Council welcomes independent assessment
11 October 2017

Nelson City Council welcomes today’s release, by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), of independent assessment reports for nine local Councils throughout New Zealand.

Nelson City Council was one of the initial Foundation Councils that chose to participate in the scheme, and has achieved the rating of BB.

Nelson City Council’s assessment was conducted during February, and the subsequent report highlights Council’s big strengths:

• A strong financial position
• A good understanding of the risk of climate change and associated flood events
• Works well with neighbouring Councils on joint projects
• Engages strongly with the community through an extensive community facilities and major events programme
• Is largely responsive to community needs
• Is well placed to further increase its effectiveness for its stakeholders.
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Council is well down the track in areas for improvement identified at the time of the report:

• Strengthening Governance through audit and risk management
o Council’s Audit and Risk Committee was under review at the time of the assessment, and is now fully functioning with a strong internal auditing programme.
• Developing a clearly articulated and coherent vision statement
o Council is investing in developing its strategic vision, working with significant stakeholder groups to define a meaningful vision statement.
Mayor Rachel Reese says that she endorses the LGNZ independent assessment process for its role in supporting Councils that are proactively looking for ways to add value to their communities.

“Nelson City Council is well established on its pathway to improvement. This assessment clarifies our strengths, and validates the work we are doing in key areas to make sure we are delivering for Nelson," she says.

“This also sets a benchmark for Council as we seek to continually improve on the outcomes that are so important for Nelsonians. We are all passionate about helping our city become an even better place to live.

“It is useful for us as a unitary authority to compare ourselves against other regional, district and city local authorities. This independent assessment helps us to focus our attention throughout Council, and will be a goal for the incoming Chief Executive to help lead staff to continually improve our results moving forward.”
Ends

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