6.2.5 Input into regional strategies, policies, plans and bylaws

The governing body develops and adopts regional strategies, policies, plans and bylaws. The Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009 requires the governing body, prior to making any decision, to take into account the views and preferences of local boards where they or the wellbeing of their communities are affected by that decision.
Region-wide policy needs to reflect the governance model explicitly recognising that local boards make local decisions. In most cases regional policy should not override this decision-making, with policy explicitly recognising where decision-making sits with the governing body and where it sits with local boards.
Planning for policy development needs to take into account the requirement for local board input from the outset. While the governing body is the ultimate decision-maker and sets the direction and scope for policy and planning work, in order to obtain meaningful input from local boards, it is important that they have an understanding of the proposed policy work programme, and time, resource and support to understand the issues, including the regional context, and what it means for their local communities.
Local board feedback will generally need to be provided by way of a local board resolution. This feedback should be collated, analysed and summarised for reporting to the relevant governing body committee to support their decision-making. Specific local board resolutions need to be attached to the committee report.