Council Meeting Processes

Agendas & Minutes

Agendas for meetings of Council must be available at least two working days prior to the scheduled meeting (except in cases of extraordinary meetings). Agendas are available to view at all Council offices and on Council’s website.

Minutes of meetings must be kept as evidence of the proceedings of the meeting. These must be made publicly available, subject to the provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

Unconfirmed minutes are available once they have been reviewed by the Chief Executive after the meeting. Minutes are confirmed for correctness at a subsequent meeting and will be updated if any changes are made.

Standing Orders

Council, Committee, and Community Board Meetings must abide by a set of Standing Orders as adopted at the beginning of the triennium. Standing Orders are a set of rules and procedures that provide a formal framework for the conduct of local authority meetings and ensure that our system of local democracy and decision-making within local government is transparent and accountable.

Ruapehu District Council adopted its Standing Orders on 30 November 2022.

The Community Boards adopted their Standing Orders as below:

• Waimarino-Waiouru Community Board 10 November 2022
• Taumarunui-Ōhura Community Board 17 November 2022
• Ōwhango-National Park Community Board 14 February 2023

Public Attendance at Meetings

All Council meetings including any Community Board Meetings are generally open to the public, unless there is a reason for public to be excluded. Council meetings are not public meetings but are conducted in public.

Members of the public are not permitted to speak at any time during meetings, unless invited to do so by the Chairperson. If you wish to speak at a meeting, you must first get permission from the Mayor or Chairperson of the relevant committee or community board. We set aside 30 minutes at the start of our Council and Community Board Meetings for public participation. This is an opportunity for you to bring matters of concern to your Elected Representatives and comment on agenda items. Each individual or group is allowed five minutes to speak. Speakers are listed on a first come, first served basis, and as many speakers as possible will be heard within the allocated 30 minutes.

Members of the public and the Press are welcome to attend the public parts of meetings. Following normal meetings, any Public Excluded business will be attended to, and the public and the Press will be requested to leave the meeting.

Further information can be found here