Mackenzie District Council is committed to conducting business in a manner that is open, transparent, and promotes accountability and public participation.

Sometimes workshops are organised with councillors or community board members. This is so staff and other subject experts can provide information relevant for future decisions. Workshops provide an opportunity for staff to answer any questions that elected members may have about a particular topic or issue, outside of the formal setting of a meeting.

Meetings and workshops are open to the public unless there is a good reason to exclude the public, such as to protect someone’s privacy or seek legal advice.

Council workshops are considered informal in that the Council’s Standing Orders do not apply. However, the workshops are still subject to administration procedures and control through a Chair type role, which is usually allocated to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor or chair of the community board.

Although workshops are largely a one-way communication method of informing, there is an element of elected members seeking feedback. Staff will take note of elected members’ concerns and opinions about issues and provide clarification on any concerns. However, no decisions, or parts of decisions, will be sought at workshops, or agreed to at workshops.

All decisions by elected members will be made and communicated at formal meetings run under Standing Orders and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA). For information on formal meetings see the Meetings and Agendas page.

Please note

Workshops are used to present information for discussion and not for decision making.  Formal decision making happens at a subsequent council meeting. The information presented in workshop documents should be treated as preliminary and subject to change.

Requests for Public Excluded Information

Sometimes reports and documents considered by elected members in confidence (public excluded) can be made public following a meeting or workshop if the reason for keeping it confidential no longer exists. Anyone can request a second look at why something is public excluded, or request the release of a document that is public excluded. The process for this is under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. To make such a request, please use the form on the Information Requests page.

Questions about Meetings and Workshops

If you have any questions about meetings and workshops you can email them to info@mackenzie.govt.nz, or phone the council and ask for the governance advisor.

Right of Complaint

Members of the public are able to make a complaint to the Ombudsman about the administration of council workshops or meetings.  Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.