Council representation to change

Councillors adopted a proposal to see Waipā ratepayers and residents have less councillors to represent them in the 2022 local body elections, after community feedback supported a proposal to reduce the number of councillors from 13 to 11.

At the Waipā District Council meeting today, Councillors adopted a proposal for what the elected member representation for the community would look like for the 2022 and 2025 local body elections.

Elected members heard from submitters earlier this month at the October Finance and Corporate Committee meeting and considered community feedback about the recent 2021 representation review.

Community feedback was split but the majority of submitters agreed with Council’s recommendation to reduce the number of general ward councillors from 13 to 10 to reflect the number of Councillors appropriate for a Council the size of Waipa. Rounding up the full 11 Councillors will be the new Māori Ward Councillor, which was approved following a public consultation in April this year, a first for the district.

Council received 49 submissions and one late submission on the matter.

The community also provided feedback in support of keeping the Te Awamutu Community Board and Cambridge Community Board structure.

Council’s deputy chief executive Ken Morris thanked the community for their feedback through the submissions process.

“The submissions received were extremely valuable in confirming the direction Council should take. There was good community interest in this matter with the 50 submissions received far in excess of the number received for the representation review three years ago.”

The final proposal adopted by Council for its representation arrangements for the 2022 and 2025 local body elections was as follows:

• Four Councillors for Cambridge Ward and a boundary change in the Fencourt and Hautapu areas;
• Three Councillors for Te Awamutu and Kihikihi Ward and a small boundary change in the Paterangi/Ngaroto Road area;
• Two Councillors in the newly combined Pirongia and Kakepuku Ward and boundary changes in the Paterangi/Ngaroto Road and Kaipaki areas;
• One Councillor for the Maungatautari Ward and a boundary change to extend the ward to include Kaipaki and reflect the changes to the Cambridge Ward boundary.

Changes to the Community Board structure are as follows:

• Te Awamutu Community Board will be renamed the Te Awamutu and Kihikihi Community Board, and will maintain the same number of elected members from the same areas (reflecting the small boundary change in the Paterangi/Ngaroto Road area);
• Cambridge Community Board will reduce by one member, comprising of four in the Cambridge and one in Maungatautari subdivision. Changes proposed for the ward boundaries will also be reflected in the subdivsion boundaries.

The final proposal is now subject to appeal. Anyone that made a submission on the initial proposal will be able to submit an appeal, which will be considered by the Local Government Commission.