On this page: A brief history, offices and buildings, overview of our work, video clip about Waikato Regional Council, how we fund our work, relevant legislation
About Waikato Regional Council
The Waikato Regional Council is a local government body. We help communities, industry and other groups in New Zealand's Waikato region to live and work with natural resources.
Our activities help look after our region's water, soil, air, geothermal areas and coasts - so we can all enjoy these precious resources for generations to come.
The people of the Waikato region are represented by 12 elected council members. These representatives work in committees and make decisions and/or recommendations on a variety of matters which are then reported to or decided on by the full council once a month.
Waikato Regional Council's flagship goals are:
- sustaining land and water values
- facilitating regional development, and
- meeting co-governance requirements with iwi.
A brief history
Waikato Regional Council was established in 1989. The council was formed with the amalgamation of 40 former authorities including:
- 2 catchment boards
- 3 united councils
- 12 noxious plants authorities
- 11 pest destruction boards
- 12 drainage boards.
The aim of this change was to make local government more efficient, fair and accountable.
Originally the Waikato Valley Authority was established by an Act of Parliament called the Waikato Valley Authority Act on 26 October 1956. When the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 was passed the existing functions of the Waikato Valley Authority were extended to that of a Catchment Board/Regional Water Board.
When the Ministry of Works and Development Abolition Act 1988 was passed in March 1988, the Waikato Valley Authority changed its name to the Waikato Catchment Board to reflect the taking up of some of the functions previously undertaken by the Ministry of Works and Development.
Our offices and buildings
In 1989, Waikato Regional Council operated 11 office sites, nine depots and a number of staff operated out of district council buildings.
Now Waikato Regional Council's main office is in Hamilton. Other offices are in Paeroa and Taupo with depots in Te Aroha and Gordonton. Waikato Regional Council employs harbourmasters and has help from a number of volunteer wardens. In October 2001 an area office was built at Whitianga to give administrative support to the harbourmasters, in order to provide the level of service required by the community due to the increasing amount of work generated in the Coromandel.
Our work
Our work and functions include:
- regional planning and leadership
- regional civil defence
- regional land transport
- managing the effects of activities on air, soil, coastal and water resources
- regional research and investigation
- flood control and drainage
- animal and plant pest control
- environmental education.
Biodiversity
We're working with many community partners to protect and enhance the plants and animals that make the Waikato a special place - our biodiversity. We've helped establish a Waikato Biodiversity Forum to begin a Biodiversity Advisory Service, and plan what needs to be done to restore habitat.
Civil defence and emergency management
We are responsible for planning for and responding to regional emergencies, such as flooding, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other major events.
Coastal areas
We plan for and manage the effects of activities on our coasts and in the coastal marine area.
- The region has 1200 km of open coast and estuarine shoreline.
- The Firth of Thames has special importance as a wintering ground for wading birds of the South Western Pacific.
- Coastal resorts at Raglan and on the Coromandel Peninsula attract large numbers of tourists.
Environmental education
Education encourages people to understand their place in the natural environment and the part they can play in caring for their region. We support many initiatives, such as Zero Waste, schools programmes, business education programmes and Care groups operating in the city and throughout the region.
Flood and land protection
We work with communities to plan for flood protection, erosion control and land drainage through our flood control schemes. Our flood protection activities also include regular river and rainfall level monitoring.
Natural hazards
We work to reduce the effects of the region's many natural hazards, including flooding, volcanic eruption, coastal erosion and earthquakes. Our flood control schemes reduce the risk to communities and monitoring natural hazards will help to save lives and property in an emergency.
Planning
We develop, implement and review the region's rules, which provide certainty for everyone wanting to use our valuable resources. Our Regional Plan:
- sets minimum environmental requirements
- reduces bureaucracy by allowing a wide range of activities to go ahead without resource consents (as long as standards are met)
- reduces costs to resource users.
Plant and animal pests
We're achieving excellent possum control rates and about a third of the region has continuing possum control to contain bovine Tb, which is vital to our essential agricultural industry, and to improve forest health. Pests also damage the region's biodiversity - our variety of life.
Resource consents and monitoring
We use plans, education, regulation and information to manage natural and physical resources, natural hazards and hazardous materials. The region's natural resources include air, land, water, geothermal and coasts.
We're responsible for issuing resource consents which allow people to use these natural resources sustainably. Consents often contain conditions which make sure the environment is protected. Monitoring ensures the use of these resources does not harm the environment. We also respond to pollution complaints and incidents 24 hours a day.
Resource information
We use the wide range of environmental information we collect to develop policies and plans to manage and protect our environment. We also collect information on the social, economic and cultural characteristics of our region, which are closely linked with its natural resources.
Transport
The Waikato Regional Council is responsible for strategic planning of land transport, passenger transport and road safety for the region. We provide passenger transport services in Hamilton City and manage a Total Mobility scheme, which provides transport services for people with disabilities. Our region has:
- Over 1600 km of state highway network traverse the region.
- Seven railway lines carry passengers and freight.
- An international airport at Hamilton and many small airports in the region.
- Important arterial links for transporting goods to and from the ports of Auckland, Napier, Tauranga/Mount Maunganui and Napier.
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View our video clip about what the Waikato Regional Council does:
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How we fund our work
The Waikato Regional Council obtains its income from a variety of sources: general rates, interest income from investments, government grants, separate rates and direct charges.
These graphs show the percentage that different funding sources contribute to our income, and where we spend our funds.
The regional rates information page on this website has details on how rates are calculated, payment options and penalties, rating scheme descriptions, legal requirements and policy. You can also work out regional rates for your property using our calculation form.
You can read more detailed information on our Revenue and Financing Policy.
Relevant legislation
You can check out information on the following statutes at Government New Zealand's online Legislation NZ:
- Resource Management Act 1991
- Local Government Act 2002
- Land Transport Act 1998
- Biosecurity Act 1993 and others.
For a full list see our Long Term Plan.
The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management's website has information on the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002.