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Residents want local decisions made locally
Residents tell Council they want local decisions made locally
Most residents attending workshops on the Council’s Representation Review 2015 say they want closer contact with their elected representatives.
This is one of the messages coming through from numerous city-wide meetings on representation issues. The Council has been gathering public comment on ward boundaries, councillor and community board numbers and ward numbers as part of the six-yearly review to ensure fair and effective representation at local level.
“Residents are telling us they like to see and hear from their elected representatives”, says Mary Richardson, Director of the Office of the Chief Executive.
“They are also saying they want decisions that affect them to be made closer to the community,” she says.
Since an intensive programme of grass-roots community meetings started last year, over a thousand residents have discussed their ideas about new-look wards, elected member numbers and ward names.
At present, Christchurch has the lowest number of councillors to residents amongst comparableNew Zealand cities, at one councillor for every 27,435 residents. The next lowest ratio is Tauranga with one councillor to every 19,978 residents in each of its three wards, followed by WellingtonCity with one councillor for 14,102 residents.
“We are considering all the ideas coming out of our resident meetings and will put forward a proposal for the Council to approve for formal consultation,” says Mary Richardson. “We are on track to start full consultation in late April, and are anticipating that the proposal will generate huge interest.”
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For more information about the Representation Review and to attend one of the public meetings, which will be displaying possible new ward boundary maps, go to: www.ccc.govt.nz/repreview
2013 Representation Ratios in City Councils
Note: Auckland is not on the table as it uses a different election system from the cities below so cannot be compared.
| City | Population | Number of Councillors | Rep. Ratio | Population per Member | Ward or at-large | Community
Boards (if any) |
| Christchurch | 356,660 | 13 | 18,565 | 27,435 | 7 Wards | 8 |
| Dunedin | 123,530 | 14 | 6,233 | 8,823 | 3 Wards | 6 |
| Invercargill | 53,210 | 12 | 3,232 | 4,434 | At-large | 1 |
| Nelson | 48,700 | 12 | 2,925 | 4,058 | At-large | 0 |
| Wellington | 197,430 | 14 | 9,724 | 14,102 | 5 Wards | 1 |
| Lower Hutt | 101,180 | 12 | 5,843 | 8,431 | 6 Wards | 3 |
| Upper Hutt | 41,350 | 10 | 2,896 | 4,135 | At-large | 0 |
| Porirua | 53,560 | 10 | 3,608 | 5,367 | 3 Wards | 0 |
| Palmerston Nth | 83,440 | 15 | 3,580 | 5,562 | At-large | 0 |
| Napier | 59,580 | 12 | 3,499 | 9,930 9,930 | 4
Wards At-large | 0 |
| Tauranga | 119,870 | 10 | 8,464 | 19,978 29,967 | 3
Wards At-large | 0 |
| Hamilton | 150,150 | 12 | 8,105 | 12,512 | 2 Wards | 0 |
Note: Rep. Ratio (Representation ratio) is the number of electors per councillor
Source: 2013 Local Election statistics and Local Government Commission population statistics from Census 2013 data.
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