Taupō District Council to request non-elected member voting exceptions
Taupō District Council will write to central government asking for non-elected members on three of its eight committees to retain their voting rights.
Council appoints external people to its committees to bring relevant community, business or specialist knowledge and perspectives into decision-making. This helps ensure committees benefit from expertise and experience beyond elected members alone.
Under recent changes to the Local Government Act, appointed members of council committees will no longer be able to vote from 18 March 2027. The change affects 19 non-elected members across eight council committees, including independent chairpersons and business, community, marae and Māori representatives. Councils can however apply for exceptions for particular members.
At the council’s monthly meeting on Tuesday 27 October, councillors voted 8-5 to seek voting exceptions for the Taupō District Water Services Committee, Risk and Assurance Committee and Tūrangi Co-Governance Committee.
Both the Taupō District Water Services Committee and Risk and Assurance committees have independent external chairpersons, appointed for their expertise and leadership in the specific areas the committees cover. Having an independent Risk and Assurance Committee chairperson is a best practice recommendation of the Controller and Auditor-General. Council’s Taupō District Water Services Committee also has an independent chairperson to provide professional, non-political oversight, as recommended by the Department of Internal Affairs.
The Tūrangi Co-Governance Committee is different because it is a partnership between council and Ngāti Tūrangitukua, with equal representation from both. Established through the Mana Whakahono-ā-Rohe agreement, it recognises the mana of Ngāti Tūrangituka over its rohe by providing for shared decision-making on matters affecting Tūrangi.
Taupō District Deputy Mayor Kevin Taylor, who voted in favour of the three committees’ non-elected members retaining their voting rights, says it makes sense to hold onto the technical and cultural input that they offer.
"These external members bring valuable specialist expertise, community knowledge and perspectives that complement those of elected members. Seeking these exceptions recognises the particular role they play on these three committees.”
Council will not seek exceptions for the non-elected members on its remaining committees. These include the members appointed to the Taupō Airport Authority Committee, the Tongariro and Mangakino-Pouakani Representative Group Committees and the Taupō/Taupō East Rural and Tūrangi/Tongairro Community Grant Distribution Committees.
Council must write to Local Government Minister Simon Watts before 18 November formally requesting the exceptions.
