The Local Government Commission has determined Council’s existing representation arrangements will apply in this year’s local authority elections.

This means there will be no change to ward boundaries or names and the number of elected members will remain the same. There will be no community boards, as put forward in Council’s final proposal following its representation review.

The basis for the Commission’s determination was that the proposal did not provide for effective representation of the rural areas, and a ward system would continue to best provide for this.

The final proposal recommended nine elected members but the Commission believed this number was not suffice to provide for the responsibilities of a unitary authority.

The decision also stated while they were not against community boards, extensive engagement should have been carried out on community boards prior to the proposal.

The Commission received 59 appeals and objections to Council’s final proposal and hearings of submissions both in support and against the proposal were held in October 2018.

A representation review is required to be held every six years to ensure council representation is fair, effective and meets the needs of our communities. However, Council may choose to review its representation arrangements prior to the 2022 triennial elections.

ENDS

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