logo
Oamaru Meeting For ORC Next Week

Oamaru Meeting For ORC Next Week

Scoop17-07-2025
The public in North Otago are being encouraged to attend an Otago Regional Council meeting in Oamaru next week, on Wednesday 23 July.
The meeting will be at Waitaki District Council, Council Chambers, 20 Thames St and is scheduled to run from 10am - 5pm.
ORC Chair Gretchen Robertson says there will be a wide range of subjects being considered at Wednesday's meeting and is looking forward to members of the public attending.
'We like to take as many full Council meetings as possible around the regions each year, not only to reflect on work being done locally but to engage with communities in their home districts and better understand what is most important to them,' Cr Robertson says.
Agenda items will include a recovery update from the floods of 2022, 2023 and 2024, an update on the South Dunedin Future programme, including community engagement results and also Remuneration Authority recommendations around pay rates for Councillors.
'Many of these topics will give people a good idea of the wide-ranging environmental work which ORC undertakes for communities around Otago,' she says.
The main Council meeting will start with a public forum and Cr Robertson encourages anyone interested to call the ORC as soon as possible to secure a speaking time.
So far those scheduled to make presentations include a representative from Extinction Rebellion and a ratepayer talking about waterways and river maintenance.
The meeting's full Agenda will be available online from Monday morning.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Competitive election ‘good for local democracy'
Competitive election ‘good for local democracy'

Otago Daily Times

timea day ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Competitive election ‘good for local democracy'

Janine Hayward. Photo: supplied Dunedin voters should not be daunted by the large number of names on council ballot papers this election, a politics professor says. Prof Janine Hayward, of the University of Otago, said they should simply determine whom they like and rank them in order. "Remember that you do not need to rank everyone," she said. Sixteen people are standing for the Dunedin mayoralty, which is thought to be a record for the city. Fifty-four candidates have put their names forward for 14 councillor positions on the Dunedin City Council — the largest field this century, at least. Prof Hayward thought this reflected the council's high profile since the last election. The council's campaign to prevent government cuts to the new hospital was an example, she said. A high number of candidates might show they thought councils could make a difference to people's lives — "which of course they can", Prof Hayward said. "It is certainly very good for local democracy to have a competitive election and it may help boost voter turnout to have so many campaigns going on across the city." The number of candidates for Dunedin councillor positions was just 21 in 2001, which was the last time the city council used the first-past-the-post (FPP) electoral system. The Dunedin City Council then switched to using the single-transferable vote (STV) system, which the Otago Regional Council will this year use for the first time. Prof Hayward said Dunedin voters had done well in the past two decades to navigate both systems. Having just one system for the city council and regional council would be helpful for Dunedin voters, she said. However, the Queenstown Lakes, Central Otago, Clutha and Waitaki District Councils have stuck with FPP. Prof Hayward said the regional council would need to be clear with these areas about ranking candidates under the STV system — instead of giving them a tick. She expected the FPP district councils would carefully consider changing to STV in the future. "This will produce election results that better reflect the way their community voted and make the process of voting much more straightforward for voters." The Otago Daily Times asked Prof Hayward to share a few tips about how voters considering the list of potential councillors might best arrive at their rankings. Information from media or candidate summaries could be supplemented by seeing candidates in person at local events and this could help people decide who might be good on council, she said. "Once you have a list of who you like — whether that list is long or short — rank them starting at '1' for who you like best. "You don't need to be strategic or worry about whether that candidate is likely to get more support than they need, or not enough support, to get elected." Prof Hayward said STV was designed to ensure votes were not "wasted" in either case — they were transferred to reflect voters' next preference. "Once you have ranked all the candidates you like in order, your job is done."

Push for a pause on Masterton town hall demolition
Push for a pause on Masterton town hall demolition

