Stick to one councillor, one ward, says North Shore City Council

The North Shore City Council is planning to ask the Local Government Commission to divide the North Shore into three single-member wards in the new Auckland Council.

Yesterday the council’s Strategy and Finance Committee approved a recommendation that will go to the full council for approval later this month.

The committee recommended that the existing North Shore area be divided into three wards, with each ward (of approximately 70,000 people) represented by a single councillor. It also recommended that each ward should be supported by two local boards.

This is a similar ward structure to the current one that North Shore residents are familiar with.

The council’s submission is based on the calculation that the current North Shore area would probably be represented by a total of three councillors when the new Auckland Council is set up on 1 November next year.

Council Strategy and Finance Chair Grant Gillon says that the current Government proposal, which provides for a number of large wards with several councillors in each ward, would not serve the best interests of the North Shore.

“The government plan would in effect mean that the entire North Shore was one big ward, represented by three councillors.

“This would not necessarily mean that we had fair representation across the North Shore. We could have all three councillors elected from one suburb of the North Shore and none from the rest.”

He hopes that the North Shore City Council proposal will be discussed with the six North Shore community boards before it is finalised for a meeting with the Local Government Commission on 7 October.

He says that his council aims to achieve a political structure that gives North Shore people equitable political representation, and local boards that have a workable level of delegated authority, budget and staff support.

He says that the North Shore City Council is committed to working closely with the Local Government Commission as it seeks to rationalise the disparate political structures of the eight councils Auckland-wide.

The Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill (being debated in Parliament at present) specifies that the new Auckland Council will have about 20 Councillors, elected from wards. There is a provision for some wards to elect more than one councillor. The Bill also specifies 20-30 local boards which will represent their local communities in the new structure.

Over the next few months, the Local Government Commission will decide on the boundaries of wards and local boards for the new council.

The boundaries will be to a large extent based on communities of interest - ie communities from a defined geographical area, with similar values and characteristics.

The commission has begun holding information-gathering meetings with the eight existing councils and other regional or umbrella interest groups. It will release its draft proposals by 20 November, and will be asking the community to respond before the Christmas break.