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Does the Ashburton District Council open its meetings with a prayer?

Alex Harris made this Official Information Act request to Ashburton District Council

The request was successful.

From: Alex Harris

3 April 2012

Dear Ashburton District Council,

As you may have read recently, the Whanganui District Council
abolished its opening prayer after a complaint was made to the
Human Rights Commission. I'm interested in learning how widespread
this practice is, so I'd like to request the following information
under the LGOIMA:

* Does the Council open its meetings with a prayer?
* If the answer to the above is "yes", then I'd like a copy of that
prayer (or examples, if more than one is used), when the practice
was first established, whether the council has considered
abolishing it in the wake of the Whanganui decision, and any advice
the council may hold on the prayer's compatibility with both the
Human Rights Act 1993 and Bill of Rights Act 1990.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about
this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the
fyi.org.nz website.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

Link to this

From: FYI Requests

9 April 2012

Further to your LGOIMA request about the need for Council prayers,
can you please supply me with a postal address. I cannot find one
on your website. I'm sorry but our business system requires a
postal address for lodging requests of any sort. It is not a matter
of Council policy, just a system requirement. Many thanks.

Link to this

From: Alex Harris

9 April 2012

Dear FYI Requests,

As noted, I am seeking an electronic response, as part of the
purpose of fyi is to make official information public.

To keep your computer happy, tell it I live at 70 The Terrace,
Wellington 6011.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Harris

Link to this

From: FYI Requests

11 April 2012

Alex,

Thank you for your information request. We hope the following information
adequately answers your questions.

Yes, full meetings of Ashburton District Council (but not its
subcommittees) are opened with prayer.
The current practice began in 2004, at the instigation of the then Mayor
and with the agreement of Council. We have no knowledge of possible
earlier practices by this District Council and its predecessor Councils.
The local inter-denominational Ministers' Association operates a rota for
their members to attend and say the prayer.
There is no set written prayer and it is left to the minister/clergy to
provide any introductory thought and say the prayer.
No record is kept of the prayers or dialogue.
There is no current discussion on cancelling - "abolish" is a very loaded
word semantically as this is not a bylaw - the arrangement following the
recent Wanganui District Council decision and the matters leading up to
the amendment of the UK Localism Act.

Thank you for your help with my technical problem. That's quite an
address!

Best wishes,

Geraint Philp
Records and Administration Manager
Ashburton District Council
5 Baring Square West
PO Box 94
Ashburton 7740
New Zealand
Tel [1]+64 (0)3 307 7700
DDI [2]+64 (0)3 307 7775
Fax [3]+64 (0)3 308 1836
Email [4][email address]

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