Bylaws
Council bylaws must be reviewed within statutory timeframes. The General Bylaw sets out provisions that are common to, and form part of, all Mackenzie District Council bylaws
At the meeting on 25 August, Councillors adopted a draft updated General By-Law 2026 for community engagement.
Councillors also endorsed the following drafts for community engagement: Dog Control By-law & Policy, Keeping of Animals/Bees/Poultry By-law, and Mobile Shops and Traders By-law. The results of consultation, and any recommended amendments, will be reported back to Council by November.
Electoral Voting System for the 2028 Local Government Elections
The Local Electoral Act 2001 gives local authorities and their communities the choice of using either the First Past the Post (FPP) or Single Transferable Vote (STV) electoral system for local elections.
Councillors voted to continue using the first-past-the-post electoral system for the 2028 and 2031 local government elections.
Future Delivery of Community Development Services
Following the resignation of the Community Advisor – Projects and Funding, Council considered the level of service they wanted to provide in this area (the Team Leader Community Development position was previously disestablished.
At this meeting, the elected members decided the following:
- Council directed the Chief Executive and the General Manager of Community Development to enter into negotiations with the Fairlie Resource Centre and Twizel Community Care Trust to establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the delivery of community development and grants administration services, and to report back to Council with a proposed MOU, funding arrangement, and service scope.
- Council resolved to retain the Mayor's Task Force for Jobs service under the current arrangements.
- Council retains responsibility for administering the heritage grants, and community boards continue to manage their own community board grants.
- Council directed the Chief Executive to bring a direction-of-travel paper on library services, including the Twizel Library transition arrangements, to a Council workshop for separate consideration.
Creative Communities Scheme — AHU Community Trust Additional Funding
Ahu Community Trust has offered to provide approximately $4,000 in additional funding to supplement the Creative Communities Scheme currently administered by Mackenzie District Council.
Decision: Council accepts AHU Community Trust's offer to provide approximately $4,000 in additional funding to supplement the Creative Communities Scheme, subject to their agreement to work with third parties.
Twizel Heritage House
The heritage house and garage in Twizel were relocated to Council land in 2022, and the intention was that it be vested in Council. That was not completed at that time and so at the meeting this week, Council approved the vestment of the house and garage.
Council also requested a further discussion take place on the broader plan for the area, including the upkeep and maintenance of the site, potentially via an MOU with the Twizel Heritage Group, to be brought back to a Council workshop.