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The 'region' is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. There are 16 regions of New Zealand. Twelve are governed by an elected regional council, while four are governed by territorial authorities (the second tier of local government) which also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands Council is often counted by many as a unitary authority, but it is officially recognised as a part of the region of Canterbury. Some regional boundaries follow territorial authority boundaries but there are plenty of exceptions. The southern boundary of the Auckland Region, for example, cuts through the middle of Franklin District.

Contents

Responsibilities

List of regions

Areas outside regional boundaries

Governance

See also

External links

Responsibilities

Regional authorities are primarily responsible for environmental management, including water, contaminant discharge and coastal management, river and lake management including flood and drainage control, regional land management; regional transport (including public transport), biosecurity or pest management; while territorial authorities are responsible for: local-level land use management (urban and rural planning); network utility services such as water, sewerage, stormwater and solid waste management; local roads; libraries; parks and reserves; and community development. Property rates (land taxes) are used to fund both regional and territorial government activities. There is often a high degree of co-operation between regional and territorial councils as they have complementary roles.

List of regions

Regions of regional councils and unitary authorities (and Central Cities), roughly in north to south order (main city names are in parentheses):

★ Northland (Whangarei)

★ Auckland (Auckland City)

★ Waikato (Hamilton) (Environment Waikato)

★ Bay of Plenty (Whakatane) (Environment BOP)

★ East Cape (Gisborne) - unitary authority

★ Hawke's Bay (Napier)

★ Taranaki (New Plymouth)

★ Manawatu-Wanganui (Palmerston North)
(Horizons Regional Council; horizons.mw)

★ Wellington (Wellington City)
(Greater Wellington Regional Council)

★ Tasman (Richmond) - unitary authority

★ Nelson - unitary authority

★ Marlborough (Blenheim) - unitary authority

★ West Coast (Greymouth)

★ Canterbury (Christchurch) (Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury))

★ Otago (Dunedin)

★ Southland (Invercargill) (Environment Southland)
ISO 3166-2-codes for each can be found in .

Areas outside regional boundaries

New Zealand has a number of outlying islands that 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. The Kermadecs and the sub-Antarctic islands are inhabited only by a small number of Department of Conservation staff. The Conservation Minister is empowered to act as a regional council for these islands.

Governance

Councils are popularly elected every three years. Councils may use a first past the post or single transferable vote system.

See also

★ Provinces of New Zealand

★ Territorial Authorities of New Zealand

★ List of towns in New Zealand

External links

★ Map

★ Populations and areas