Decision on final Waipā representation delayed due to appeal

The final decision on whether Waipā District Council’s elected member representation will change next election will be made by 11 April 2022 after one appeal was received during the appeal period.

The appeal received was in relation to community boards in Waipā. Waipā currently has two community boards, one in Te Awamutu and one in Cambridge. The appeal period was open from 4 November to 6 December 2021.

The appeal is now required by the Local Electoral Act 2001 to be supplied to the Local Government Commission, who will consider the appeal and other information provided by Waipā District Council.

The Local Government Commission has until 11 April 2022 to make a decision on the Council’s representation arrangements.

Council adopted a proposed on 26 October to change elected member representation by way of reducing the number of councillors from 13 to 11, after hearing from submitters on 12 October after the feedback period closed on Council’s initial proposal.

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.

Community feedback was also split on community boards, but the majority of submitters supported Council’s proposal to keep the Te Awamutu Community Board and Cambridge Community Board structure.

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 subdivision boundaries.