[1][2] The Chatham Islands Council is not a region but is similar to a unitary authority, authorised under its own legislation.

[3] The regional councils are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002,[4] along with reference to the Gazette notices that established them in 1989.

[5] The act requires regional councils to promote sustainable development – the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities.

[27] Regional councils are funded through property rates, subsidies from central government, income from trading, and user charges for certain public services.

Councillors were not elected directly – they were appointed from the various territorial local authorities (TLAs) within the region.

For example, in a number of cases the united council took responsibility for the allocation of revenue from regional petrol taxes.

The united councils were based in the facilities of the largest TLA in the region and largely dependent on the TLAs for resources.