Territorial authorities of New Zealand

Territorial authorities is the formal term for the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 74 territorial authorities: 16 city councils, 58 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. Five territorial authorities (Nelson City Council, Gisborne, Tasman and Marlborough District Councils and the Chatham Islands Council) also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. Territorial authority districts are not subdivisions of regions, and some of them fall within more than one region. Franklin District Council, for example, falls within both the Auckland and Waikato regions. Regional Council areas are based on catchment areas, whereas territorial authorities are based on an area with sufficient ratepayers and community representation. Regional councils are responsible for the administration of environmental and transport matters and 74 territorial authorities that administer roading, sewerage, building consents, and other local matters.

Territorial Authorities

^* With the exception of Hutt City Council and Chatham Islands Council, each territorial authority is named after the area it covers, with the words "City Council" or "District Council" added. The Hutt City Council covers Lower Hutt (Lower Hutt City (Name of City Council) Act 1991); the Chatham Islands Council covers a district known as Chatham Islands Territory, and has no encompassing region (Chatham Islands Council Act 1995).

Offshore islands

There are eight islands where the Minister of Local Government is the territorial authority, three of which have a 'significant population and/or permanent buildings and structures.'

Changes since 1989

Since the 1989 reorganisations conducted by the Local Government Commission, there have been few major reorganisations or status changes in local government. Incomplete list:

1991: Invercargill re-proclaimed a city.
1992: (by a Local Government Amendment Act) Abolition of Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council - Kaikoura was transferred to the Canterbury region, and Nelson city and Tasman and Marlborough districts became unitary authorities.
1995: Chatham Islands County dissolved and reconstituted as a district council with regional council functions by a special Act of Parliament.
2004: Tauranga became a city again on 1 March.

Reports on completed reorganisation proposals since 1999 are available on the Local Government Commission's site (link below).

2006: Banks Peninsula District merged into Christchurch City as a result of 2005 referendum

External links and sources

Local Councils website (maintained by the Department of Internal Affairs)
Local Government Services at the Department of Internal Affairs site (includes the Local Government Directory at the bottom of the page)
- Administration of Offshore Islands
Local Government Commission site
Local Government Online Limited site (portal site owned by the Society of Local Government Managers and the Association of Local Government Information Management)
Local Government New Zealand region and district boundaries - North Island
Local Government New Zealand region and district boundaries - South Island
Statistics New Zealand clickable map for local body and area unit detail over all NZ

Lists of subnational entities | Territorial Authorities of New Zealand

Distrikte in Neuseeland | Subdivisións de Nova Celandia | Subdivisões da Nova Zelândia

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