RNZ News

time2 days ago

  • RNZ News

Push for a pause on Masterton town hall demolition

Councillor Tim Nelson hopes his motion to pause demolition work on the Masterton Town Hall finds favour. Photo: LDR / Emily Ireland A final attempt to pause the demolition of Masterton's Town Hall will be floated at a council meeting on Wednesday. Councillor Tim Nelson has presented a Notice of Motion, backed by councillor Brent Goodwin, calling for an immediate pause on all physical and administrative work on the Town Hall project and the Waiata House extension. It also asked for the council to suspend the tender process and any further procurement, planning, or demolition activities relating to the town hall "until the council has reconsidered its long-term plan priorities and consulted further with the community". Nelson said he had submitted the Notice of Motion in light of community feedback and concerns around cost, heritage preservation, and strategic priorities; the need for fiscal prudence; and the council's responsibility to ensure all major capital works reflected current and future community needs. "A pause will enable council to review both projects thoroughly, without incurring further unnecessary costs or binding contractual obligations, and to engage in transparent consultation with the public on next steps," he said in his Notice of Motion. He told Local Democracy Reporting that the motion would show "who is determined to press on with the project despite the costs and the uncertainty around water infrastructure". "It will be great if it passes, but I think that it will be tough to get it through. "I am glad that it's in place before the election so that people will need to take a position either way." As part of the 2024-34 Long-Term Plan, a majority of Masterton councillors voted to demolish the earthquake-prone town hall and municipal building and build anew on the same site for a cost of no more than $25 million. They also voted to expand the existing Waiata House to accommodate Civil Defence, customer services, a council chamber, public meeting rooms, and a lab, at an estimated cost of $8.7million. At the end of May, an independent commissioner granted resource consent for the council to demolish its century-old civic buildings, and a tender for demolition was currently out with the request for proposals closing on 5 August. A concept plan has been received for the new build, along with planning advice which would need to be reviewed by a quantity surveyor for costing. In June, it was revealed that the council was exploring alternative options for the Waiata House extension than what was previously approved in the Long Term Plan after initial pricing did not fall within the approved budget. Councillors would discuss this on Wednesday in public excluded due to it being commercially sensitive information. - Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

Water Services To Be Managed And Delivered By Council Controlled Organisation
Water Services To Be Managed And Delivered By Council Controlled Organisation

Scoop

time2 days ago

  • Scoop

Water Services To Be Managed And Delivered By Council Controlled Organisation

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has confirmed a Water Services Council Controlled Organisation (WSCCO) will be specifically created to deliver water services in the district, after the matter was considered at the Full Council Meeting on Thursday 31 July 2025. The decision follows a proposal put before the community in May and June 2025 to manage and deliver drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services, as part of central government's Local Water Done Well plan to address Aotearoa New Zealand's water infrastructure challenges. Mayor of the Queenstown Lakes District, Glyn Lewers said the decision reflected analysis that a WSCCO would be the most effective at providing these services under the new legislative and regulatory regime, and enabled Council to begin preparing to create an organisation to deliver future water services. 'Key themes arising from feedback centred around the costs to households, costs to implement and operate a potential WSCCO compared with the in-house model, along with comments around accountability, transparency, and managing a separate entity effectively,' said Mayor Lewers. 'The decision to progress with a WSCCO last week was undeniably a challenging one to make, but considered that this model will provide a range of advantages in accountability, independence, and lower household costs in the long term when compared with the in-house model.' Now decided on, the future WSCCO will be fully owned by QLDC, but the organisation will be governed by its own independent specialist board and management. QLDC will be the only shareholder and will appoint board members based on the skills and experience needed for proper governance of the new organisation. Intended legislation by central government will prevent any WSCCO from being privatised which means that the WSCCO will remain wholly owned by QLDC. Council will set the organisation's strategic priorities and establish measures to ensure it performs to expectations, while the Commerce Commission will use various regulatory tools to ensure water charges are fair, cost-reflective, and transparent. The other shortlisted option evaluated was for QLDC to continue to deliver water services in-house, recognising that changes would need to be made to enable Council to respond to the new regulatory environment if such a model was progressed in-house model would have been similarly subject to the Commerce Commission regulatory requirements. Letters and emails were sent to all ratepayers in the Queenstown Lakes District, along with supporting communications material shared in local papers and on a range of online platforms, all detailing the opportunity to share feedback on the WSSCO and in-house models. Over 120 submissions were received during the consultation period, the majority of which were in favour of the option to retain water services in-house. Mayor Lewers said given drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater services all cost ratepayers a significant amount of money that would increase regardless of which approach to water services was taken, it was imperative Council took a long-term view to ensure those services were reliable, sustainable, and future-proofed. 'I acknowledge that while the majority of submitters opposed a change to how water services are delivered, Council's role is to consider community views alongside legal and technical perspectives, and many of the genuine concerns raised have since been addressed by evolving legislative changes,' said Mr Lewers. 'Any potential WSCCO must consult with the community on matters of significance, and proposed changes in the resource management space will require the integration of urban development and infrastructure planning between Council and WSCCO – both of which address potential disadvantages of proceeding with this model,' added Mr Lewers. 'Ultimately, after careful assessment of the two models, public input, the recent legislative changes, and debate on the matter, we can now provide certainty to residents of the Queenstown Lakes District around how their water services will be delivered in the future.' QLDC will now begin to establish a WSCCO under new water legislation. Responsibility for the district's water services, along with ownership of QLDC's water assets and associated debt and liabilities, will be transferred to the WSCCO once established. The WSCCO will be responsible for planning, funding, and delivering water services in accordance with new legislative and regulatory requirements. A Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP) will be prepared and submitted to Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) by Wednesday 3 September, describing the current state of QLDC's water assets and services as well as the future arrangements for delivery of water services.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store