Wat's legal and illegal in Local Government is often the subject of contentious debate. If you are a ratepayer you are ever likely to told what your obligations are but rarely are your rights explained to you it seems. Likewise, it seems that Aldermen & Councillors are often unclear about what the Local Government Act has to say about an issue and more than a few report that they receive confusing advice from Council officers.Is a 21st C context this should no longer be the case because the Local Government Act. is very accessible and really quite strait forward. Certainly there are complexities in the Act but Council officers should be able to clarify (in Council or privately) an issue for an Alderman/Councillor where these things impinge upon a Council decision. If this is not the case then ratepayers have something to worry about and especially if it turns out that Aldermen/Councillors wind up working with flawed or inadequate advice – it seems that in some cases this may be happening.
It is also important that ratepayers be aware of the laws governing Local Government. Unless they are there is no real way they can lobby their representatives on Council – or even negotiate effectively with Council officer when they need to.
There are some links below to parts of the Act that are all too often 'Hot Issues'. However, there seems to be a need for 'Ratepayer Groups' to start to be somewhat more proactive than they have been in educating ratepayers about their rights and obligations along with what they should be able to expect from their elected representatives and Council officers.
- LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993 - SECT 20 20. Functions and powers
- LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993 - SECT 28 28. Functions of councillors – 28(2) (iii) & (28) (3) (a) are of particular interest
- LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993 - SECT 22 22. Delegation by council – 21 (1) (a) & 21 (4) (a) are of particular interest
- LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993 - SECT 62 62. Functions and powers of general manager
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