Council approves consultation on representation

Horowhenua District Council is seeking public feedback on its proposal for representation arrangements for the 2019 and 2022 elections.

Council adopted its initial proposal and approved public consultation at its meeting on Wednesday 18 April.

Representation arrangements include: the number of councillors to be elected to Council; whether councillors are elected by wards or by the district as a whole; the number, boundaries and names of wards and number of councillors that will represent them; and whether to have community boards, and if so how many, their boundaries and membership.

The Local Electoral Act 2001 requires local authorities to review their representation arrangements at least once every six years. The last review in Horowhenua was in 2012 for the 2013 and 2016 local elections, so Council needs to undertake a review for the next two local elections in 2019 and 2022.

Council’s initial proposal for the representation review recommends that the status quo of ten councillors elected from Horowhenua’s four wards – Kere Kere, Miranui, Levin and Waiopehu – and one mayor elected by the whole district should continue. Ward boundaries would remain as they are.

The ratio of population to councillors deviates from the overall district ratio by -10.96 per cent in the Kere Kere Ward, which covers Foxton, Foxton Beach and the surrounding area. This means that Kere Kere currently has more councillors per person than other wards in the District.

Horowhenua District Council’s Group Manager Corporate Services, Mark Lester, said the Local Electoral Act does not normally permit any deviation of more than 10 per cent, but Council intends to seek an exemption for Kere Kere.

“We would need to add only 64 people to Kere Kere to make it compliant, and we expect this relatively minor non-compliance to self-correct in the near future if growth occurs as predicted in the Council’s draft Growth Strategy,” said Mr Lester.

“In addition, altering the boundaries of Kere Kere to make it compliant would limit effective representation by dividing communities between wards.”

The consultation will seek public input on whether Horowhenua District Council should retain the Foxton Community Board. Council proposes that the Board not be retained after the next local elections for several reasons, including cost, fair representation across the District, and the existence of other effective channels for the Foxton community to work with Council, such as residents’ associations and the Kere Kere Ward councillors.

“The direct costs of running the Foxton Community Board for the next six years are estimated to be around $330,000. In addition, there are indirect costs of around $150,000 per year,” Mr Lester said.

“In addition, Council has concerns that Foxton is over-represented compared with other parts of Horowhenua. The current arrangements are that the Community Board has five elected Board members for the Foxton community, which has a population of 4,640. This population is included in the Kere Kere Ward and is also represented by two elected councillors. The rest of the District has one representative for every 3,246 people.”

“Furthermore, recent elections in Horowhenua reflect a decline in turnout in voting for the Foxton Community Board, whereas turnout for the Kere Kere Ward has increased. Council is currently of the view that the reasons for establishing the Community Board in 1989 are no longer relevant, and that there are other mechanisms available for the community to be involved in Council’s decision-making.”

Feedback received from neighbouring local authorities, iwi, the Foxton Community Board, community advisory groups and a community hui during the pre-consultation phase contributed to the proposal.

Consultation opens on Wednesday 2 May and closes on Wednesday 6 June 2018.

ENDS

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