No changes to Bay of Plenty Regional Council representation

Bay of Plenty Regional council is proposing no changes to its councillor representation arrangements. Photo/File

Bay of Plenty Regional Council is proposing no changes to its councillor representation arrangements, as part of its requirements to regularly review the make-up of who sits around the council table.

The council is required to review its representation arrangements at least every six years, with the last review taking place in 2012.

That review resulted in a change of councillor numbers in the Rotorua and Tauranga constituencies.

This time the council has proposed numbers stay as they currently are across the region – with the proposal open to submissions between May 24 and June 30.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council chief executive Mary-Anne Macleod said the way in which councillor numbers for each constituency were set was based on identifying communities of interest and fair and effective representation as required under the Local Electoral Act and guidelines from the Local Government Commission.

Having gone through the options, she said council decided the best way forward was to keep the boundaries and numbers as they are.

"However an important part of the process for making this decision is giving the public the opportunity to have their say on what they think the councillor numbers should be and if there should be any changes to the various constituency boundaries.

"Whether they be in support or whether people would like to see changes to how the region is represented, this is the opportunity for people to let us know," she said.

Macleod said councillors had work shopped various options that investigated whether changes should be made to boundaries and councillor numbers, however agreed that the best way forward for consultation was to propose a no-change approach.

"We look forward to receiving feedback on this proposal and people can find all the information they require on our website at www.boprc.govt.nz/representationreview."