Draft reorganisation scheme announced by Local Government Commission

On Thursday 16 June 2011 the Local Government Commission issued a Draft Reorganisation Scheme for the union of Nelson City and Tasman District. This follows a process that commenced in June 2010 with the presentation of a petition of electors from Tasman District and Nelson City Council to the Commission and has subsequently included the calling, hearing and considering of submissions and the commissioning of reports on finance and services, and communities of interest and planning.

Local Government Commission Documents:

The Commissions Draft Reorganisation Scheme, Decision on proposal for the union of Nelson City and Tasman District, Background report on communities of interest and Report on financial and services delivery matters are available on Commission’s website www.lgc.govt.nz.

Procedure from here:

The procedure from now on is as follows:

  • The draft reorganisation scheme is open to submissions until Friday, 19 August 2011.
  • The Commission meets with those who make submissions.
  • The Commission considers the submissions and makes any other investigations or inquiries it considers necessary.
  • The Commission decides whether to:
  • issue a final reorganisation scheme based on the draft reorganisation scheme, or
  • issue a final reorganisation scheme based on modifications to the draft reorganisation scheme, or
  • not issue a final reorganisation scheme if it considers that the proposal does not meet the Local Government Act’s criteria.
  • If the Commission issues a final reorganisation scheme, then polls of electors in Nelson City and Tasman District will be held.
  • For the final reorganisation scheme to be successful more than 50% of the votes cast by the electors in each poll must be in favour of the proposal.
  • If both polls are in favour of the proposal:
  • The final reorganisation scheme is implemented by Order in Council.
  • It is proposed that the new Council and Community Boards will be elected on 13 October 2012.

What does this mean for staff and applicants for Council jobs:

For Staff it’s “Business as usual” – we still have ratepayers and residents that deserve the best of service. There are two major steps that the Draft Reorganisation Scheme must go through before the amalgamation of Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council proceeds –

  • a round of public consultation that results in the Local Government Commission deciding that the scheme, as it is, or varied, proceeds as a final reorganisation scheme; and
  • a poll of both Tasman District and Nelson City Council electors results in more than 50% of the votes cast by electors in each of the polls being in favour of the reorganisation.

The outcome of these events is as yet unknown and individuals need to make their own assessment of the likelihood and potential effect on them, if any.

This document was prepared by Stephen Gully, Manager Human Resources, Nelson City Council on 17 June 2011.

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