The Department of Internal Affairs

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

Building a safe, prosperous and respected nation



 

City and Regional Deals

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Economic growth, Connected and resilient infrastructure, Affordable quality housing,

Promoting economic growth, delivering infrastructure, and improving the supply of quality housing across Aotearoa.

City and Regional Deals is the Government’s initiative for establishing long-term agreements between central and local government. The programme unlocks funding and resource opportunities to support councils to make improvements in their region, for example to roads, infrastructure, and the supply of quality housing.

The CRDs programme aspires to deliver game-changing outcomes, including delivering infrastructure and/or change that ensures significantly higher economic growth for regions through a Deal.

This will be achieved through Deals that:

  • identify and deliver on the unique economic potential for each region and magnify growth in the area;
  • enable tailored solutions to address specific place-based challenges; and
  • align local and central government priorities and drive co-ordinated policy solutions.

Each deal is unique and built around the shared goal of supporting communities across New Zealand to grow and thrive. By forging partnerships between councils, and engaging private sector and Māori organisations, each region can prioritise its unique needs to work towards long-term and localised economic resilience and growth.

What is a City and Regional deal?

City and Regional deals will be enduring and will provide the certainty needed to attract and retain the necessary investments to deliver change. Deals make use of existing resources rather than relying solely on new funding, with central and local governments aligning our budget cycles and investment strategies to ensure resources can be used effectively.

Each deal will cater to local priorities while sharing the following foundational components:

  • Each deal will be based on a 30-year vision for the region.
  • Each deal will have a 10-year strategic plan with clear outcomes and actions required to achieve them.
  • Deals will rely on existing resources to achieve shared goals over new funding.
  • Deals establish a framework through which new funding can be allocated as it becomes available.

Regions for City and Regional Deals can include regional, sub-regional, or other suitable areas, as long as they are clearly defined economic and geographic areas with functioning local authorities.