Public Comments Sought on Shape of Electoral Representation
Public Comments Sought on Shape of Electoral Representation
Tue 02 Jun 2009
How should our representatives on New Plymouth District Council be selected?
And how many elected representatives should there be?
The Council is asking the public to send in their thoughts on whether councillors should be elected by wards, at large (everyone voting for every council seat) or a mix of both. Comments are also sought on the number of wards, their names and their boundaries, the number of councillors, and whether there should be community boards in the district.
After feedback closes on Friday 2 July, the Council will consider the public comments then propose a representation arrangement, which will then be open for formal public submissions.
The feedback period starts tomorrow (Wednesday).
“Local authorities are required to review their representation arrangements at least every six years,” says Manager Secretariat Barry Rollo.
“When deciding on the shape of the district’s representation, the Council must consider three key factors: Communities of interest, effective representation of those communities of interest, and fair representation of electors.
“The latter means that if we have wards, the population represented by each Councillor must be within 10 per cent of each other.
“Also, the number of councillors can not be fewer than five or more than 29.
“These are a lot of factors to balance, and public feedback at this stage will give the Council some direction when they consider whether or not the current system should be changed.”
Currently the Council comprises the Mayor, who must be elected at large, and 14 councillors who are elected from three wards: New Plymouth City (10 councillors), North (two councillors) and South-West (two councillors).
Electors may vote only for councillors standing in their ward, e.g. a person living in Inglewood can not vote for councillors in the New Plymouth City Ward.
There are also four community boards, each comprising four elected members and an appointed Councillor. The boards are Clifton, Inglewood, Kaitake and Waitara.
A change in the number of councillors, either more or less, would require an adjustment of ward boundaries. Similarly, if there have been any changes in communities or an additional community of interest is identified, then an adjustment of boundaries and/or the number of councillors would be required.
As part of the a representation review the Council must also review the existing community boards, including whether any board should be abolished or united with another, if any new boards are required, the boundaries of communities and the membership of the boards.
Community boards may have between four and 12 members, must include at least four elected members and may have appointed members. The number of appointed members must be less than half of the total number of members.
“Residents can get their comments to the Council by filling in the online feedback form on our website at newplymouthnz.com, or picking up a hard copy of the form from any Council office,” says Mr Rollo.
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