Auckland Council

The Auckland Council came into being in 2010 as a result of the amalgamation of eight local authorities in the Auckland Region:  Auckland Regional, Auckland, Manukau, Waitakere and North Shore city councils and Rodney, Franklin and Papakura district councils.

The council has two complementary and non-hierarchical decision-making parts – the governing body (which consists of a mayor elected by all Aucklanders and 20 councillors) and 21 local boards.The governing body focuses on big picture, region wide strategic decisions. Local boards represent their communities, making decisions on local issues, activities and facilities.

The population of the Auckland region is the largest and most ethnically diverse in the whole of New Zealand. 

Projects 2011
Transition

The process of transition from the previous structures will continue through 2011, with existing arrangements and engagements with Auckland’s diverse communities being carried over as appropriate and new relationships being developed between communities and the various sections of the council and local boards.

Advisory Boards

An Independent Maori Statutory Board has been established, along with Pacific and Ethnic Advisory Panels, and people have been appointed to them. They will be supported to operate according to their mandate in 2011.

Auckland Plan

The council is required to develop the Auckland Plan, which will be a bold 30-year vision and strategy for Auckland underpinned by the Mayor’s vision of making it the world’s most liveable city. This is the first plan of its type in New Zealand. Goals are for the plan to:

  • Be a combined agreement with the people of Auckland, business and government
  • Have clear investment priorities that work with the private and institutional investor; an investment prospectus that will guide public finances and allow assets to be used to secure investment.

It is intended that the Auckland Plan will be adopted by the end of 2011 in order to give a basis for the 2012-2022 Long Term Plan and help inter-related projects and programmes get under way promptly.

Auckland Unleashed is the title of the discussion document that sets out the ideas and initial proposals that will go towards creating the draft Auckland Plan, as well as asking questions as to how the Auckland Plan can help Auckland become the best place in the world to live. It is open to anyone to provide comments, all of which will be carefully considered during the writing of the draft plan.

The three strategic priorities proposed for people and quality of life are:

(i) PUTTING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEO PLE FIRST: A city in which every child can reach his/her potential is a city that embraces the idea that we are all guardians of our young people. We believe that building the interests, rights and well-being of children and young people into all of Council’s activities is the foundation of our future successes.

(ii) REDUCING INEQUALITIES: Insufficient income has immediate consequences, from poor housing and overcrowding to limited transport options, lower educational attainment and poor health. The Mayor and Councillors strongly believe that at the heart of the objective to improve Auckland’s quality of life, there must be an appropriate focus in the Auckland Plan on addressing housing, employment and income issues.

(iii) STRENGTHENING AND CONNECTING COMMUNITIES: We can undertake a wide range of actions and programmes to strengthen and support a sense of community. This could include: settlement and integration of migrants; connecting communities socially, physically, culturally and economically; changing attitudes and tackling discrimination.

Acknowledging Muslim Male Leaders

Settling In in collobration with Auckland Council and NZ Police will host an event to acknowledge Muslim Male leaders on 4 November in Auckland. The event builds on Ratna Osman’s (Sisters In Islam) visit to New Zealand earlier in July which focused on Muslim Women’s Rights As Human Rights. There are a number of Muslim male community leaders, mostly from refugee background, who have been working tirelessly to advocate for rights of Muslim women in the area of family violence in the wider Muslim/NZ community. These men continue to support Muslim women who are at the fore front of providing services for family violence and social issues,  youth initiatives, awareness raising and advocacy for Muslim women rights.  The event is to be held during Islam Awareness Week. Please RSVP to  Monica Sharma.

 

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