Regional Council Representation Open for Review

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is seeking submissions on its proposed representation arrangements ahead of the 2019 elections.

“The review happens every six years, as an opportunity for councillors to make any changes to the constituencies or numbers of councillors to ensure they are able to serve their communities well,” says HBRC’s Electoral Officer Leeanne Hooper.

“The Council has reviewed its arrangements and is proposing to retain the current arrangements of nine councillors and five constituencies, with only two changes to boundary arrangements. They want to hear from the public now, on whether they’ve got the right approach.”

Council has resolved to keep the Regional Council constituencies of Central Hawke’s Bay, Napier and Wairoa as they currently are, matching the city and district council areas.

The two minor boundary changes proposed are between the Hastings and Ngaruroro constituencies. These are to allow for residential development and population changes in the Iona and Te Mata Hills areas and to align with Hastings District Council ward boundaries.

As the Council review has proposed no increase in councillor numbers, Council will need to apply to the Local Government Commission to retain four constituencies as ‘communities of interest’. The population that each councillor represents must be within a range of 18,230 people, plus or minus ten percent. Central Hawke’s Bay, Napier, Ngaruroro and Wairoa constituencies currently do not meet this rule, but have been accepted by the Commission in the past as ‘communities of interest’. The Hastings Constituency does meet this rule.

The formal notification is published in Hawke’s Bay Today (Saturday 4 August). People are able to make written submissions before 5pm Monday 17 September. Information is also on hbrc.govt.nz, Search #repreview.

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