How councils work

Different places; different cases

Local authority planning cycle

Reporting to the people

Types of consultation

Role of a council ceo

Pure, clear ... and getting rare

A case study in coastal management

The highways, byways and other ways

Down to the sea again

Doing things differently

A day in the park

When the rains come

Be prepared

Emergency response-ability

Economic well-being

Welcome to Wellington’s award-winning waterfront

Council controlled organisations

Social and cultural well-being

Informing the people

Infrastructure – vital services for our community

Landfills and the eight biggest cities

A better built environment

Environmental health and safety

Changing demographics

Rates and other funding

E-government – council services on your pc

City of Dunedin online

It’s available, but is it accessible?

The triple-bottom line

Types of consultation

Special consultative procedure

by Judy Knighton

Councils must consult with their communities before making major decisions. Auckland City Council has identified four levels of consultation for different situations:

Collaboration: Stakeholders are involved from the start with the initial concept and work together to achieve mutual goals. For example, the council might grant some money to improve the facilities in a local recreation park. How to best improve the park can be discussed between users of the park, local residents, elected representatives and council officers.
Participation: People participate in the process and work directly with the council to try to identify the best solution. For example, when developing new community facilities, the council would talk with people at various stages throughout the project. Community representatives would have opportunities to work with the council.
Involvement: Plans are made or changed after contact with the community. This does not stop the council developing plans while the initial consultation process is under way. Reasonable information is provided and people are given opportunity to comment. An example of this type of consultation is the development of the council’s annual plan. People are given detailed information on the proposed plan and their response is considered.
Reaction: Information is given to, and views sought from, the community when a proposal is nearly complete. Community feedback will be one of the factors that influence the decision; however, specialist or technical advice may carry more weight. An example might be the decision to sell a strategic asset. The council prepares a statement of proposal and asks for reaction to it.

Special consultative procedure

The Local Government Act 2002 says that a special consultative procedure, defined in the Act, must be used when major decisions are being made. Such occasions include:

• long-term council community plan and annual plan
• adoption, amendment or review of bylaws
• change to a significant activity; for example, transferring a significant asset or ceasing a service.

This means a lot of consultation, and some councils have expressed concern that council staff and communities are nearing consultation saturation, and even consultation burnout.