Regions of New Zealand

New Zealand is divided into sixteen regions for local government purposes. Eleven are administered by regional councils, and five are administered by unitary authorities, which are territorial authorities that also perform the functions of regional councils.^[1][2] Although technically a district but classed as a territory, The Chatham Islands Territory is outside the regions^[3] and is administered by the Chatham Islands Council, which is similar to a unitary authority, authorised under its own legislation.^[4]

Regions
Location	New Zealand
Created	1 November 1989
Number	16 (as of 1 July 1992)
Populations	34,300 (West Coast) – 1,797,300 (Auckland)
Areas	450 km2 (172 sq mi) (Nelson) – 45,350 km2 (17,508 sq mi) (Canterbury)
Government	Regional councils and unitary authorities

Current regions

History and statutory basis

The regional councils are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002,^[5] along with reference to the Gazette notices that established them in 1989.^[6] The act requires regional councils to promote sustainable development – the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities.^[7]

The current regions and most of their councils came into being through a local government reform in 1989 that took place under the Local Government Act 1974. The regional councils replaced the more than 700 ad hoc bodies that had been formed in the preceding century – roads boards, catchment boards, drainage boards, pest control boards, harbour boards, domain and reserve boards.^[8] In addition they took over some roles that had previously been performed by county councils.

The boundaries of the regions are based largely on drainage basins.^[9] This anticipated the responsibilities of the Resource Management Act 1991.^[10] Most regional boundaries conform with territorial authority boundaries but there are a number of exceptions. An example is Taupo District, split between four regions, although most of its area is in the Waikato region.^[11] There is often a high degree of co-operation between regional and territorial councils as they have complementary roles.

Resource management functions

Regional councils have these specific functions under the Resource Management Act 1991:

• Planning for the integrated management of natural and physical resources^[12]
• Planning for regionally significant land uses^[13]
• Soil conservation, water quality and quantity, water ecosystems, natural hazards, hazardous substances ^[14]
• Controlling the coastal marine area^[15]
• Controlling via resource consents the taking, use, damming or diverting of water ^[16]
• Controlling via resource consents the discharge of contaminants^[17]
• Establishing of rules in a regional plan to allocate water^[18]
• Controlling via resource consents the beds of waterbodies^[19]

Other functions

Regional councils have responsibility for functions under other statutes;^[20]

• flood and river control under the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941,
• reserves vested in regional councils under the Reserves Act 1977,
• civil defence under the Civil Defence Act 1990,
• regional pest management under the Biosecurity Act 1993,
• harbour and water navigation under the Maritime Transport Act 1994,
• hazardous waste under the HSNO Act 1996,
• public transport planning under the Land Transport Act 1998, and
• supervision of the safety of dams under the Building Act 2004.^[21]

List of regions

	Name (name in Māori if different)	Regional council	Seats	Council seat	Island	Land area[22]		Population[23]	Density		ISO 3166-2 Code
						km2	sq mi		per km2	per sq mi
1	Northland Te Tai Tokerau	Northland Regional Council	9	Whangārei	North	12,504	4,828	200,800	16.06	41.6	NZ-NTL
2	Auckland[a] Tāmaki-makau-rau	Auckland Council	21	Auckland	North	4,941	1,908	1,797,300	363.75	942.1	NZ-AUK
3	Waikato	Waikato Regional Council	14	Hamilton	North	23,900	9,200	527,600	22.08	57.2	NZ-WKO
4	Bay of Plenty Te Moana-a-Toi	Bay of Plenty Regional Council	14	Whakatāne	North	12,072	4,661	351,700	29.13	75.4	NZ-BOP
5	Gisborne[a][b] Te Tairāwhiti	Gisborne District Council	14	Gisborne	North	8,385	3,237	53,000	6.32	16.4	NZ-GIS
6	Hawke's Bay Te Matau-a-Māui	Hawke's Bay Regional Council	11	Napier	North	14,138	5,459	181,100	12.81	33.2	NZ-HKB
7	Taranaki	Taranaki Regional Council	11	Stratford	North	7,254	2,801	130,500	17.99	46.6	NZ-TKI
8	Manawatū-Whanganui	Horizons Regional Council	12	Palmerston North	North	22,221	8,580	261,100	11.75	30.4	NZ-MWT
9	Wellington Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara	Greater Wellington Regional Council	13	Wellington	North	8,049	3,108	541,500	67.28	174.3	NZ-WGN
10	Tasman[a] Te Tai-o-Aorere	Tasman District Council	13	Richmond	South	9,616	3,713	59,800	6.22	16.1	NZ-TAS
11	Nelson[a] Whakatū	Nelson City Council	13	Nelson	South	422	163	54,400	128.91	333.9	NZ-NSN
12	Marlborough[a] Te Tauihu-o-te-waka	Marlborough District Council	14	Blenheim	South	10,458	4,038	51,600	4.92	12.7	NZ-MBH
13	West Coast Te Tai Poutini	West Coast Regional Council	7	Greymouth	South	23,245	8,975	34,300	1.48	3.8	NZ-WTC
14	Canterbury Waitaha	Environment Canterbury	14	Christchurch	South	44,504	17,183	687,100	15.44	40.0	NZ-CAN
15	Otago Ōtākou	Otago Regional Council	12	Dunedin	South	31,186	12,041	251,300	8.06	20.9	NZ-OTA
16	Southland Murihiku	Southland Regional Council	12	Invercargill	South	31,196	12,045	103,800	3.33	8.6	NZ-STL

