How councils work

Different places; different cases

Council members and locals discuss environmental issues at a riverbank.

When working in and for their communities, local government must follow these principles:

democratically accountable: local authorities should conduct their business ‘in an open, transparent, and democratically accountable manner’
identified priorities: they should give effect to ‘identified priorities and desired outcomes in an efficient and effective manner’
diversity of the community: when making a decision, a local authority ‘should take account of the diversity of the community’, and the community’s interests within its district or regions
future and current interests: a decision should take account of the interests of future as well as current communities
opportunities for Māori: the Local Government Act 2002 also says ‘a local authority should provide opportunities for Māori to contribute to its decision-making processes’
cooperation: a local authority should collaborate and cooperate with other local authorities and bodies as it considers appropriate to promote or achieve its priorities
sound business practice: local authorities should use their resources prudently, and conduct commercial transactions according to sound business practice
sustainable development: a local authority should take a sustainable development approach.

This section is about how councils put these principles into practice in their everyday activities.

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