Doug Leeder BOP Regional Council Chairman

Kia ora and welcome to my first column as chair of your Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

The newly-elected council has made a great start to the new triennium, with excellent ability and experience at the council table. Six new councillors, and eight returning, make up the 14 – which is one more than the last triennium, with Tauranga being allocated another position due to the city's population growth.

Overall, we have a good blend of experience and enthusiasm to represent the communities of the Bay of Plenty.

After a few weeks of meeting some of the leaders across the region, I'm heartened by the commitment to work together for the betterment of the whole region. Funding from parties, such as government, trusts and charities, can be better sourced if we have a clear agreement and a plan for the region as a whole. SmartGrowth in the Western Bay is a great example of this commitment at work.

A focus for the next few months will be on making sure the regional council's governance and operational systems ensure everyone's time is spent productively, and that meetings and reports are fit for purpose. To that end, we've already reduced the number of standing committees. In addition to full council, we now have the Regional Direction and Delivery, Audit and Risk, and Maori committees.

Paula Thompson will chair the new Regional Direction and Delivery Committee, which will develop, implement and monitor most of council's policy and operations, including RMA and operational plans and policies.

The Audit and Risk Committee will be chaired by John Cronin, and will develop and review funding and risk plans and policies.

Awanui Black will chair the Maori Committee, and also review its terms of reference. The aim is to make a focus on Maori development, a particular priority for the council.

We will, of course, continue with the various sub-committees and joint forums that include stakeholders from across the region. These include Transport, Civil Defence, the Rangitaiki River Forum and the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy Group.

All of your regional councillors and staff are excited about the future opportunities in our region, for which we can thank our well-established primary production base, a good (and soon to be even better) transport network, a growing and diverse business and tourism network, and the country's biggest port. Of course, we're also in a fantastic place to live, work, retire and enjoy.

The last couple of months have been fairly intense, as I've been getting briefed on all of the activities of council. I also have yet to meet all of the region's Mayors, CEOs and other stakeholders.

Next year, I hope to convene community meetings where we can better explain our role and the results we're looking to achieve in partnership with your city and district councils.

The next full council meeting is on December 19 in Mt Maunganui. These meetings include a public forum, so please feel free to come along, raise any issues you have, and see your regional council in action.