal Chambers, The Octagon, Dunedin
Sandy Graham
Council
PUBLIC AGENDA
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Mayor
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Mayor Aaron Hawkins
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Deputy Mayor
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Cr Christine Garey
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Members
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Cr Sophie Barker
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Cr David Benson-Pope
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Cr Rachel Elder
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Cr Doug Hall
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Cr Carmen Houlahan
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Cr Marie Laufiso
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Cr Mike Lord
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Cr Jim O'Malley
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Cr Jules Radich
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Cr Chris Staynes
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Cr Lee Vandervis
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Cr Steve Walker
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Cr Andrew Whiley
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Senior Officer Sandy
Graham, Chief Executive Officer
Governance Support Officer Lynne
Adamson
Lynne Adamson
Governance Support Officer
Telephone: 03 477 4000
Lynne.Adamson@dcc.govt.nz
www.dunedin.govt.nz
Note: Reports
and recommendations contained in this agenda are not to be considered as
Council policy until adopted.
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Council
10 August 2021
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Reports
Representation Review 2021
Department: Civic
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 The
purpose of the report is to present the findings of the review of
representation arrangements conducted by the Independent Review Panel (the
Panel).
2 Local
authorities are required to conduct a review of their representation
arrangements at least every six years under provisions contained in the Local
Electoral Act 2001 (the Act). The review includes the number of elected
members, the basis of election (whether councillors should be elected at large,
by means of a ward system or by a mixture of both systems) and also matters
relating to community boards. The position of the Mayor is not part of
the review.
3 The
Panel’s report is attached (Attachment A). It recommends that the
current representation arrangements remain.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Council:
a) Adopts the following recommendations as the
Council’s initial proposal for consultation with the community, that:
i)
The Council continues to be
elected at large.
ii) The number of Councillors remains at 14.
iii) There continue to be six Community
Boards and the boundaries of those six Boards remains the same.
iv) The number of elected members on the
Community Boards remains at six and that Council continues to appoint one
Councillor per Board.
v) No further communities be constituted,
and none be divided for electoral purposes.
b) Notes that public notice will be given of the proposals
contained in this resolution.
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BACKGROUND
4 Councils
are required to review their representation arrangements at least once every
six years. The Council last reviewed its arrangements in 2015 so in
September 2020 Council agreed to establish an independent review panel to
conduct a review of the Council’s representation arrangements and report
to Council.
5 Following
a call for expressions of interest, in December 2020 Council appointed David
Ayers, (Chair), Rachel Wesley and Eleanor Doig to undertake initial
investigations including consultation and report back to the Council with
its’ findings. The panel’s report is attached.
DISCUSSION
6 The
Panel’s report sets out the consultation it undertook, the consideration
of the feedback received and the conclusions it reached with regards to the
Council’s representation arrangements. The Panel considered the
matters that are required in the Act including communities of interest,
effective and fair representation, how councillors should be elected and the
number of councillors. It also reviewed whether community boards should
be retained and if so, how many and their boundaries. The
Panel’s work formed the preliminary consultation of the representation
review process.
7 Council
is now required to decide on its initial proposal (no later than 31 August) and
call for submissions on its proposal. Submissions will be open for a
month. Once submissions are received, there will be hearings if
submitters wish to be heard. Once Council has considered the submissions
it must decide and advertise the final proposal. This includes notifying
the public of the right of appeal.
8 If
appeals or objections are received, the Local Government Commission will
consider any appeals and objections and issue a determination prior to 10 April
2022.
9 The
timetable is as follows.
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Proposed timeframe
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Action/Resolution
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10 August 2021
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Council considers Independent
Review Panel’s report and passes resolutions required to adopt initial
proposal for consultation.
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14 August 2021
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Public notice of resolution of
initial proposal.
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18 September 2021
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Submissions on initial
proposals close.
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5 October 2021
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Council meeting to hear
submissions.
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27 October 2021
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Council meeting to adopt Final
proposal.
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30 October 2021
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Public notice of final
proposal/start of appeal/objection period.
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1 December 2021
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Close of public
appeals/objections.
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December 2021
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Forward any appeals/objections
and documentation to the Local Government Commission.
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10 April 2022
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Final date for Local
Government Commission determination.
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OPTIONS
10 While
there is always the option not to adopt the recommendations from the panel and
for Council to determine other representation arrangements staff can identify
no reason not to adopt the recommendations, as Council’s initial proposal
for consultation. On this basis there are no recommended options.
11 This
is because Council asked the Independent Review Panel to conduct a review and
provide a proposal instead of conducting its own process.
12 The
process used brought an independent external perspective. Panel
membership covered a variety of skills, knowledge of governance arrangements,
representation from mana whenua and community-based
interests.
13 A
public consultation process was conducted, a variety of views were
received. The panel’s report is based on the feedback
received.
14 The
public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal through a further
submission process.
15 Following
the submission process Council is able to make changes to the initial proposal.
NEXT STEPS
16 Once
adopted, the timetable noted in paragraph 11 will take effect. Public
notice will be given on Saturday 14 August with submissions closing on 18
September. Council is then required to consider the submissions,
decide on its final proposal and give public notice of its final proposal and
the opportunity to appeal or object within six weeks of the closing of
submissions (30 October 2021).
Signatories
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Author:
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Clare Sullivan - Manager Governance
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Authoriser:
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Jeanette Wikaira - Manahautū (General Manager
Māori Partnerships and Policy)
Sandy Graham - Chief Executive Officer
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Attachments
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Title
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Page
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⇩a
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Independent Review
Panel Report
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24
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⇩b
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Community Board Map
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35
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⇩c
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Survey Results Summary
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37
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⇩d
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Survey Questions for
pre-consultation
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38
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SUMMARY OF CONSIDERATIONS
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Fit with purpose
of Local Government
This decision enables democratic local
decision making and action by, and on behalf of communities.
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Fit with strategic
framework
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Contributes
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Detracts
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Not applicable
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Social Wellbeing Strategy
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☒
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☐
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☐
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Economic Development Strategy
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☒
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☐
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☐
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Environment Strategy
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☒
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☐
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☐
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Arts and Culture Strategy
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☒
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☐
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☐
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3 Waters Strategy
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☒
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☐
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☐
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Spatial Plan
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☒
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☐
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☐
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Integrated Transport Strategy
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☒
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☐
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☐
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Parks and Recreation Strategy
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☒
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☐
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☐
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Other strategic projects/policies/plans
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☒
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☐
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☐
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The representative arrangements directly contribute to the
Council’s strategic framework, priorities and plans.
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Māori Impact
Statement
The Panel’s report considers the issue of Māori
representation. Representation arrangements provide the opportunity to
enhance representation.
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Sustainability
There are no implications for sustainability.
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LTP/Annual Plan /
Financial Strategy /Infrastructure Strategy
There are no implications.
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Financial
considerations
The representation review is budgeted for.
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Significance
This decision is considered medium in terms of the
significance and engagement policy. Consultation is the next step of
the process and a range of opportunities will be provided.
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Engagement –
external
As part of the Panel’s consideration it undertook a
range of consultation including a public survey, meetings with community
boards and other interested groups.
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Engagement -
internal
Internal engagement included interviews with the Mayor and
each councillor, the chief executive and senior governance
staff.
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Risks: Legal /
Health and Safety etc.
The only identified risks are not meeting the statutory
timeframes. A timeframe to meet these requirements has been identified.
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Conflict of
Interest
There are no known conflicts of interest.
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Community Boards
The review of representation requirements will affect
community boards. The panel met with community boards as part of its consultation
and boards will be encouraged to make a submission on the proposal
identified.
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