Regions of New Zealand

Region
Category	Unitary state
Location	New Zealand
Number	16
Populations	47,100 (Gisborne) – 1,527,100 (Auckland)
Areas	450 km^2 (172 sq mi) (Nelson) – 45,350 km^2 (17,508 sq mi) (Canterbury)
Government	Local government
Subdivisions	Territorial authority

Map of regions (coloured) with territorial authorities delineated by black lines. City names are in all upper case, and district names have initial capitals.

New Zealand, although a unitary state, is divided into sixteen regions for devolved local government. Eleven are administered by regional councils (the top tier of local government), and five are administered by unitary authorities, which are territorial authorities (the second tier of local government) that also perform the functions of regional councils.^[1][2] The Chatham Islands Council is similar to a unitary authority, authorised under its own legislation.^[3]

Most regions are composed of districts and cities, which are in turn governed by district councils and city councils.

Current regions

History and statutory basis

The regional councils are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002,^[4] along with reference to the Gazette notices that established them in 1989.^[5] The Act requires regional councils to promote sustainable development – the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities.^[6]

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.^[7] In addition they took over some roles that had previously been performed by county councils. Auckland Regional Council, formed in 1989, was replaced by Auckland Council, a unitary authority, in 2010.

The boundaries of the regions are based largely on drainage basins. This anticipated the responsibilities of the Resource Management Act 1991.^[8] Most regional boundaries conform with territorial authority boundaries but there are many exceptions. An example is Taupo District, split between four regions, although most of its area is in the Waikato region.

Responsibilities

Regional authorities are primarily responsible for environmental management, including water, contaminant discharge and coastal management, river and lake management including flood and drainage control, regional land management; regional transport (including public transport) and harbours, biosecurity or pest management. Territorial authorities are responsible for local-level land use management (urban and rural planning); network utility services such as water, sewerage, stormwater and solid waste management; local roads; libraries; parks and reserves; and community development. Property rates (land taxes) are used to fund both regional and territorial government activities. 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.

• Planning for the integrated management of natural and physical resources ^[9]
• Planning for regionally significant land uses ^[10]
• Soil conservation, water quality and quantity, water ecosystems, natural hazards, hazardous substances ^[11]
• Controlling the coastal marine area ^[12]
• Controlling via resource consents the taking, use, damming or diverting of water ^[13]
• Controlling via resource consents the discharge of contaminants ^[14]
• Establishing of rules in a regional plan to allocate water ^[15]
• Controlling via resource consents the beds of waterbodies ^[16]

Other functions

Regional councils have responsibility for functions under other statutes;^[17]

• 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.^[18]

List of regions

	Region	Regional council	Chair	Council seat	Island	Area (km²)[19]	Population[20]	ISO 3166-2 Code
1	Northland	Northland Regional Council	Bill Shepherd[21]	Whangarei	North	12,498	168,300	NZ-NTL
2	Auckland ^(1)	Auckland Council	Len Brown	Auckland	North	4,940	1,570,500	NZ-AUK
3	Waikato	Waikato Regional Council	Paula Southgate	Hamilton	North	23,900	439,200	NZ-WKO
4	Bay of Plenty	Bay of Plenty Regional Council	John Cronin	Whakatāne	North	12,071	287,100	NZ-BOP
5	Gisborne ^(1)(2)	Gisborne District Council	Meng Foon	Gisborne	North	8,386	47,400	NZ-GIS
6	Hawke's Bay	Hawke's Bay Regional Council	Fenton Wilson	Napier	North	14,137	160,100	NZ-HKB
7	Taranaki	Taranaki Regional Council	David MacLeod	Stratford	North	7,254	115,800	NZ-TKI
8	Manawatu-Wanganui	Horizons Regional Council	Bruce Gordon	Palmerston North	North	22,221	234,500	NZ-MWT
9	Wellington	Greater Wellington Regional Council	Chris Laidlaw[22]	Wellington	North	8,049	496,900	NZ-WGN
10	Tasman ^(1)	Tasman District Council	Richard Kempthorne	Richmond	South	9,616	49,500	NZ-TAS
11	Nelson ^(1)	Nelson City Council	Rachel Reese	Nelson	South	424	49,900	NZ-NSN
12	Marlborough ^(1)	Marlborough District Council	Alistair Sowman	Blenheim	South	10,458	45,300	NZ-MBH
13	West Coast	West Coast Regional Council	Ross Scarlett	Greymouth	South	23,244	32,700	NZ-WTC
14	Canterbury	Canterbury Regional Council	Margaret Bazley	Christchurch	South	44,508	586,500	NZ-CAN
15	Otago	Otago Regional Council	Stephen Woodhead	Dunedin	South	31,209	215,100	NZ-OTA
16	Southland	Southland Regional Council	Ali Timms	Invercargill	South	31,195	97,300	NZ-STL
(1) These regions have unitary authorities. (2) The Gisborne Region is still widely but unofficially known by its former name (East Cape) or as 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. The Kermadecs and the subantarctic islands are inhabited only by a small number of Department of Conservation staff, and the Conservation Minister is empowered to act as a regional council for these islands.

