On 27 June 2024 the Westland District Council considered the submissions received on its initial proposal regarding the representation arrangements for the Council and its constituent community boards to apply for the local elections to be held on 12 October 2025.
The full final proposal is available here.
Submitters to the original proposal had the opportunity to make a further submission. No submissions were received and Council adopted the final proposal for the 2025 and 2028 election cycles.
In accordance with section 19H of the Local Electoral Act 2001 (the Act) Council must determine by resolution, whether members of Council are proposed to be elected;
The full review document and ward maps are available below.
Read more
Westland District has traditionally elected its members using the ward system. No community boards have ever existed in Westland.
Current representation arrangements
Currently the District comprises of 3 Wards.
|
Northern Ward |
All that part of Westland District north of the Mikonui River but excluding Hokitika Ward. |
|
Hokitika Ward |
All that part of Westland including the town of Hokitika, the area north to Three Mile and including the areas to the east known as Blue Spur and Brickfield as far as Pine Tree Road. |
|
Southern Ward |
All that area of Westland south of the Mikonui River. |
Read more in the Representation Review document.
The existing Ward boundaries recognise the urban nature of Hokitika (Hokitika Ward), the rural principally dairy farming and small support townships of the north (Northern ward), and the geographic isolation and tourism dominated nature of the south (Southern Ward).
Read more in the Representation Review document.
Effective representation for identified communities of interest
Because of the size and diversity of the District, it is considered that effective representation of communities of interest can only be achieved by Councillors being elected on a ward basis.
Read more in the Representation Review document.
Consideration of whether there should be Community Boards
Historically, it is considered that Community Boards are not warranted.
The Council need to consider that this approach is still relevant.
Council should consider;
Read more in the Representation Review document.
Under s 19B of the Act, there should be no less than 6 councillors and no more than 30 including the Mayor.
The existing wards have provided fair representation, with a spread of members along the length of the District. The Council may therefore opt for the retention of the existing Wards.
Using Stats NZ representation tables, all wards comply with s 19V of the Act, where the variation to the population as a whole is within the +/- 10% rule.
|
Ward |
Population |
Members |
Cr/Population |
Variation |
|
Northern Ward |
3340 |
3 |
1113 |
101% |
|
Hokitika Ward |
3300 |
3 |
1100 |
99% |
|
Southern Ward |
2170 |
2 |
1085 |
98% |
|
Total |
8810 |
8 |
1101 |
100% |
Read more in the Representation Review document.
Council resolved on 26 October 2023 to not establish Māori wards and to continue with the Manatu Whakaaetanga (partnership agreement).
Responses to the initial Representation Review
The Council received 5 submissions on its proposal. Two submissions were in favour of the Council’s proposal. Two submissions contained objections to various elements of the proposal, and a further submission did not address the elements of the representation review, as follows:
Please note: submissions will be publicly available on the council’s website, through inclusion in council agendas, and/or retrievable by request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. Contact details will redacted under the Privacy Act 2020.