Otago Regional Council is extending the public consultation period for its representation review of Councillor numbers for Otago, after identifying a mistake in the submission form.

ORC Chief Executive Richard Saunders apologises to the 120 submitters so far for the “procedural error” in submissions to date, where people were not asked for their contact details, so they could be advised of the opportunity to appear at any future hearings.

“Under the Local Electoral Act we need to have asked for those details,” he says.

Mr Saunders highlighted the 120 submissions so far remained valid and all would be counted, although he encouraged those people to resubmit so they can be advised of their rights to attend future hearings.

“Hopefully in extending the consultation period we can build further on the number of submissions on the representation review,” he says.

ORC has the contact details of almost half of the 120 submitters and will be contacting them directly, Mr Saunders says.

The month-long submission period was scheduled to close on Sunday, 11 August, but will now be extended a further month to Sunday, 8 September 2024. The time extension will not add any cost to the process, he says.

Mr Saunders says the mistake arose from the different rules governing public input into consultation, submissions or feedback being sought from the public and ratepayers, including requirements over privacy disclosures.

He says while extending the submission period will add a several weeks to process, it will not hinder the overall timetable and considerations that will be made by Council. (new timetable below)

How to make submissions:

ORC web page www.orc.govt.nz/RepReview24

Submissions made by email: governance@orc.govt.nz

You can also drop off a physical copy to an ORC office:

• Dunedin office: 144 Rattray Street, Level 2, Philip Laing House, Dunedin, or
• Queenstown office: 1092 Frankton Road, Alta House Level 1/Terrace Junction, Frankton, Queenstown.

The proposal for Councillor representation

The number of ORC Councillors is proposed to stay the same, at 12. Councillors voted 10-2 for Option one (of four options), on 22 May.

Councils are required to conduct a representation review every six years under the Local Electoral Act.

In May Council received a report from staff and voted 10-2 to go out to the public in July with the proposal that the ward boundaries for the region remain the same but that the Dunedin ward would lose a Councillor and have 5 instead of 6 and the Dunstan ward would gain a Councillor and have 4 instead of the current 3.

What is a representation review?

Every six years councils must review how communities are represented in the make-up of their council. A representation review looks at the structures in place, including:

• the number of constituencies (electoral areas) and their boundaries
• the number of elected members (councillors) representing each constituency

The representation review cannot change the people who are currently elected but it may increase the number of councillors - 14 is the maximum number of councillors a regional council can have.

The last representation review for Otago Regional Council was completed in 2018. No changes were made to the existing constituencies or number of councillors.

Representation reviews require Council to look at three key concepts:

• Communities of interest: to identify what communities of interest exist across the district, which is relevant to determining the number and boundaries of constituencies.
• Effective representation of communities of interest: to identify what’s the best structure to maintain access and representation that recognises these communities of interest, which is relevant to determining the number of members.
• Fair representation of electors: to ensure that each councillor should represent roughly the same number of people, which is relevant for ensuring equality of representation per member.

Current arrangement

The Otago Regional Council is made up of 12 Councillors, elected from four constituencies:

• Dunstan 3
• Moeraki 1
• Molyneux 2
• Dunedin 6

Proposed new arrangement

Status Quo constituencies with a reallocation of Councillors

The proposed changes will affect only the Dunedin and Dunstan constituencies. The proposal retains the four existing constituencies, and all constituency boundaries remain unchanged.

The proposed new arrangement will retain a total of 12 councillors and redistribute a Councillor from Dunedin to Dunstan to reflect large population growth in the Queenstown and Wānaka areas.

Next steps

The initial proposal will be brought back to the June Council Meeting for notification by Council. From there, the formal consultation and submissions process will follow. Council will then receive a final proposal for adoption.

The revised timeframe is as follows

By Thursday 8 August, submission process extended.

• By Sunday 8 September, submission period closes.
• If there are submissions, a hearings process will be held in mid to late-September and may recommend to Council that amendments are made.
• Final proposal to be adopted on Monday 23 October at Council Meeting.
• Public notice #2 of final proposal by 30 October.

Appeals and objections period until 30 November.

• If no appeals, then public notice #3 of final proposal to be given
• If appeals or objections are received, these are to be forwarded to the Local Government Commission for determination (no later than 20 December).
• If final proposal is outside the +/- 10% rule, it also has to be sent to the Local Government Commission

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