Terms Of Reference For The Wellington Regional Strategy Forum

1.1

For the purpose of these Terms of Reference:

"Act" means the Local Government Act 2002.

"WRS Forum" means the Joint Committee set-up to oversee the development of the Wellington Regional Strategy.

"Member" means a Local Authority that is a full participant in the Wellington Regional Strategy Project with full representation rights on the Joint Committee that is the subject of this document.

"Representative(s)" means the Mayor or Chairperson or councillor or councillors of a Member, or alternate(s), that have been resolved by the Member authority to be a member of the joint committee.

2. Name

2.1

The Committee shall be known as the Wellington Regional Strategy Forum (WRS Forum).

3. Members

3.1

Each of the following local authorities is a Member of the WRS Forum:

Greater Wellington Regional Council
Kapiti Coast District Council
Hutt City Council
Porirua City Council
Upper Hutt City Council
Wellington City Council

4. Status

4.1

The WRS Forum is a joint standing committee under clause 30(1)(b) of Schedule 7 of the Act.

5. Purpose of Terms of Reference

5.1

The purpose of these Terms of Reference is to:

Define the responsibilities of the WRS Forum as delegated by the Members
Provide for the administrative arrangements of the WRS Forum.

6. Objectives of the WRS Forum

6.1

Project Goal

The Wellington Regional Strategy is a project of Greater Wellington Regional Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Kapiti Coast District Council, Porirua City Council, Hutt City Council and Wellington City Council, working together with the goal of building an internationally competitive Wellington by developing and implementing a vision and an integrated framework to achieve sustainable growth of the Wellington region.

The project will have a long term outlook - to the year 2050 with a more detailed focus of action and priority for the next ten to twenty years.

6.2

Project Assumptions

The Strategy will recognise the following:

the needs to avoid duplication of activities already underway and to link with those activities;
that growth and development must reflect the principle of sustainability with its four dimensions of economic, environmental, social and cultural well-being;
the need to fundamentally link environmental protection, urban development, transport choices and economic development as underpinning mutually supportive strands in the Strategy (sustainable development for sustainable cities);
that while there is a focus on the metropolitan Wellington region there is a need for clear linkage to and involvement of the three Wairarapa councils - Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa districts;
the need to reflect and support the community values that define each city or district of the region;
that the project needs to be undertaken in a focused and concentrated timeframe so that its benefits are available as soon as possible; and
the need to link with the Councils' statutory obligations under the Local Government Act and other Acts , in particular the development and adoption of Long Term Council Community Plans, the Regional Land Transport Strategy and the Regional Policy Statement.

6.3

Project Scope

The Wellington Regional Strategy is primarily a growth strategy - to enable and facilitate sustainable and desirable growth for the long term benefit of the region's citizens, businesses and institutions. The Strategy will be directed at building an internationally competitive city and achieving improved levels of population and economic growth for the region than current forecasts indicate. It will recognise and reflect the uniqueness of the region which should be protected and enhanced as the region grows.

The Strategy will:

set out an agreed vision and outcomes for the region reflecting the differing values and attributes of the regions' communities based on community outcomes already developed by the councils
set the national and international context of the region, setting out key facts and projections, drivers of growth, constraints to growth and major regional issues that need to be addressed, and opportunities to accommodate and deliver growth
describe the kind of growth and benefits the region seeks from an agreed strategy, and the principles that should underlie the development of alternative solutions and options. This will include measurable indicators of the kind of growth the region is seeking and targets (such as growth in GDP, growth in average household income, population and household growth, growth in natural and cultural capital)
provide a framework for growth that identifies the key action areas that must be addressed (and proposals to do so) to enable and facilitate heightened levels of sustainable growth for the region - these are likely to focus around long term urban form and a mutually reinforcing relationship with transport investment, investment of effort and resource in other infrastructure and places, people (including education), knowledge and enterprise, marketing and promotion
give a description of the options and alternative solutions, including the analysis of costs, benefits and implications explored as part of the development of the Strategy.
include a spatial concept and action plan which identifies how, when and where urban growth including redevelopment will be directed, along with the mutually reinforcing transport investment and other key infrastructure development needed to support and enable growth
encompass economic development strategies aimed at providing a platform for improved growth prospects for the region
include an implementation plan which sets out roles, responsibilities, timing, funding requirements, linkages to other plans such as the Regional Land Transport Strategy, Regional Policy Statement and Long Term Council Community Plans, further collaborative work programmes, and the ongoing role of the Joint Committee (if any), reporting to and from the councils.

7. Representatives and Appointed Members

7.1

Each Member is to be represented on the WRS Forum by two persons only,being two elected persons with alternate representative(s) in the absence of the primary representative(s).

7.2

An alternate representative must be an elected person from that local authority.

7.3

Under section 114S(4) of the Local Government Act 1974, and clause 30(9)Schedule 7 of the Act, the powers to discharge any representative on the Joint Committee and appoint his or her replacement shall be exercisable only by the Member that appointed the representative being discharged.

7.4

In addition to the representatives of the Members, there shall be appointed to the Committee two appointees. The first of the appointees shall represent the interests of the three districts that comprise the Wairarapa constituency of the Greater Wellington Regional Council and will be a non-voting member. This person will be appointed on the nomination of the three district mayors. The second appointee shall be a person of personal status in the region, and independent of any particular Member authority. This appointee will be the Chairperson of the Committee. These appointments will be made by resolution of the Joint Committee.

