From 1 July 2025 we're changing to a fees up front payment system. This means that payment is made at the application stage and when we have granted the application we can issue it to the customer at the same time - speeding up the turnaround time on building consents. Any additional processing time (recoverable on an actual and reasonable basis, as per the Building Act 2004 s281B) and planning/engineering approval charges (if applicable) will be invoiced at the end of processing.
9. Council’s Meeting Process
9.2. Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA)
One of the purposes of Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act is to promote the open and public transaction of business at meetings by Elected Members and Council staff and encourage public participation in local government. LGOIMA applies to all formal meetings of Council including committee meetings.
LGOIMA provides that (subject to some statutory exceptions):
- meetings must be publicly notified within a certain timeframe;
- agendas must be publicly available;
- every meeting is open to the public, including the news media;
- members of the public do not have speaking rights unless prior arrangements are made with Council;
- minutes of meetings must be publicly available;
- resolutions of extraordinary meetings must be publicly notified;
- the publication of any defamatory matter included in the agenda or in the further statements or particulars or in the minutes is be privileged; and
- any oral statement made at any meeting is be privileged.
LGOIMA contains a list of the circumstances where Council may consider items on its agenda with the public excluded; this provision also applies to the requirement to make meeting minutes publicly available.
Where the public are excluded, the reason for passing the resolution should be stated in brief. The resolution may allow for one or more persons to remain (e.g. officers and legal adviser), provided it states that the knowledge possessed by those persons will be of assistance to the local authority.
The grounds for excluding the public from a meeting are similar to those for withholding official information, these relate to protection of personal privacy, professionally privileged or commercially sensitive information and the maintenance of public health, safety and order. There are two exceptions, firstly the ground of maintaining free and frank expression of opinions by members does not apply to enable exclusion of the public from meetings. Secondly the public may be excluded where a local authority wishes to deliberate in private on a decision against which a right of appeal lies to any court or tribunal.
The Mayor or committee chairperson is responsible for maintaining order at meetings and powers are given to that person to maintain order at the meeting, and to exclude a person causing prejudice to the orderly conduct of the meeting.
