Tawa District Office and Service Centre

Descriptive Data

TypeAgencyDate Range1989-2006DescriptionWith the passing of the Local Government Act in 1989 Tawa Borough was amalgamated with a greatly enlarged Wellington City. The Tawa Borough Council became the Tawa Ward within Wellington City Council (WCC), on November 1, 1991. Following amalgamation, the Town Clerk of WCC recommended that 'absorbing the Tawa organisation into the functional structure of the WCC was not the best option for the Tawa area…the preferred option is to have the Tawa Borough area administered as a District Office of the WCC'. He further recommended: 'That the remainder of the Tawa Borough organisation remains intact and is administered as a district office of the Wellington City Council. There be a district manager for the district office with the Manager to be based at Tawa and reporting to the City Treasurer located at the WCC. The Resources Committee of the WCC is responsible for policy in relation to the operation of the Tawa District Office.' Tawa was managed by WCC as a semi-autonomous operational unit. Unlike most other suburbs it had a Community Board and its own local management structure. The District Office maintained service delivery to the Tawa region through the Tawa Service Centre which operated as an interface for Council in the Tawa region. There was a separate staffing structure for Tawa from WCC. The staff reported to the District Manager.

The Tawa Service Centre maintained and improved the amenities and services it had provided to local residents as Tawa Borough Council including:
- Public Works
- Reserves division
- Environmental Services
- Building Services

The Centre also responded to general inquiries - including street services, animal control, parking, hall bookings, and receiving tenders.

The Service Centre also provided the following services:
- rates payment, Council housing rents, water meter bills, any other Council payments, or loan repayments.
- registration of dogs.
- sale of rubbish bags, recycling bins, and parking coupons.
- information about Council facilities including pools, landfills, and rubbish collections.
- receiving reports on problems or faults with Council services.
- applications for land and development approvals including resource and building consents and property reports
- applications for hygiene and liquor licenses.

Subdivisions were handled by WCC Survey and Land Information Services, but all were referred to the District Office for comment before the final subdivision was prepared.

Despite further opposition, almost full organisational integration with WCC occurred from July 1, 1995, integrating the Tawa operations into appropriate WCC divisions, and absorbing many of the staff into these. The Tawa Service Centre was not discontinued entirely but changes occurred with integration. The District Manager was replaced by an operational Service Centre Supervisor reporting to the WCC Manager Customer Services. Two other staff plus the supervisor fronted direct council inquiries and provided a cashiering role for rates and council payments. Another nine staff were also located at the service centre to handle building and resource consents. Specialists, including the Environmental Health Office, Draughting Officer, District Engineer, Reserves Superintendent, and District Overseer, were relocated to appropriate WCC divisions. Environment Division staff continued to operate in Tawa with a building support officer. The Building Services division of the Service Centre closed on 17 March 2006, with the remainder of the Tawa Service Centre incorporated into the Tawa library with basic Council services for the area such as rates payments, dog registrations, and the sale of Council rubbish bags and recycling bins retained.

Series

WCC, Tawa District Office and Service Centre, Applications for Planning or Resource Consent

WCC, Tawa District Office and Service Centre correspondence files

Agency or Organisation

Tawa Borough Council

Controlling Agency or Organisation

Controlling Agency or OrganisationWellington City CouncilControlling Agency or Organisation Date Range1870-

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Tawa District Office and Service Centre