LGOIMA Request Details

The information you have requested is below. 

A list of our Committees and Subcommittees, including their membership lists and terms of reference, can be found here: Committees & Organisations | Manawatū District Council 

One additional Committee that is not included on the webpage (an error which we will rectify during our website refresh in the New Year) is the Creative Communities Assessment Committee – please see their terms of reference (Annex A). Annex_A_-_Creative_Communities_Assessment_Committee_-_Terms_of_Reference.zip

Insofar as the hierarchical structure of decision-making is concerned, this is covered under each Committee and Subcommittee’s terms of reference. Where a decision falls outside of the committee/subcommittee’s delegations, the relevant group may instead recommend that the Council receive the report (or undertake some other action). A recent example of this includes the Audit & Risk Committee minutes of 12 December 2024; the Committee did not have the delegation to receive the Quarterly Performance Report and Treasury Report, and so it instead recommended that the Council receive the report instead.

Council – 12 elected members

Audit & Risk – 6 elected members and 1 external member (the Deputy Chair)

CE Employment Committee – 12 elected members

CE Performance Subcommittee – 4 elected members

Hearings Committee – 6 elected members

Creative Communities Assessment Committee – 2 elected members, 3 community representatives, 1 tangata whenua representative

The names of unelected members are included in the relevant terms of reference for each committee (see response to question 1). 

Audit and Risk Committee – Mr John Fowke

Mr John Fowke has experience working in corporate law and tax and holds a Bachelor of Law. Mr Fowke was requested to be the Committee’s independent member in July 2016 (in accordance with best-practice advice from the Controller and Auditor-General that states local authority audit committees should have at least one independent member) and has remained on the Committee since then. Mr Fowke has voting rights on the Committee. Biographical information on him can be seen here: Governance & Leadership | MASH Trust

Creative Communities Assessment Committee – External Members

Council distributes Creative Communities Scheme funding on behalf of Creative New Zealand under an agreement.  Part of that agreement requires the appointment of community representatives and one tangata whenua representative in accordance with Creative New Zealand guidelines.  The requirement is for all community representatives to be familiar with the range and diversity of local arts activities in the Manawatu District.  There is a public nomination process that needs to be followed when appointing community representatives. The current community representatives are Mr Ben Caldwell (Chairperson), Mrs Sue James, Ms Karis Evans and Ms Michelle Thompson.  The tangata whenua representative is appointed by Te Kotui Reo Taumata which is the Manawatu District’s Marae/Hapu Collective.  Their appointee is Mrs Kim Savage.  All community representatives including the tangata whenua representative have full voting rights as well as delegated authority to make decisions.

Withholding of contact information and CVs

We have decided not to release these external member’s contact information or CVs due to privacy reasons – as provided for in Section 7(2)(a) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, being the justification that this is required to protect the privacy of natural persons:

We do not publish the contact details of external members on our website.

Remuneration

John Fowke - $6,215

Ben Caldwell - $520

Kim Savage - $520

Sue James - $260

Karis Evans - $520

Expenses

Karis Evans - $63.35 (mileage)

We do not hold an interests register for our external members, however we note the below declarations of interest that have taken place for current external members in the 2022-25 triennium:

Karis Evans

Creative Communities Assessment Committee meetings on both 19 September 2023 and 30 April 2024:

- Feilding and District Art Society funding application. Karis Evans is a committee member and did not participate in these decisions.

Ben Caldwell

Creative Communities Assessment Committee meeting on 26 April 2023:

- DIY Comedy (Ben Caldwell) funding application. Ben Caldwell left the room as this item was discussed, and did not participate in the decision.