April 10, 2018
Four well beings back on local government agenda
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta is moving to restore the ability of local councils to address the well being of their communities.
Previous National-led administrations narrowed the statutory purpose of local government to focus only on service delivery.
The Local Government (Community Well-being) Amendment Bill, which gets its first reading this week, will give councils back the ability to collect development contributions to fund the increased demand for community facilities such as libraries, sports grounds and swimming pools that result from such developments.
Ms Mahuta says restoring the so called four well-beings back into the Local Government Act will acknowledge the valuable role local leadership has to promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of citizens and communities.
A second bill addresses the design, trial and analysis of new voting methods for local elections, and will make it easier to trial electronic voting, including online voting.
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