Building Act review
Recently the Minister for Building and Construction Hon Maurice Williamson announced the results of the Building Act review.
The announcement was generally positive, keeping the good bits of the original proposals, taking out some areas where we had concerns (e.g. "self-certification" by builders of simple houses), and committing to looking at joint and several liability in the next phase.
Generally the plan seems to have the right balance between accountability, risk and streamlining.
As part of the review the government has committed to working with the local government sector to improve the regulatory role councils play in the building and construction area. The discussions will focus on developing a more nationally consistent and efficient building regulatory system.
The Government will consider a report on the regulatory system in the first half of next year.
Candidate nominations close soon!
Time is running out! If you want to stand in the upcoming local body elections and your nomination isn't in yet you only have until midday on Friday 20 August to get it done.
There are no time extensions if something goes wrong with your application so the sooner it's submitted the better.
I urge anyone who's interested in standing for their local council, community board or local board not to wait until the last minute. All you need is the desire to represent your community and make a difference.
Candidates must be over 18 years of age, New Zealand citizens, and on the electoral roll. They must be nominated by two people enrolled in their district or ward and pay a $200 deposit.
For more information check with your local council. Once you're nominated don't forget to check out http://www.elections2010.co.nz/ where you can let people in your region know why you deserve their votes.
And a repeat from last week's Spotlight if you missed it ...
Two significant documents were launched at the Local Government New Zealand annual conference in the last week of July , the LGNZ Annual Report and Local Government's Contribution to Economic Growth, a joint piece of work with BERL Economics.
Our Annual Report is an important document that charts our progress in the past financial year, and I'm proud to have it as a record of our achievements in 2009/10. We have consolidated our relationship with central government through a lot of hard work on both sides, and made excellent progress on issues like leaky buildings and the Auckland supercity transition.
As well as recording our financial position , this year's Annual Report also presents case studies from our sector groups showing where and how local government is working hard on infrastructure, environmental and social issues facing our communities.
Local Government's Contribution to Economic Growth is the first progress report on a big piece of work underway with BERL.
LGNZ has commissioned BERL to develop a new framework to measure local government's contribution to the national economy and demonstrate how we add value to central government's agenda for economic growth.
This report sets out the framework that has been developed and examines two case studies in depth: Highbrook Business Park in Manukau and the Marlborough Research - Wine Centre of Excellence.
I encourage you to download these documents if you haven't already seen them. They are testaments to the work of LGNZ on behalf of our members and all local government stakeholders.
Lawrence Yule
President, Local Government New Zealand
Posted 16 August 2010
