DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY AT YOUR COUNCIL

All too often the ‘delegated authorities’ embedded in, invested in, local councils are overlooked and trivialised. Also, what isn’t understood, possibly misunderstood, is the power granted to the holders of a delegated authority. Indeed,  how these powers can be, have been used, overtly and subliminally, towards all manner of ends is, seemingly, never examined. 

Essentially, local governance is entirely about ‘placemaking and placescaping’ and thus it impacts upon a community’s, and the individuals within it, well-being and self-worth. By extension, the ’trust’ invested in people with 'delegated authorities' is no trivial matter. 

In so many ways the power and authority these people hold under the Local Govt Act 1993 in Tasmania touches upon so many aspects of a community’s, and an individual’s, well being. The impact is enormous.

If and when these ‘authorities’ become bureaucrat playthings it is concerning. When they are granted willy nilly it is more than concerning. The cavalier approach to the investment of these powers is more than concerning taking into account all that they represent. 

How we govern places and thus create ‘cultural landscapes’ is something that cannot be overlooked. It is that which gives people their 'placedness'  – their sense of place, their belongingness.

Moreover, each and every person who has an interest in, a sense of ownership in, an attachment to, a place belongs to it as much as they might in various ways see it as belonging to them. 

Culture makes places and places make cultures. So again, those with whom we invest various authorities have been granted rights to do with shaping/making place that most importantly bring with them ‘obligations’ – onerous obligations. 

'Places' have Communities of Ownership and Interest (COI). A COI as a proposition, is an all-inclusive collective/community of people, individuals and groups, who in any way have multi-layered relationships with a place or cultural landscape and/or the operation of an institution, organisation or establishment – typically they are a network of networks.

A great deal of trust is invested in local governance and the ‘mechanisms’ devised to shape and make ‘place’. .

Against this background so many questions arise to do with 'delegated authorities' that beg for answers. Like, are the incumbents up to the tasks set them, or even up for it? How do they get/win their authority? To whom are they accountable? How can a reasonable citizen discover their identity and verify their authority? How might a reasonable person challenge a misused authority or a delinquent incumbent? And more still!

If you do not know who has what delegated authorities are in place in ‘your place’, what incumbents they bring to it, how they got it, or who is accountable to who, there can be no transparency – and no meaningful accountability. 

Anytime you ponder such things ask your local government for a register of delegated authorities. In Tasmania Councils are required to maintain such a register and make it available in a timely way. 

If you are unsatisfied with what you discover do not leave a stone unturned until you are satisfied. You have rights and you too have obligations in regard to 'placemaking and placescaping'. 

CALL YOU COUNCIL TODAY

BE INFORMED