Our Council
A note from North Shore City Council Chief Executive John Brockies
Welcome to this update on the changing face of local government in Auckland.

As I have mentioned previously, we are working closely with the Auckland Transition Agency (ATA) as it manages the transition to the new Auckland Council and its related entities. The Auckland Transition Agency website contains a very good outline of the transition process as they see it.

Discovery - a stocktake of the existing councils, what they do and how they do it - is now complete. The next step is the design phase. The ATA, with the assistance of specialist staff from all eight councils, has begun to plan the structure of the new Auckland Council. Once that process is well underway, the ATA will be able to begin the delivery phase - ie it will start putting together all the activities and tasks required to ensure the new Auckland Council is up and running on 1 November next year.

Running parallel to the development of the new Auckland Council is the development of two other separate organisations - the Auckland Transport Agency to manage transport, and Watercare to provide water supply and wastewater services for all of Auckland. All this carries a substantial workload. In our council alone over 140 staff have been involved in collecting and collating information for the ATA, Watercare and the transport agency working group. There is no doubt that still more staff will be involved in the design phase which follows.

Meanwhile, throughout this transition process, we strive to continue to maintain quality service to our North Shore community. Please contact me via Actionline on (09) 486 8600 or email Actionline if you feel there are areas of service that we could improve on.

John Brockies
Chief Executive

New transport entity begins to take shape
Work has begun on shaping a new transport agency for Auckland, which is expected to launch at the same time as the new Auckland Council. Its purpose is to plan, develop, deliver and maintain an affordable, integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable transport system which supports the Auckland Council's overall strategic direction. The planning and development phases will involve all existing councils in greater Auckland as well as other organisations which have a stake in Auckland transport issues. More

What's Happening
Preserve established communities says council submission
On October 16, the North Shore City Council made a submission to the Local Government Commission. This sets out the council's recommendations for the boundaries for the new local boards and for the Auckland Council electoral wards. The submission emphasised the need to:

- Retain existing communities of interest
- Retain local political representation
- Preserve existing local services.

North Shore community boards have also made submissions.

The Local Government Commission will release its draft boundaries on 20 November. Public submissions on that draft will close on 1 December. The final decisions on the new boundaries are not due from the Commission until 1 March next year. More

Our Community
Meetings and events
You are invited to attend any of the following meetings and seminars. Please follow registration procedures where applicable.

Conference: Passing Go: Social wellbeing in the new Auckland Council. Register now for the full-day conference on 20 November 2010 in the Harbour Function Centre on the North Shore. More

Community meeting: The Auckland Council and what it means to you on Monday 7 December from 12noon - 2pm. Taitamariki Hall, Auburn Reserve, Auburn Street, Takapuna. Speaker: Dr Grant Hewison from Kensington Swan lawyers. More

Regional Arts Sector Meeting (advance notice): This is the second in a series of meetings of arts sector organisations across the region to consider impacts, implications and opportunities arising from the Auckland transition. It will be held on Wednesday, 11 November starting at 7pm at TAPAC - 100 / 102 Motions Rd, Point Chevalier. More

Where to find more information
Some useful websites. More
Media links. More