7.    Key Council Policies and Plans

 

7.1.    The Consultation Policy

The Local Government Act 2002 sets out certain consultation principles and a procedure that local authorities must follow when making certain decisions. They are designed to raise community awareness of issues and activities the Council is involved in, as well as to strengthen the relationships between the Council, the community and other community focused agencies.

Council has adopted a policy for community consultation. In summary the principles of consultation include that:

• the process should allow for informed input from the community;
• the community should be adequately informed of the purpose of the consultation they are involved in;
• the process should encourage input from the entire community who have an interest in the issue;
• the process should be appropriate for the communities involved as preferred by the communities;
• the views presented to Council should be received with an open mind, with decisions made in an open and transparent manner.

When considering the principles, Council may consider the following:

• the extent to which Council are aware of the current views and preferences of the community affected by the issue;
• the nature and significance of the issue;
• the circumstances where there may be good reason for withholding information;
• the costs and benefits of any consultation process or procedure.

The benefits of good consultation include:
Leadership:

• Placing Council in a key role in the development and implementation of community outcomes; and
• Modelling to the community the nature and benefits of meaningful co-operation and discussion.

Relationships:

• Building positive relationships between Council, community stakeholders and the wider community; and
• Recognising the importance of relationships and collaboration between communities, agencies and local government.

Communication:

• Providing information to Council and their partners about the needs, issues and perceptions of the community;
• Keeping the community informed about the activities and functions of Council and the changing nature and needs of the community; and
• Enabling Council to engage with new solutions and ways of addressing issues through open engagement and debate.

Decision Making:

• Assisting the Council to make conscious and transparent decisions that recognise and consider community needs and aspirations;
• Encouraging community ownership and support of decisions; and
• Increasing the understanding between the Council and the community of each other's needs.

Quality Services:

• Supporting the Council in making more robust and informed decisions;
• Providing Council with indicators of the impact of their policies and initiatives on the wider community; and
• Achieving better and more appropriate services.

Council aims to:

• identify barriers to community participation and develop appropriate consultation processes in collaboration with community stakeholders;
• work with Maori to identify and implement appropriate and effective consultation strategies for engaging Maori stakeholders;
• ensure that relevant members of the community are aware of the purpose of the consultation, the scope of decisions to be made, and possible consequences of any decisions discussed;
• ensure that members of the community and other interested stakeholders are provided with reasonable time and opportunity to consider and respond to any consultation undertaken; and
• develop innovative approaches for utilising feedback obtained through community consultation.

A copy of the Consultation Policy is available on request. This policy has been largely replaced by the Significance and engagement policy, which is detailed below.

Significance and Engagement policy

Council is committed to engaging with the community to ensure our decisions reflect the aims of the community. Council’s “Significance and Engagement Policy” helps Council to determine what the really important (‘significant’) issues are to the community, and how we will go about involving the community in making those decisions (‘engagement’).

This policy outlines actions and decisions on which the Council has identified as necessary for them to engage with the community. It is recognised that situations may arise where the Council wishes to engage with the community where it is not required as a matter of significance, but instead, reflects a spirit of community partnership and co-operation.

The Significance and Engagement Policy provides that we will take into account the following matters when assessing the degree of significance of proposals and decisions, and the appropriate level of engagement:

• there is a legal requirement to engage with the community;
• the level of financial consequences of the proposal or decision;
• whether the proposal or decision will affect a large portion of the community;
• the likely impact on present and future interests of the community;
• recognising Māori culture values and their relationship to land and water through whakapapa;
• whether the proposal affects the level of service of a Significant Activity;
• whether community interest is high;
• whether the likely consequences are controversial;
• whether community views are already known, including the community’s preferences about the form of engagement;
• the form of engagement used in the past for similar proposals and decisions.