A review of its code of conduct along with standing orders are two of the first issues being tackled by Whanganui District Council.
The council held its first full meeting yesterday with Mayor Hamish McDouall appointing a number of councillors to review both activities and report back with recommendations.
The code of conduct sets out the standard of behaviour expected of individual councillors.
Paul Drake, council's legal officer, said the review would be useful and would use a Local Government NZ template as a guide.
It's expected to give more clarity to the code itself and focuses on building supportive and inclusive culture at council to avert potential breaches of conduct.
Mr Drake said the review could have been left to council chief executive officer Kym Fell but said that "would not capture the nuances" that elected councillors would be able to bring to the discussion.