8. Requirement to maintain the WRS Forum

8.1

It is the responsibility of each Member of the Joint Committee to ensure that they have a representative available to participate in the Joint Committee, as soon as practicable after their representative is no longer able to represent that Member for whatever reason, with the same delegated functions, duties and powers as their predecessor.

9. Delegated authority

9.1

The WRS Forum has the responsibility delegated by the Members for:

leading and advocating the Strategy process
approval of Strategy development process and timeframe
facilitating consultation with the community
establishing the Tangata Whenua Forum
establishing the Strategic Partners Forum
recommending a final strategy to the Councils
appointing two appointees as described in 7.4 above

10. Powers not delegated

10.1

Any power that cannot be delegated in accordance with Section 114Q of the Local Government Act 1974 and Clause 32 Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002.

10.2

The determination of funding for implementing the Wellington Regional Strategy.

11. Remuneration

11.1

Each Member of the WRS Joint Committee shall be responsible for remunerating its representatives on the WRS Joint Committee and for the cost of those persons' participation in the WRS Joint Committee.

11.2

The remuneration of any member of the committee who is not a representative of a Member authority will be the responsibility of the Project Director from the common funds allocated to the Project, on terms determined by the Chief Executives' Group.

12. Meetings

12.1

The New Zealand Standard for model standing orders (NZS 9202: 2001), or any New Zealand Standard substituted for that standard, will be used to conduct WRS Joint Committee meetings as if the WRS Joint Committee were a local authority and the principal administrative officer of the Hutt City Council or his or her nominated representative were its principal administrative officer.

12.1.1

The WRS Joint Committee shall hold all meetings at such frequency, times and place(s) as agreed for the performance of the functions, duties and powers delegated under this Terms of Reference.

12.1.2

The quorum shall be half of the membership plus one if that membership is an even number or half of (the total membership plus one) if the membership is an odd number.

13. Voting

13.1

In accordance with section 114Q of the Local Government Act 1974 and clause 32(4) Schedule 7 of Act, at meetings of the WRS Joint Committee each Member's representatives have full authority to vote and make decisions within the delegations of this Terms of Reference on behalf of that Member without further recourse to that Member.

13.2

Each representative and the Committee Chairperson has one vote.

14 Election of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson

14.1

On the constitution or reconstitution of the WRS Joint Committee the representatives shall elect a WRS Joint Committee Chairperson and may elect a Deputy Chairperson. The Chairperson is to be an appointed member of the Committee, independent from the Members.

14.2

The Committee Deputy Chairperson will hold office for an initial term up to the local body elections in October 2004.

14.3

Following the October 2004 elections the Chairperson is to be re-elected to the role. As resolved by the committee, the former Deputy Chairperson may continue in the role or a new Deputy Chairperson appointed. The Deputy Chairperson will hold office for a term to the end of the Project or such a lesser period as may be determined by the WRS Joint Committee. However, if three-quarters of the representatives of the Members present agree the Group may appoint a new Deputy Chairperson at any time.

14.4

The term of office of an appointed Chairman or Deputy Chairman ends if that person ceases to be a member of the WRS Joint Committee.

15 Administering authority and Servicing

15.1

The administering authority for the WRS Joint Committee is Hutt City Council.

15.2

The administrative and related services referred to in clause 16.1 of the conduct of the joint standing committee under section 114S of the Local Government Act 1974, and clause 30 Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002.

15.3

Until otherwise agreed, Hutt City Council will cover the full administrative costs of servicing the WRS Joint Committee.

15.4

The existing Wellington councils' Chief Executive's Forum will service the Forum. It will provide the management of the project mainly through a Project Director and a group it establishes called the Project Executive Group. The Project Executive Group, chaired by the Project Director, will comprise senior staff representatives from each of the participating Councils, representatives of Positively Business Wellington and an officer with a relationship to Ara Tahi.

Functions - CE Group:

Appoint project director and staff on Project Executive Group
Approve the budget
Approve the project plan
Manage cross organisation issues
Monitor progress on the project
Approve all papers to the Joint Committee and ensure decisions are signed off at critical times.

16 Reporting

16.1

All reports to the Committee shall be presented via the Chief Executives Group or from the Committee Chairperson.

16.2

Following each meeting of the WRS Joint Committee, the Project Director shall prepare a summary report of the business of the meeting and submit that report, for information to each Member authority following each meeting. Such report will be in addition to any formal minutes prepared by the Administering authority.

17 Good faith

17.1

In the event of any circumstances arising that were unforeseen by the Members or their representatives at the time of adopting this Terms of Reference, the Members and their representatives hereby record their intention that they will negotiate in good faith to add to or vary this Terms of Reference so to resolve the impact of those circumstances in the best interests of:

The Members of the WRS Joint Committee collectively
The Wellington Regional community represented by the Members of the WRS Joint Committee collectively.

18 Variations

18.1

Any Member may propose a variation, deletion or addition to the Terms of Reference by putting the wording of the proposed variation, deletion or addition to a meeting of the WRS Joint Committee.

18.2

Once a proposed variation, deletion or addition to this Terms of Reference has been put to the WRS Joint Committee, this Terms of Reference is not amended until each Member adopts the revised terms of Reference giving effect to the proposed variation, deletion or addition.

18.3

Notwithstanding clause 18.2, the WRS Joint Committee may amend the Terms of Reference, where the changes will not materially affect the commitment of any individual Member.

19 Adopted by

Greater Wellington

Regional Council

Kapiti Coast District Council

Hutt City Council

Porirua City Council

Upper Hutt City Council

Wellington City Council