John Law is a former Mayor of the Rodney District Council, New Zealand, and held that post from 2001 to 2007. He was elected during a by-election, following a period of instability in the leadership and governance of Rodney District Council. He was one of the seven mayors heading the main local government entities generally considered as making up the Auckland metropolitan area (Auckland City, Manukau City, Waitakere City, North Shore City, Rodney District Franklin District Council Papakura District Council), with his district being one of the largest districts and the northernmost entity. John Law was re-elected in 2004, but did not stand for re-election in 2007.
John Law was the first Mayor to declare his district "organic friendly". He was also one of the proponents of greater regional integration between the various districts. He was at one time the Chair of the Mayoral forum of Auckland. John Law was against the Super-City, and his plan was for the ARC to be abolished [1] and replaced with a council of the seven Mayors to lead regional issues with one of the Mayors elected as chair. John Law was cautiously critical of the proposed outcomes of the Super-City and unsupportive of the drive to merge district councils. He later acknowledged the Super-City to be an 'abject failure'. [2]
John Law has also questioned the decision making of the ARC in other ways, such as when he expressed his opinion that the Regional Council should not have a say in land use (zoning) and should stick to dealing with environmental concerns. [3]
In 2022, his grandson Jake Law stood as a candidate in the 2022 local body elections to be a councillor in the Albany Ward (which makes up part of the former Rodney area) and for the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board. Jake was elected to the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board in October 2022. [4] Auckland Council. [5]
Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a combination of rural and urban communities, while city councils administer the larger urban areas. Five territorial authorities also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands Council is a sui generis territorial authority that is similar to a unitary authority.
The Whangaparāoa Peninsula is a suburban area about 30–50 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. It had 33,390 residents in 2018. It stretches from Red Beach, where it connects to Kingsway, Orewa and Silverdale, and extends to Army Bay in the Hauraki Gulf. It is part of the Hibiscus Coast. The area is populated by residents who work on the peninsula, or commute from the area to other parts of the Hibiscus Coast, the North Shore, Rodney district, Auckland CBD and beyond for work. They travel by vehicle, or via the Gulf Harbour ferry at Gulf Harbour Marina, or the Hibiscus Coast Bus Station at Silverdale. There is one main road along its entire length, which is accessible from State Highway 1 via Hibiscus Coast Highway at Silverdale, or from Hibiscus Coast Highway at Orewa via Red Beach. It is popular as a tourist destination for catching a ferry to Tiritiri Matangi Island, and for visiting Shakespear Regional Park. It has one open (Whangaparāoa Golf Club) and one closed golf club (Gulf Harbour Country Club), beaches, sporting and recreation facilities, a library, shops, businesses and public and private primary and secondary schools. The median age of the population is in the 30s-40s.
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Rodney Ward is a local government area in the northernmost part of New Zealand's Auckland Region, created along with the Auckland Council in 2010. The area was previously part of Rodney District; it does not include the Hibiscus Coast, which was also part of Rodney District but is now in Albany ward. The Rodney Local Board area has the same boundaries as Rodney Ward.
New Zealand has a unitary system of government in which the authority of the central government defines sub-national entities. Local government in New Zealand has only the powers conferred upon it by the New Zealand Parliament. Under the Local Government Act 2002, local authorities are responsible for enabling democratic local decision-making and promoting the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of their communities, as well as more specific functions for which they have delegated authority.
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