Recently there has been some criticism of the TDCC’s new constitution (rules) adopted this year saying that: “Every applicant for membership must consent in writing to becoming a Member”.
Our previous constitution said that any resident or ratepayer 18 years of age or over on the Tasman District Council Valuation and Electoral Roll residing in Tapawera and surrounding areas (which were listed) shall be deemed to be a constituent (meaning a member) of the TDCC.
So why was it changed?
The simple answer is because the law required it.
The current officers of the TDCC wanted to retain the previous criteria because it would have been far simpler, but we couldn’t.
As an incorporated society the TDCC is required to comply with the laws of NZ and also its own constitution. Every incorporated society in NZ is having to re-register before April 2026 if they want to continue operating. Section 76 of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (which now governs incorporated societies) says clearly: “A person must consent to become a member of a society.” No ifs, no buts.
This legislation means there is no way the constitution can be changed back to the way things were where every adult in Tapawera is by default a member of the TDCC.
The membership provisions came straight out of the Constitution Builder tool provided on the Incorporated Societies website. They were not made up by the TDCC committee.
Any suggestion that TDCC wrote the rules to somehow close off membership and make it harder for people to participate is totally false. The current officers of the TDCC have used The Informer, Facebook and the community website to encourage Tapawera locals to join.
It’s been frustrating for us that we have comparatively few members as a percentage of the wider adult population but this is a result of the requirement of the new legislation. It was good to see community members recently encouraging people to join TDCC because that’s what we’ve been trying to do all along.
