Publications

An analysis of issues identified by councils giving effect to the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity.

In August 2018, a working group of representatives from central and local government was established to co-produce guidance on how central government can engage effectively with local government.

The RMA is New Zealand’s flagship environmental legislation and its implementation is highly devolved. Achieving the purpose of the Act – the sustainable management of natural and physical resources – is dependent on the quality of that implementation.

Legal opinion from Jack Hodder QC, gauging the litigation risks that councils face by choosing to recognise or ignore climate change-related risks in their decision-making.  

#localismNZ: Bringing power to the people explains the rationale behind localism and responds to commonly heard objections. This essay explains how unusual New Zealand's centralism is when compared internationally. New Zealand's councils have limited fiscal autonomy.

Councils are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, which have bearing on the prosperity, vibrancy and long-term viability of our communities.

Councils are already experiencing the impacts of climate change and are beginning to recognise that communities’ resilience to climate change depends in large part on what is being done to adapt to it.

This report follows on from the discussion paper LGNZ released in July 2017 titled “Better economic development in local government”. It reports back on issues that were shared and discussed with LGNZ members and stakeholders during a workshop series led by LGNZ in early 2018.

This position paper encapsulates the sector's deep experience and evidence base to set out the key principles that local government, as owners and providers of the three waters infrastructure and services, see as critical and necessary in reforming the three waters regulatory framework.

LGNZ is re-designing government from a localist perspective.   Excessive centralisation leads to a ‘one size fits all’ approach, and can lead to bottlenecks in policy-making & implementation when empowered local government could just get on and get things done.