FAQs - Governance

Council meetings are live streamed on our website. You can also view archived meetings on our Minutes & Agendas page.

Please contact Council by either phone or email to put in your apology for the meeting.

The appropriate Council Officer/s will be advised as soon as possible, as it is important that they know you are unable to attend.

The Mayor and Councillors are avid at acknowledging the following attainments reached by residents within the Horowhenua District by way of congratulatory letters being sent to:

• Couples celebrating their 50th (Golden) or 60th (Diamond) Wedding Anniversaries
• Individuals celebrating their 90th or 100th birthdays.

The Executive Assistant to the Mayor is responsible for arranging such acknowledgements. To request formal recognition by Council please visit our Congratulatory Message Service page. We respectfully request that such requests for acknowledgement are made at least five working days in advance.

Horowhenua District Council makes available public participation on any matter contained on the relevant Agenda to the public attending Committee and Council meetings.

The time allocated to each speaker is a maximum of five minutes with deputations on any matter to comprise a maximum of two speakers.

Those wishing to speak at any Committee or Council meeting should first register their interest with the Meeting Secretary prior to the meeting commencing by contacting Council. This information will be referred to the Meeting Secretary.

Horowhenua District Council introduced its Civic Honours Award system in 1995 to enable voluntary service within the District to be duly recognised. Since its inception, a number of District residents have received Civic Honours Awards over a wide range of voluntary community service categories. Civic Honours takes place towards the end of the year which includes recipients and family / friends.

For further information about the Nomination and Selection process and access to the Guidelines, Criteria and Judging Panel please see our Civic Honours Awards page.

Council meetings take place every six weeks and are open to the public. We encourage residents and ratepayers to attend open meetings and become involved in local government decision making.

You can find the Council meetings scheduled on our website, pick up a Meeting Schedule brochure from one of our Service Centres, or look out for the full meeting schedule in The Chronicle each month.

Agendas and minutes for Council Meetings, the Finance Audit & Risk Subcommittee, Strategy Committee and other committees of Council are available on our website.

Copies of agendas and minutes can also be obtained from Council’s Customer Service Centres.

As some items are included in an ‘In Commitee agenda’ these are deemed confidential and not available to the public. You can request these by making a request under the Local Government Official Information & Meetings Act (LGOIMA) for which consideration will be given to the request under the Act.

Councillors are elected on a Ward basis, whilst the election for Mayor is conducted over the whole District.

• Michael Feyen - Mayor
• Wayne Bishop - Deputy Mayor / Waiopehu Ward
• Ross Brannigan - Kere Kere Ward
• Ross Campbell - Miranui Ward
• Victoria Kaye-Simmons - Levin Ward
• Jo Mason - Levin Ward
• Christine Mitchell - Waiopehu Ward
• Piri-Hira Tukapua - Levin Ward
• Neville Gimblett - Kere Kere Ward
• Bernie Wanden - Levin Ward.

Agendas and minutes for Horowhenua District Council meetings can be found on our website.

An agenda consists of the order paper and unconfirmed minutes of the previous meeting(s). Draft unconfirmed minutes remain draft until they are confirmed by Council or committee.

Public Excluded Agendas and Minutes are not available to the public, however where there is a Public Excluded Agenda, the item headings can be seen at the back of the Open Agendas.