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About New Plymouth District Council

The Council manages the environmental, social, economic and cultural well-being of New Plymouth District.

Through consultation with the community the Council sets policies and bylaws which are regularly monitored and reviewed according to need, community feedback and central government regulations.

Operating under the Local Government Act 2002 (which provides the general framework and powers a council has), the Council makes decisions for and on behalf of the local community and sets the district’s overall strategic direction.

Check out a short video below about New Plymouth District and the Council or watch a longer version on our YouTube channel.

Strategic Intent

New Plymouth District will offer an attractive living environment that compares favourably nationally and internationally.

It will do this to attract new, while retaining its existing, high quality people and the labour force it needs to grow and prosper.
The unifying purpose of all New Plymouth District Council services lies in creating an attractive living environment.

New Plymouth District Council will invest in, maintain, assist and encourage others to provide those diverse facilities, infrastructure and services that are needed to make New Plymouth District nationally and internationally a location of choice.

About the Council

Every three years the Mayor, 14 councillors and 16 community board members are elected by the district’s enrolled voters. The full Council, sub-committees and standing committees meet on a six-weekly cycle.

The Policy and Monitoring standing committees have delegated authority from the Council to make final decisions on certain matters, and they make recommendations to the council on all others. The four community boards – Clifton, Waitara, Inglewood and Kaitake – as well as the subcommittees and working parties can make recommendations to the standing committees for them to consider.

Community Board Ward Map (One page 23KB PDF)

The third standing committee, the Hearings Commission, is a quasi-judicial body that meets whenever a formal hearing is required – for instance, to hear submissions on a publicly notified resource consent application.

The Chief Executive and approximately 460 full time equivalent staff provide advice and information to the elected members and the public, implement Council decisions and manage the district’s day-to-day operations.

This includes everything from maintaining more than 280 parks and reserves, waste water management and issuing consents and permits, through to providing libraries and other recreational services and ensuring the district’s eateries meet health standards.

Growth and plans for New Plymouth District

We set out plans for the District in the District Plan and the Community Plan (also called the Long-Term Council Community Plan or LTCCP).

The District Plan includes objectives, policies and rules that manage the adverse effects of activities on the environment with a focus on land use and subdivision activities.

The Community Plan is a 10-year plan for the district, reflecting what type of community the district’s residents would like to live in, and showing how we and other organisations will work to build that community. It is reviewed every three years.

Read the plans and reports on the Council Documents page.

Council documents Return to top

How we are funded

Our annual operating revenue for 2011/12 is more than $173 million and is raised from a number of places –

Source	Amount 11/12 (millions)
General rates	$41.04m
Uniform annual charges	$22.72m
Fees and charges	$29.69m
Interest and dividends	$23.53m
Borrowings	$17.99m
Grants and subsidies	$14.27m
Reserve funds and accounts (including asset sales)	$24.09m
TOTAL	$173.33 million

Operating expenditure

	Budget 11/12 (millions)
Cultural Services	$14.90m
Community Development	$6.50m
Recreation and Events	$11.97m
Parks	$16.51m
Roads	$22.10m
Solid Waste Management	$4.07m
Stormwater	$2.85m
Water	$10.74m
Waste water	$13.73m
Regulatory Services	$10.01m
Emergency Management and Business Continuance	$0.39m
Economic Growth	$2.87m
Civic and Democracy Services	$5.60m
Management of Investments and Funding	$2.44m
TOTAL	$124.68 million