Nelson City Council (abbr. NCC; Māori: Te Kaunihera o Whakatū) is the territorial authority for the city of Nelson, New Zealand. It serves as the city's local and regional government as a unitary authority.
A city council for the city was first formed in 1874. Following the 1989 reforms to local government, that city council was dissolved and the current authority established.
The governing body of the council has 11 councillors and is chaired by the mayor of Nelson (currently Nick Smith since October 2022).
History
Predecessors Local governance of Nelson began with Nelson Province in 1853, which covered the entire upper South Island. The town of Nelson was managed by the Nelson Board of Works, constituted by the provincial council under the Nelson Improvement Act 1856. Nelson became a borough and the board of works became Nelson City Council on 30 March 1874.
1989 reforms In the 1989 local government reforms, Nelson City Council was constituted a territorial authority within the Nelson-Marlborough Region. Under the Local Government Amendment Act 1992, the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council was disestablished on 1 July 1992 and its functions taken over by Nelson City Council, Marlborough District Council and Tasman District Council, which all became unitary authorities. Nelson became constituted as "'The Nelson Region', which shall comprise the area of Nelson City".
On 12 October 2013, Rachel Reese was elected as Nelson's first woman mayor after receiving 1,500 votes more than incumbent mayor Aldo Miccio.
Climate emergency declaration
In 2019, the council declared climate change an emergency situation.
Governing body
Mayor
One mayor is elected at-large; they chair meetings of the governing body and act as the head of local government in the city.
Current composition The current members of the governing body of council are: Role Portrait NameAffiliationWard Mayor Nick Smith Independent Elected at-large Deputy Pete Rainey Independent Central Councillor Matty Anderson Independent Central Councillor Lisa Austin Independent Central Councillor James Hodgson Independent Central Councillor Trudie Brand Independent Stoke-Tāhunanui Councillor Mel Courtney Independent Stoke-Tāhunanui Councillor Sarah Kerby Labour Stoke-Tāhunanui Councillor Campbell Rollo Independent Stoke-Tāhunanui Councillor Nigel Skeggs Independent At-large Councillor Tim Skinner Independent At-large Councillor Aaron Stallard Independent At-large Councillor Kahu Paki Paki Independent Māori
References