The Governance and Strategy Activity is the activity that has the overall responsibility for the operation of the democratic aspects of the district and helping guide its strategic direction. It also includes the Economic Development and Maˉori Engagement activities of Council.

The Elected Members of the community, combined with the technical expertise of staff, provide the direction and objectives of Council’s activities in the district.

Governance is not only a legal requirement, but a commitment to delivering value for money and prudent management that contributes to all community outcomes.

Activity: Governance

The Governance activity includes the democratic arm of Council as the elected body, together with 3 community boards. It also includes their support functions.

It provides the primary legal and other support functions to the Mayor and Elected Members together with the General Management Team. 

The Elected Members of the district are the community’s representatives; making decisions on behalf of and in the interests of the community.

Democracy services oversee the election and induction processes, and then provide support to Elected Members throughout the triennium. Local Government impacts everyone, so it is important for Council to communicate with people about what it does, what is planned, and how it may impact the district.

Local Government administers over 150 legislative Acts, regulations and rules. Legal Services ensure Council administers these correctly.

Key facts 

Council provides the following Governance Services to the District Council organisation and to the Elected Members of the Far North:

• Advisory Services. (i.e. preparation of formal meeting agendas and meeting management).
• Communications (media releases, ratepayer newsletters, etc). 
• Legal Advisory Services.

Our major achievements in 2012/13 

Highlights of our progress during 2012/13 include:

• Increased usage of online consultation tool “Objective Online” for community engagement across a number of projects including District Plan changes, LTP special consultation. The major improvement is building a community profile for targeted questions and responses which Council has not had before.
• A monthly newsletter about Council and community board projects, decisions and policy changes in local newspapers.
• Generally favourable news coverage of Council in local newspapers.
• A significant increase in the number of people following Council on Facebook. This has allowed us to reach a different audience in a cost-effective way.  Some media releases Council has posted on Facebook have been seen by more than 1000 people in just a few days. 
• A more customer-oriented Far North District Guide.  Council refocused this year’s guide, which is published by The Northern Advocate and paid for by advertisers, on key Council services instead of trying to provide an A-Z guide of everything Council does.
• A regular staff newsletter called Team Talk which highlights progress on strategic projects and celebrates innovative or enabling initiatives by staff.

Challenges we experienced 

• A proposal to close Ninety Mile Beach (Te Oneroa-a-Tˉohˉe) to allow the BBC programme “Top Gear” to film was not well communicated by Council, and some Iwi complained they were not consulted about the road closure.  Council staff and Elected Members met with Iwi leaders and agreed to improve the way Council engages with Iwi. 

Plans for the next 12 months 

• Conducting the 2013 local body election and inaugurating the new Council and community boards.
• Progressing an application for Unitary Authority status.