Environment Canterbury is currently operating under the Environment Canterbury (Transitional Governance Arrangements) Act 2016. Under this Act, seven Councillors were elected at the 2016 local body elections, and five were appointed by the Government. These arrangements were made to transition the regional council from the governance of appointed Commissioners to a fully-elected council.

When will full democracy be restored?

We often get asked the question regarding the timing to return the regional council to a fully-elected council with no appointed councillors. It has been confirmed by Ministers Mahuta and Parker that the return to full democracy will occur at the normal time for the triennial local government elections in October 2019.

In confirming this, the Ministers were mindful of the transition timeline provision in the 2016 Act and of the timetable associated with Environment Canterbury undertaking the representation review, allowing time for consultation and any subsequent appeals to be resolved prior to the election lead up.

What/when is the Representation Review?

The Council is currently determining the representation (how many/which areas and how many councillors for each area) for the 2019 elections. The initial proposal for how the region will be represented and how many Councillors can be elected in each geographical area, will be agreed by Council at the meeting on 21 June. Guidelines for this process can be found on the Local Government Commission website. Following 21 June, the initial proposal will be made available for public consultation before hearings and a final proposal being agreed by Council. We are also exploring the opportunity to continue mana whenua representation around the Council table after the 2019 elections.

Steve Lowndes

Chairman

© Scoop Media