Taupō District Council has set its arrangements for local representation and how elected members connect with communities across the district.
However, there was a definite disconnect between councillors in reaching the final decision.
At its meeting on Tuesday (March 31), the council formally established representative group committees for the Mangakino-Pouakani and Tongariro areas and confirmed a new approach to community engagement through Councillor Connect forums in other parts of the district.
The debate over delegated authority
The one-and-a-half-hour debate several times traversed the idea that public feedback in the Tūrangi-Tongariro and Mangakino-Pouakani Wards called for their groups to remain as they had been operating, with a certain amount of delegated authority. That authority has now been vested in the TDC's regulatory committee.
Councillor Rachel Cameron said the regulatory committee had been set up to provide consistency in decision-making and the delegations were now vested in that committee for that reason.
She didn't think that should be diluted by going to community members "who may or may not understand our policies around the decision making. So, I am advocating we take those delegations and leave them with the regulatory committee."