Notes

1. These regions have unitary authorities.
2. The Gisborne Region is still widely but unofficially known by its former name East Cape or as the East Coast.^[24]

Areas outside regional boundaries

Regions (indicated by colour) displayed over territorial authorities

Some outlying islands are not included within regional boundaries. The Chatham Islands is not in a region, although its council has some of the powers of a regional council under the Resource Management Act 1991. The Kermadecs and the subantarctic islands are inhabited only by a small number of Department of Conservation staff and there is no regional council for these islands.^[25]

Governance

Regional councils are popularly elected every three years in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001.^[26] Councils may use a first-past-the-post or single transferable vote system. The chairperson is selected by the elected council members.^[27]

Finances

Regional councils are funded through property rates, subsidies from central government, income from trading, and user charges for certain public services. Councils set their own levels of rates,^[28] though the mechanism for collecting it usually involves channelling through the territorial authority collection system.

Regional chairs

List of current regional chairs

Region	Chair		Affiliation	Elected
Northland		Penny Smart	Independent
Waikato		Pamela Storey	Independent
Bay of Plenty		Doug Leeder	Independent
Hawke's Bay		Hinewai Ormsby	Independent
Taranaki		Charlotte Littlewood	Independent
Manawatū-Whanganui		Rachel Keedwell	Independent
Greater Wellington		Daran Ponter	Labour
West Coast		Peter Haddock	Independent
Canterbury		Craig Pauling	Independent
Otago		Gretchen Robertson	Independent
Southland		Nicol Horrell	Independent

Predecessors of current structure

Auckland

The Auckland Regional Council (now the Auckland Council) was preceded by the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA), which existed from 1963 to 1989.^[29]

Wellington

The Wellington Regional Council was first formed in 1980 from a merger of the Wellington Regional Planning Authority and the Wellington Regional Water Board.^[30]

United councils

In 1978, legislation was passed enabling the formation of regions that had united councils. Twenty regions were designated, excluding the Auckland and Wellington areas. For most of the country this was the first time there had been a regional level of government since the abolition of provinces in 1876. Councillors were not elected directly – they were appointed from the various territorial local authorities (TLAs) within the region.

The only responsibilities mandated by the legislation were coordination of civil defence and development of a regional plan, although the constituent TLAs could agree on additional responsibilities at the point of formation of each united council. For example, in a number of cases the united council took responsibility for the allocation of revenue from regional petrol taxes.

The united councils were based in the facilities of the largest TLA in the region and largely dependent on the TLAs for resources. They were allowed to levy rates but in most cases had minimal operating budgets (below $100,000 per annum). The notable exception was Canterbury, where the united council had a number of responsibilities. Only one united council undertook any direct operational activity – a forestry project in Wanganui.^[8]

List of united councils

Region	When formed	Levy rates (1982/83)
Northland	January 1980	$118,000
Thames Valley	July 1980	$46,000
Waikato	October 1980	$36,000
Bay of Plenty	August 1979	$17,000
Tongariro	November 1979	$50,000
East Cape	August 1979	$16,000
Hawke's Bay	December 1983	–
Taranaki	February 1979	$60,000
Wanganui	May 1979	$81,000
Wairarapa	November 1978	$33,000
Manawatu	May 1981	0
Horowhenua	June 1980	$47,000
Nelson Bays	November 1978	$84,000
Marlborough	December 1978	$30,000
Canterbury	May 1979	$605,000
West Coast	November 1978	$32,000
Aorangi	1983	–
Coastal / North Otago	April 1983	–
Clutha / Central Otago	November 1980	$33,000
Southland	May 1979	$88,000

Source: Summary of the Functions and Activities of United Councils. Dept of Internal Affairs, 1984.

See also

• List of regions of New Zealand by Human Development Index
• Local Government New Zealand
• Provinces of New Zealand