Ōtautahi Christchurch has 7 Community Boards with 36 residents elected to them across the city to represent their communities and make decisions on a range of issues and projects.
Under the Local Government Act 2002 the purpose of a community board is to:
represent and act as an advocate for the interests of the community;
consider and report on any matter referred to it by their council, and any issues of interest to the community board;
make an annual submission to their council on expenditure;
maintain an overview of services provided by their council within the community; and
communicate with community organisations and special interest groups in the community, and undertake any other responsibilities delegated by their council.
So what does that look like in Christchurch? Here's a link to the CCC information pages for our community boards and the elected members:
Community Boards : Christchurch City Council (ccc.govt.nz)
The community board areas are changing at the October 2022 election and you can find that information here:
Representation review 2021 : Christchurch City Council (ccc.govt.nz)
What does being a Community Board member in Ōtautahi Christchurch actually entail?
I was elected to the Hagley Ferrymead Community Board in October 2013 and chaired the board for the three year term until I was elected to Council in 2016. It was a fantastic job with so much potential to make a difference in the community. It's as much, or as little, as each member makes it.
- Each urban ward has 2 community board members elected to represent it and a group of either 2 or 3 wards make up a community board. The local Councillors are also appointed to the community boards and attend meetings etc. Banks Peninsula is a bit different due to a lower population over a very large area and has 7 elected to the Community Board plus one councillor appointed to it.
- Boards have a regular meeting schedule for formal decision making meetings and for workshops, these vary from board to board, but could be 2-4 combined a month. They last about 2-3 hours each.
- On top of regular meetings there could be meetings with other boards on common issues and site visits to areas where a decision is going to be made. There are also drop in sessions for current consultations that you can attend and hear from the community at.
- There are a lot of different community groups to get to know and help out where you can - especially with navigating council processes. You'll be expected to focus on ones in your ward, but board members are sworn in to represent the whole community board area and should take an interest beyond their ward.
- In Christchurch, boards have the delegation to make decisions on local issues such as parks, playgrounds, local road markings (no stopping/giveway signs etc) and bus stops. They also have significant grant funding to allocate to community groups and projects in their area. Boards are also asked to make recommendations to Council on some decisions, such as speed reviews or community facilities, they also make submissions to Council on the annual budgets, advocating for local projects etc.
- It is part time work and the remuneration is around $25 000 for a regular board member and $50 000 for the chair of the board, who is elected by the board at their first meeting.
If you'd like more information, here's a link to some general information about community boards from Local Government NZ: Community boards | We are. LGNZ.