Governance

Regional councils are popularly elected every three years in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001.^[23] Councils may use a first past the post or single transferable vote system. The chairperson is selected by the elected council members.^[24]

Distance table

New Zealand Distance Table

Auckland
1079	Christchurch
1432	361	Dunedin
480	959	1313	Gisborne
124	953	1307	374	Hamilton
1637	566	205	1516	1514	Invercargill
412	728	1082	214	289	1287	Napier-Hastings
875	415	770	755	753	974	524	Nelson
361	786	1140	564	241	1345	389	556	New Plymouth
517	574	928	388	394	1133	157	344	233	Palmerston North
1555	484	282	1435	1432	187	1204	809	1262	1050	Queenstown
228	885	1240	274	106	1444	219	656	294	324	1361	Rotorua
211	954	1308	273	105	1513	288	724	311	392	1430	63	Tauranga
646	440	794	526	523	999	300	211	353	141	916	452	521	Wellington
445	627	981	460	324	1185	229	397	186	73	1102	301	367	193	Whanganui
158	1233	1587	638	281	1792	569	1003	518	671	1709	385	357	799	602	Whangarei

Distance in kilometres from the corresponding city on the X-Y axis.

Predecessors of current structure

Auckland

The Auckland Regional 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.^[25]

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 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 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.^[7]

List of united councils

Region	United council formed	Rates levy (1982/83)
Northland	January 1980	$118,000
Thames Valley	July 1980	$46,000
Waikato	October 1980	$36,000
Bay of Plenty	August 1979	$17,000
Tongariro	November 1979	$50,000
East Cape	August 1979	$16,000
Hawkes Bay	December 1983	–
Taranaki	February 1979	$60,000
Wanganui	May 1979	$81,000
Wairarapa	November 1978	$33,000
Manawatu	May 1981	0
Horowhenua	June 1980	$47,000
Nelson Bays	November 1978	$84,000
Marlborough	December 1978	$30,000
Canterbury	May 1979	$605,000
West Coast	November 1978	$32,000
Aorangi	1983	–
Coastal / North Otago	April 1983	–
Clutha / Central Otago	November 1980	$33,000
Southland	May 1979	$88,000

Source: Summary of the Functions and Activities of United Councils. Dept of Internal Affairs, 1984.

See also

• Provinces of New Zealand
• Territorial authorities of New Zealand
• Local Government New Zealand
• List of towns in New Zealand

References

1. "2013 Census definitions and forms: U". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
2. "Glossary". localcouncils.govt.nz. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
3. Chatham Islands Council Act 1995, Parliament of New Zealand, 1995, Statute No 041, Commenced: 1 November 1995, retrieved 4 February 2008.
4. "Local Government Act 2002 No 84 - Interpretation". Retrieved 2008-07-17.
5. "Local Government Act 2002 No 84 - Part 1, Schedule 2". Retrieved 2008-07-17.
6. Relationship between the Local Government Act and the RMA Quality Planning The RMA Resource, retrieved 11 October 2007.
7. Bush, Graham (1995). Local Government & Politics in New Zealand (2nd ed.). Auckland University Press. ISBN 1-86940-126-3.
8. New Zealand Historical Atlas – McKinnon, Malcolm (Editor); David Bateman, 1997, Plate 98
9. Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(a)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
10. Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(b)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
11. Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(c)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
12. Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(d)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
13. Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(e)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
14. Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(f)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
15. Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(fa)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991. NB this is a new paragraph added in 2005.
16. Resource Management Act, Section 30(1)(g)- Parliament of New Zealand, 1991
17. Harris, R. (2004) 'Local government and development legislation', Chapter 3G, Handbook of Environmental Law, Editor Harris, R., ISBN 0-9597851-8-3, Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, Wellington 2004, page 130.
18. Sections 135, 142, 150, and 154 Building Act 2004, Parliament of New Zealand.
19. Living Density: Table 1, Housing Statistics, Statistics New Zealand. Accessed 25 January 2009. Areas are based on 2001 boundaries. Water bodies greater than 15 hectares are excluded.
20. "Subnational Population Estimates: At 30 June 2015 (provisional)". Statistics New Zealand. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015. For urban areas, "Infoshare; Group: Population Estimates - DPE; Table: Estimated Resident Population for Urban Areas, at 30 June (1996+) (Annual-Jun)". Statistics New Zealand. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
21. http://www.nrc.govt.nz/Your-Council/Council-business/Your-Councillors/
22. Forbes, Michael (30 June 2015). "Chris Laidlaw elected new GWRC chairman, rates set at 9.8 per cent". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
23. Local Government Act 2002, s41(1)(a), Parliament of New Zealand.
24. Local Government Act 2002, s41(1)(b), Parliament of New Zealand.
25. Parks Network Plan (PDF). Greater Wellington Regional Council. 2011. p. 10. Retrieved 3 May 2014.

External links

• Regional Councils of New Zealand at the Department of Internal Affairs