South Wairarapa’s Community Boards Could Disappear

Wednesday, 3 July 2024, 6:44 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

Community boards may be on the way out, in what would be one of the biggest changes to democracy in South Wairarapa since 1989.

At Wednesday’s South Wairarapa District Council Strategy Working Committee meeting, elected members voted unanimously to develop a representation review proposal that does not include community boards.

The proposal would also include: a Māori Ward [one councillor]; Greytown, Featherston, and Martinborough Wards [two councillors each], an At Large Ward [two councillors], and the mayor.

Alongside the proposal, the council would investigate establishing a Rural Advisory Group.

In 1989, when smaller local government units were amalgamated across New Zealand, communities that previously had their own council were given a community board instead.

There are currently three boards in South Wairarapa: Featherston, Greytown, and Martinborough; each has four elected board members.

However, in the 2022 local body elections, all candidates who stood for Greytown and Martinborough's community boards were automatically declared elected because the number of nominations received did not exceed the number of vacancies.

Greytown Ward councillor Martin Bosley said he had initially campaigned on “giving community boards more power”.

“I thought they needed to be a stronger voice in the community.

“Now that I have been on one, the thought of giving community boards more power terrifies me.

“I think the idea of a community board is fundamentally a good one but I think the mechanics of it and who ends up there is problematic at best.”

He said having three ward councillors and four community board members per town was “almost over-representation”.

Councillor Colin Olds said community boards had “served a purpose in those early days”, but questioned if they were now “fit-for-purpose”.

Deputy Mayor Melissa Sadler-Futter said South Wairarapa’s community boards were not set up to succeed and had not been given “a clear understanding of their purpose”.

“I think they need to be reviewed in terms of what are their purpose, how do they succeed, and what are they there for,” she said.

Councillor Kaye McAuley agreed community boards needed to be reviewed, but wanted to see community representation maintained in something similar to an advisory group.

Featherston Ward councillor Rebecca Gray agreed community boards were not set up to succeed.

“Currently they are not functioning the way they should but there is a lot of potential there.”

She said people were more engaged with the Featherston Community Board than with the council and “that interface is valuable”.

Martinborough Ward councillor Aidan Ellims agreed.

“I’m biased towards community boards because I was on the Martinborough Community Board in the previous triennium and I’m still involved, but certainly from the Martinborough perspective, the community board has provided a strong voice [...] to the council table.”

He said the role community board members played in Martinborough was “over and above” what he had the time and ability to do as a councillor.

SWDC staff will work on the proposal based on the direction from Wednesday’s meeting.

On July 31, the Strategy Working Committee will need to adopt their initial proposal for public consultation.

Hearings and deliberations would be held in September and the representation option would be confirmed on October 2.

The new arrangement would be in place for the 2025 local body elections.

Representation reviews are required every six years under the Local Government Act.

The review must consider things like how many elected members there are, community boards, and ward names and their boundaries.

Absent from Wednesday's meeting were: Mayor Martin Connelly and councillors Aaron Woodcock, Alistair Plimmer, and Pip Maynard.

-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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