Residents quiet on proposed changes
Far North residents appear to be relatively happy with a Far North District Council proposal for representation arrangements for the 2010 elections.
With a week to go before submissions close (on 5 August 2009) the proposal has attracted only one public submission and this has been in support of the new North Hokianga subdivision for the Western (Kaikohe\Hokianga) Community Board.
The proposal calls for some fine-tuning of the existing structure following a review of representation and boundaries earlier this year.
A major feature of the proposal is to improve the representation spread by creating three new Community Board subdivisions (ridings) for Whatuwhiwhi, Whangaroa and North Hokianga while retaining the existing three-ward/three board structure.
The new subdivisions are designed to recognise particular communities of interest not previously acknowledged in the 2004 representation review.
The number of elected council members remains unchanged at nine with a Mayor elected at large.
To accommodate the new subdivisions the number of board members will increase by three to 19. This means the total number of elected members (for both boards and council) will increase from 26 to 29.
Under the council's proposal the Northern Community Board is officially renamed Te Hiku, the Western Community Board renamed Kaikohe/Hokianga and the Eastern Community Board becomes the Bay of Islands/Whangaroa Community Board.
The changes proposed call for adjustments to ward and subdivision boundaries. The majority of these adjustments will be minor, but major changes will occur with Broadwood moving from the Northern Ward to the Western Ward and the Ohaeawai area moving from the Eastern Ward to the Western Ward. The relocation of Broadwood and Ohaeawai to the Western Ward reverses the boundary changes made in 2004.
Details and maps of the proposed new boundaries and representation levels are available on the council's website at www.fndc.govt.nz and from council libraries and Service Centres.