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The Council is making it easier to access public information by publishing responses to official information requests that may be of wider public interest.

View these responses

The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) gives everyone the right to request official information held by the Council. The Council holds a large amount of official information including reports, emails, policies, documents and databases.

Council's Chief Executive Sharon Mason says the number of requests the Council receives continues to grow, reflecting both the growth of Waikirikiri Selwyn and increasing public interest in Council activities.

Council are required to respond within 20 working days under the LGOIMA with the information, or to advise why we can’t. “We’ve been working on responding a lot quicker than the maximum time limit and the work the team have done has brought our performance up to a position we want it to be whereby we’re responding on average now well within that time limit.

"We hope that by also publishing responses to commonly requested topics, we hope to make it easier for the public to access information without needing to submit a request.

“This is a great step forward in making Council information more open and accessible.”

"While there are times we may need to withhold information, such as for privacy reasons, we work hard to make as much information available as possible."

Last year, our average time taken to respond to requests was 23 working days, and this has reduced to just 14 working days this year.

Learn more about official information requests

Make an official information request.

Last modified: 13 Nov 2025 11:13am