South Wairarapa Rural Ward Gets Final Push

Thursday, 6 February 2025, 9:36 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

February 4, 2025

The case for rural representation in South Wairarapa will take centre stage next week at a Local Government Commission hearing.

Rural residents Dan Riddiford, Jim Hedley, and Alistair and Jenny Boyne would hold the council’s feet to the fire over its representation proposal.

They said the rural area of South Wairarapa had “distinct communities and cultures” and that this warranted a rural ward.

Last year, the council voted for a representation arrangement that included three councillors elected from each of its three areas: Greytown, Martinborough, and Featherston, and a Māori Ward councillor.

This proposal differed from what the council consulted on, which was to have two ward councillors from each of the three areas, two councillors elected at large, one Māori ward councillor, and a mayor.

Of those who submitted feedback on the initial proposal, 65% did not support it.

The issue that got the most traction out of the 129 submissions was a push for a rural ward.

In Riddiford’s submission to the representation review, he said the council should have two urban ward councillors and one rural ward councillor for each town area.

The Boynes supported this idea.

In Hedley’s submission, he said more than a third of South Wairarapa’s population were rural and so a third of councillors should be elected from a rural ward.

Ultimately, the council voted for an arrangement that was largely status quo but with the addition of a Māori ward.

At the time, councillor Alistair Plimmer said he was personally in favour of having a rural ward within each of the three town areas, but with only 1% of the population submitting to the representation review, he didn’t think there was a mandate to do so.

The council also resolved to establish a rural coastal advisory group to enhance rural representation, but Riddiford said this was not a substitute for legal democratic representation.

On February 11 at 9.30am, three commissioners would hear from the council about how it reached its final decision and from the appellants.

A final decision would be issued by the Local Government Commission by April 11.

South Wairarapa District Council was one of several authorities whose representation proposal was challenged by the public and required a hearing.

The hearing livestream could be accessed via the Commission’s YouTube channel: Local Government Commission - New Zealand - YouTube.

Appeals were also received on Greater Wellington Regional Council’s representation proposal but a decision was yet to be made on whether to hold a hearing.

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

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