Commission Finds In Favour Of Ōpōtiki Council Wards

Friday, 11 April 2025, 8:19 pm
Article: Diane McCarthy - Local Democracy Reporter

Ōpōtiki District Council is pleased to be able to move forward with its election preparations now that a Local Government Commission panel has upheld its decision on its representation arrangements.

The commission released its determination on Tuesday, that the district will have four general and three Māori ward councillors at this year’s election as the council had decided on in September.

An urban general ward will have two councillors, a rural general ward will have two councillors, an Ōpōtiki Māori ward will have two councillors and a Coast Māori ward will have one councillor. The mayor will be elected at large, making a total council of eight members.

The Coast Community Board will be maintained with four members plus a councillor.

Ōpōtiki Mayor David Moore said it was a reflection of the thought and consideration put into its representation arrangements, and feedback it had received from the community.

"We felt it best reflected our new Māori wards, while at the same time keeping the vital voice of the Coast communities at the council table,” he said.

“It also allowed us to keep the number of councillors tight – appreciating the growing workload for council members and also the need to be a small group and nimble and responsive to new issues.

“We think we found the right balance and the Local Government Commission agreed with us on that.”

The decision comes after a hearing held before the commission on February 25 after an appeal was lodged by Toi Rāwhiti - an iwi collective with membership from Te Whakatōhea, Ngai Tai and Te Whānau a Apanui, the three iwi within the Ōpōtiki district.

The collective wanted to have equal numbers of Māori and general ward seats, and for Māori wards that better represented iwi rights as mana whenua.

The commission decided that the arrangements would stand as decided in September for this year’s election.

However, it strongly recommended that in its next representation review, the council work closely with iwi authorities and carefully explore how iwi boundaries might feed into understanding communities of interest.

The commission also upheld the council’s decision not to comply with rules that require wards to represent equal numbers of voters, plus or minus 10 percent.

The Coast Māori Ward fell outside of this range deviating from the district’s average Māori roll voter numbers by –28.3 percent, having 450 voters less than the district average.

The commission agreed with the council’s argument that compliance with the rule would limit effective representation of communities of interest within the isolated communities of the Coast Māori ward.

This year’s local body election will be Ōpōtiki district’s first to have Māori wards in place. Because a non-binding poll was held in 2022 that favoured the wards being created, the council is one of few in the country not having to undertake a referendum this year to decide whether to keep them.

“I am excited to see the wards in action and how they may reflect our communities and candidates at the council table,” Mr Moore said.

“People will start seeing more and more information about elections and voting around the place over the coming months. Most people by now should have received their enrolment packs and that might get people thinking about elections.

“The first step is to make sure you are enrolled. Make a decision now about whether you want to be on the Māori Roll or General Roll because for the first time it matters in local elections, not just national ones.

“Think about whether you want to be one of the brave people who put their hand up to be candidates at local elections. There is so much important work done here at a local level and great candidates is the best place to start,” Mr Moore said.

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