About the Council

The Council is made up of two separate parts:

Part 1

The first part is the elected members ('the Council') - consisting of the Mayor and 11 councillors. The elected members make decisions, on behalf of residents, to meet the needs of the entire Western Bay of Plenty district.

These decisions are typically made by the full Council following work undertaken by a range of Council Committees. Elected members also sit on these committees.

The District is made up of three wards, Katikati/Waihī Beach, Kaimai and Maketu/Te Puke.

Regional government is provided by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, with two Regional Councillors representing the Western Bay of Plenty District.

The number of elected representatives for each ward and/or a community board area depends on the number of resident electors within a ward and/or community board boundary.

The larger the number of eligible electors in a ward and/or community board - the larger the number of elected representatives.

Part 2

The second part is the organisation or operations - (also 'the Council') - consisting of staff who provide the services and the facilities/projects - which deliver on the decisions made by the elected members.

'The Council' is constituted under the Local Government Act 2002. The purpose of local government is stated in section 10(1) as:

• to enable democratic local decision-making and action by, and on behalf of, communities; and
• to meet the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services; and
• performance of regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses.

The Local Governance Statement (PDF, 1.65MB) (required by the Local Government Act 2002) is the overarching document explaining the organisation and structure, key Acts and legislative requirements under which the Council operates. This will be updated following the first business Council meeting on the 8 December 2022

Council's head office is located at Barkes Corner, 1484 Cameron Road, Greerton, Tauranga.

The Barkes Corner office is supported by service centres and libraries located at Katikati, Ōmokoroa,Te Puke and Waihī Beach

Council's operational structure includes five groups.

A Group Manager is responsible for day-to-day management of each operational group. Each Group Manager reports to the Chief Executive Officer who has overall responsibility for managing Council.

Standing Orders

Standing Orders are a set of rules that provide formal guidelines around the way that Council conducts its meetings. These Standing Orders were adopted by Council on the 8 December 2022 for Council and its Committees. A separate Standing Orders document will be adopted by the Community Boards shortly.

Related Material

Elected Members' Code of Conduct (PDF, 1.05MB)

Community Board Members' Code of Conduct (PDF, 835KB)

Community Board - Standing Orders (PDF, 1.4MB)