Tauranga City Council has voted to amend its governance structure, with changes to the membership of standing committees and a revised meeting frequency.

This follows a review instigated by elected members of the committee structure and their terms of reference.

In a media statement Tauranga City Council says the revised governance structure extends the membership of the main standing committees to all Council members – making them ‘committees of the whole'.

'This means the mayor and all councillors will now have voting powers on the City Transformation, Transport, Community and Culture, Environment, Economic Development and Investment, and Audit, Finance, Risk and Monitoring Committees.

'This will provide a better cross-portfolio overview for all members, facilitating their participation in decision-making processes and making it easier for all elected members to understand the implications of decisions across all portfolios.

'This will not affect the position of external representatives appointed to certain committees as non-voting members.

'The move to committees of the whole will increase the time commitment of elected members for meeting attendance. To reduce this impact, Council has agreed to move from monthly council and committee meetings to a six-weekly meeting cycle.

'This is in line with other similar councils' practice.”

Council has also voted to appoint Cr. John Robson as Deputy Chairperson of the AFRM Committee.

'This appointment and the change to committees of the whole take effect immediately, and the change to meeting frequency will be implemented as new meetings are scheduled.

'Staff will come back to Council before the end of the year with further proposed changes to the Governance Structure Terms of Reference Manual 2016-19, including delegations.”