Regional Collaboration
Please note that this information was provided for the 2022 Local Government Elections and may now be out of date.
Boundaries are only lines on a map. As the Waikato region is growing, people are moving around more than before, working in one district, living in another, and playing sports or doing their shopping in a third district. Having a coordinated approach to planning and investment can have real benefits by ensuring there is consistency and alignment across boundaries.
What we currently do
- Waikato Regional Council’s Joint Committees - such as Waikato Regional Transport Committee and Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Joint Committee
- Waikato Regional Airport Limited and Hamilton & Waikato Tourism
- Co-Lab (Waikato Local Authorities Shared Services) - we support and fund various shared service initiatives
- Te Waka (Waikato Regional Economic Development Agency) - we support and fund Te Waka
- Waikato Plan - we are represented on the Leadership Committee
- Future Proof Council joined FutureProof in November 2021
Waikato Regional Airport Limited and Co-Lab are Council Controlled Organisations (CCO). You can read their latest Statement of Intent and Annual Reports here
What's on the horizon?
Challenges
- RMA Reform – The draft Spatial Planning Act requires the development of a Regional Spatial Plan to replace the individual district plans.
- 3 Waters Reform will see the establishment of four new entities, with our district becoming part of Entity B which stretches from the Bombay Hills in the North to Taranaki in the South.
Opportunities
- Collaboration on planning and policy development
- Economies of scale through partnering on procurement initiatives and major contracts
- Partnership – many of our customers have interactions with multiple agencies. There’s an opportunity to improve the customer journey through partnerships and collaboration
Questions to consider
- How can we ensure our local communities’ voices are heard at the regional level?
- How can we leverage off some of the regional initiatives to improve the community wellbeing outcomes for our district?
