Charles Fairbairn, Author at Local Government Magazine

Charles Fairbairn

Author's Posts

Social Media

Social media: NZ councils lag behind UK

New Zealand local authorities are not as quick as their UK counterparts to utilise social media in delivering services, according to a new report. In its third annual survey on social media use in UK local government, BDO business advisory and accountancy firm has for the first time compared social media use by UK local authorities with...

My View

Sue Bidrose: On developing a fraud-resistant council

Chief executive Sue Bidrose manages with gusto as she helps steer Dunedin City Council through troubled waters. By Ruth Le Pla Sue Bidrose reminds me of my favourite sister-in-law. I’ve got eight of them so it’s more than my life’s worth to let the other seven know who tops the list. Suffice it to say, Sue’s the one with the...

Features

The way we work

Auckland Council has an enormous opportunity to change the way it handles employment relations in the next five to 10 years. Chief executive Stephen Town details the plan. What do council employees really, really want? Not certificates for good performance, that’s for sure. Morning teas don’t cut it either. No. As in most other...

Features

Growing grassroots local government

Mick Lester is on a mission to nurture the next generation of people willing to enter local government. He tells Ruth Le Pla how it’s going. Catching up with Mick Lester is a bit like trying to pin down a kangaroo. I’d lucked a meeting with him in Wellington a while back and since then he’s been bouncing round the country doing...

Features

Hand in hand: two plans - one story

An award-winning project in Rolleston shows the benefit of joined-up planning, says David Allan. Selwyn District Council, Boffa Miskell and Global Leisure Group recently won the New Zealand Planning Institute’s Best Practice Award for Excellence in Strategic Planning and Guidance for their work on masterplans for the Rolleston town...