History
In December 1999 Sandra Lee was appointed Local Government Minister in the Labour/Alliance Coalition Government. Lee rewrote the Local Government Act of 1974 so that it was readable to the general public and addressed matters that had come up in the intervening 28 years. Jeanette Fitzsimons, co-leader of the Green party, was appointed chairperson of the select committee. With over 100 amendments, the 1974 Act had become an unwieldy mish-mash of 1950s and 60s prescriptive planning, overlaid with 1990s accountability and financial provisions, with a complicated numbering system. For example, one of the 1974 Act's highly prescriptive provisions was s663, which gave councils a statutory power to install, light and maintain a town clock.
The Local Government Act 2002 included a focus on sustainability with the reference to the 'four well-beings' social, economic, environmental and cultural. The purpose of the Act is (a) to enable democratic decision-making and action by, and on behalf of, communities; and (b) to promote the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of communities, in the present and in the future. The Local Government Act 2002 received the Royal assent on 24 December 2002.
Read more about this topic: Local Government Act 2002 (New Zealand)
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