Otago Regional Council (ORC) chair Gretchen Robertson has confirmed that new structures were being put in place to keep elected members and the public informed about Regional Deal discussions.

Dunstan ward councillor Michael Laws congratulated her on the way she handled the recent Regional Deal meeting, following a procedurally messy second meeting of the joint committee on August 18.

The Regional Deal meeting was adjourned by Gretchen, as chair, following debate over whether to move into public-excluded.

Consensus was finally reached to allow all elected members from the three councils represented on the committee, to receive papers and sit in on public-excluded sessions as observers.

At the ORC meeting on Wednesday (August 27) Michael said Gretchen handled what had been “difficult position” well.

He asked how she intended to keep everyone informed going forward, and whether she understood the protocols involved in that.

“We are putting in place structure behind it. We can only be ourselves and be local government, and we have legislation on what is right and wrong in terms of openness and transparency,” Gretchen said.

Elected members would be able to access a ‘confidential’ folder that has access to recordings of workshops and papers.

There would be a public interface as well, for example, through a website, where information would be uploaded, and they were also working through the right setting where councillors could ask questions, she said.

Michael asked at what stage would that information need to come back around the table for sign off and the regional council taking an official position.

“That’s where transparency is really important,” Gretchen said.

It was also pointed out the incoming council would need to appoint a new representative to replace outgoing councillor Alexa Forbes, who is the current ORC representative on the Regional Deal committee.

ORC chief executive Richard Saunders reminded councillors that any final regional deal still needed to have the approval of all three councils.

The committee worked on consensus decision making where all partners around the table agreed with a course of action before decisions were made.

The regional deal was intended to align local and central government on long-term priorities across Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago. 

Otago was one of the first regions to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the government in July, alongside Auckland and Western Bay of Plenty. 

Each deal will set out a 30-year vision with a 10-year strategic plan, with the government aiming to finalise the first agreements by the end of the year.

Read more: Messy meeting ends with access to regional deal negotiations for councillors

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