Elect all Auckland Councillors from Wards, says Chamber of Commerce

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce wants all 20 Auckland councillors elected from wards – rather than 12 from wards and 8 at-large as currently proposed.

Presenting to the Auckland Governance Select Committee today, Chamber head Michael Barnett said the current proposal of having 20-30 Local Boards and also providing for 12 Wards for electing councillors “creates confusion.”

Instead, the Chamber proposed that a division of Auckland into 20 Wards of about 60,000 residents in each would be a fairer and easier to understand system of ‘local’ representation.

Each Ward would elect five members - one councillor would be elected to the new Auckland Council and four who would become Ward councillors.

“The end point of this exercise should be a governance model that is easy to do business with in every sense of the word, and easy for all of us to participate in,” said Mr Barnett.

For more information contact Michael Barnett, Ph: 0275 631 150.