31 May 2012

Consultation Opens For Waikato District Representation

Waikato District Council wants to hear from electors on their proposed changes to the representation arrangements for the district.

Councillors have reviewed the representation of wards and community boards, to make sure they fairly represent the communities across the district. As a result, the council proposes reducing the number of wards by one, and therefore reducing the number of council representatives by one.

The proposed changes are:

• The existing Onewhero and Whaingaroa wards merge to form the Onewhero – Te Akau ward
• Ward boundaries for Huntly, Raglan and Newcastle are slightly expanded
• Raglan Community Board boundaries are expanded to include Ruapuke, Te Mata and Te Uku
• A total of 13 councillors for the 10 wards, plus the Mayor elected at large This would reducing the number of wards and councillors by one.

Details of the proposed representation arrangements are available at the council’s offices and libraries and on the council’s website www.waikatodistrict.co.nz.

Consultation opens today (Thursday 31 May 2012), and closes at 4pm, Monday 2 July 2012.

Background
Under legislation, the council has to review its representation arrangements every six years, because populations and communities change. The council needs to be sure political representation reflects those changes, and is fair.

There were changes with the amalgamation of part of the former Franklin district with Waikato, resulting in changes to the wards and size of the council representing the new Waikato district.

However, the council has since reviewed its representation arrangements regarding wards, community boards and the number of councillors. It also consulted about the possibility of Maaori wards being established. The outcome of that poll was against the establishment of Maaori wards, so the review focused on the present arrangements and how they might better represent the community’s interests.

The proposed make-up of the wards is based primarily on population numbers, as well as communities of interest. The Electoral Act stipulates that the population each councillor represents must be within the range of 4,943, plus or minus 10 per cent (4,450 to 5440). This is why the Raglan, Huntly and Awaroa ki Tuakau wards have two councillors each.

ENDS

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