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New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
is divided into sixteen regions () for
local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...
purposes. Eleven are administered by regional councils (the top tier of local government), and five are administered by
unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...
, which are territorial authorities (the second tier of local government) that also perform the functions of regional councils. The Chatham Islands Council is not a region but is similar to a unitary authority, authorised under its own legislation.


Current regions


History and statutory basis

The regional councils are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002, along with reference to the ''
Gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...
'' notices that established them in 1989. The Act requires regional councils to promote sustainable developmentthe social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities. The current regions and most of their councils came into being through a local government reform in 1989 that took place under the Local Government Act 1974. The regional councils replaced the more than 700 ad hoc bodies that had been formed in the preceding century – roads boards, catchment boards, drainage boards, pest control boards, harbour boards, domain and reserve boards. In addition they took over some roles that had previously been performed by county councils. The boundaries of the regions are based largely on
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
s. This anticipated the responsibilities of the
Resource Management Act 1991 The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zeal ...
.''New Zealand Historical Atlas''McKinnon, Malcolm (Editor); David Bateman, 1997, Plate 98 Most regional boundaries conform with territorial authority boundaries but there are a number of exceptions. An example is Taupo District, split between four regions, although most of its area is in the
Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...
region. 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 The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zeal ...
: *Planning for the integrated management of natural and physical resources *Planning for regionally significant land uses *
Soil conservation Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination. Slash-and-burn and other uns ...
, water quality and quantity, water ecosystems, natural hazards, hazardous substances *Controlling the coastal marine area *Controlling via resource consents the taking, use, damming or diverting of water *Controlling via resource consents the discharge of contaminants *Establishing of rules in a regional plan to allocate water *Controlling via resource consents the beds of waterbodies


Other functions

Regional councils have responsibility for functions under other statutes; * 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, * public transport planning under the Land Transport Act 1998, and * supervision of the safety of dams under the Building Act 2004.


List of regions

Notes: (1) These regions have ''
unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...
''. (2) The Gisborne Region is still widely but unofficially known by its former name East Cape or as the East Coast.


Areas outside regional boundaries

Some outlying islands 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 1991 The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zeal ...
. The Kermadecs and the subantarctic islands are inhabited only by a small number of Department of Conservation staff and there is no regional council for these islands.


Governance

Regional councils are popularly elected every three years in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001, except for the Canterbury regional council, which is a mixture of elected councilors and government appointed commissioners. Councils may use a
first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
or
single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate ...
system. The chairperson is selected by the elected council members.


Finances

Regional councils are funded through property rates,
subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
from central government, income from trading, and user charges for certain public services. Councils set their own levels of rates, though the mechanism for collecting it usually involves channelling through the territorial authority collection system.


Predecessors of current structure


Auckland

The Auckland Regional Council (now the Auckland Council) was preceded by the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA), which existed from 1963 to 1989.


Wellington

The Wellington Regional Council was first formed in 1980 from a merger of the Wellington Regional Planning Authority and the Wellington Regional Water Board.


United councils

In 1978, legislation was passed enabling the formation of regions with ''united councils''. Twenty regions were designated, excluding the Auckland and Wellington areas. For most of the country this was the first regional level of government since the abolition of
provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
in 1876. Councillors were not elected directly – they were appointed from the various territorial local authorities (TLAs) within the region. The only responsibilities mandated by the legislation were coordination of
civil defence Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mit ...
and development of a regional plan, although the constituent TLAs could agree on additional responsibilities at the point of formation of each united council. For example, in a number of cases the united council took responsibility for the allocation of revenue from regional petrol taxes. The united councils were based in the facilities of the largest TLA in the region and largely dependent on the TLAs for resources. They were allowed to levy rates but in most cases had minimal operating budgets (below $100,000 per annum). The notable exception was Canterbury, where the united council had a number of responsibilities. Only one united council undertook any direct operational activity – a forestry project in Wanganui. Source: ''Summary of the Functions and Activities of United Councils''. Dept of Internal Affairs, 1984.


See also

* List of regions of New Zealand by Human Development Index *
Local Government New Zealand Local Government New Zealand Te Kahui Kaunihera ō Aotearoa (LGNZ) is the local government association of New Zealand. It represents the interests of the regional, city, and district councils in New Zealand. History The Association was form ...
* Provinces of New Zealand *
Territorial authorities of New Zealand Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a ...


References


External links


Regional councils of New Zealand
at the
Department of Internal Affairs The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), or in te reo Māori, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling la ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regions of New Zealand Lists of subdivisions of New Zealand New Zealand 1 Regions, New Zealand