We have a legal fund that we need help with donations. We explain why in this blog.

After the election in 2025 we thought there may not be a lot to do with all the new people voted in at the NPDC.

How wrong we were.

A large part of the work that happens with Local Councils across the country, is presented by Council staff, and presented with a viewpoint of council staff. That view is not always in line with what legislation allows for.

When legislation is part of a decision to be voted on by elected officials, the council staff present their version of how that applies in the agenda’s for those meetings.

We have found that the legislation background may include things that are not required by law, or they may have a different version of what is required by law. What is presented to vote on is not always in the best interest of ratepayers or the overall community.

Just to remind people, when the Statement of Expectations document was being created for the Water Company earlier this year, we didn’t think the wording was in the best interests of ratepayers and water company consumers. We obtained a legal opinion, presented it to the Mayor and Councillors at an NPDC meeting, and at the next Council meeting, we were really pleased to see every elected official voted to include those changes in this legally binding document.

Because of that legal opinion, there are now greater protections for the overall community with how the Water Company must operate.

There are a number of vey important legally binding documents, for the protection of ratepayers, which are updated regularly by Local Councils. We have got to the point where we are asking our lawyers to review new versions of these documents to see if there are any issues for ratepayers. Checking there is nothing that shouldn’t be there, and checking that everything that should be there, is there.

Frankly, the community should not have to check that the work their local council is doing complies with NZ legislation, but without taking these steps, the habits of the last 15 or so years of undermining Ratepayers in New Plymouth will continue.

We work with a great legal firm who maximise the output of work for the bill we pay, but still legal opinions are costly. This is why we are asking for help with donations.

The money in our legal fund is kept separate from our day to day running costs, and used specifically for legal oversight of documents or decisions, or legal opinions (a written document we can present publicly endorsing a legal view).

Are you able to help with a donation to this fund ?

Every donation helps - $2 - $5 - $10 - $20 - $50 - $100 – whatever you may be able to help with - will be helpful for us.

**Bank Account details are:**

TSB Bank Account:

Name of Account: New Plymouth District Ratepayers Alliance

15 3943 0039254 01

Please use the words “Legal Fund” as a reference

*Please note donations are not Tax Deductible.