What's it all about?

We are required to review our representation arrangements once every six years, and the last time we did this review was in 2018.

Representation reviews give the community an opportunity to consider if the existing representation arrangements are efficient and effective. This means looking at the number of councillors and how they are elected, the existence of wards (and their boundaries), community boards, and Māori wards.

We are required to develop an initial (draft) proposal which sets out our preference for representation arrangements. We consulted on our initial proposal from 13 June to 21 July, and you can view more about what was proposed here.

In response to our consultation we received a total of 14 submissions. Six supported the proposal, and eight submissions contained objections.

Did Council change the initial proposal?

Council made one amendment to the initial proposal, which was to retain the current number of Methven Community Board members at five elected members and two appointed members (rather than reduce to four elected members).

This was considered to be appropriate for the following reasons:

  • the total of seven members is currently working well
  • more members allows for a more diverse range of views, skills and experience
  • the Methven Community Board boundary is extending and more people will be represented
  • the Methven population is growing.

The Council rejected the other matters raised in objections for the following reasons:

  • the suggestion of amendments to the Methven Community Board boundary was rejected because there was no clear reasoning provided for these suggestions and Council considers the proposal to appropriately cover the community of interest and those properties that receive a benefit from the Methven Community Board.
  • the suggestion to retain two councillors for each Western and Eastern Ward and to reduce the Ashburton Ward councillors to three was rejected because this does not meet the population to member ratio requirement (+/- 10% rule) and Council considered that this would not provide fair representation.

The final proposal was resolved at the Council meeting on 4 September 2024.