Empty seats in the former Tauranga City Council chambers. Photo / George Novak
Empty seats in the former Tauranga City Council chambers. Photo / George Novak
The make-up of Tauranga's future elected council members, and how they are elected, remains uncertain - for now.
In November last year, Tauranga City Council commissioners voted to adopt a new representation model of nine elected councillors and a mayor but opposition to the decision has meant final approval isyet to be made.
The Local Government Commission has received 18 appeals or objections to the decision and was now in the process of reviewing and assessing them.
Council commissioners voted to move away from the existing model of an 11-member mixed version in which the mayor and four councillors were elected "at-large" and six councillors elected from three broad geographic wards.
Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley. Photo / George Novak
Instead, the commissioners voted on a final proposal of 10 elected members: eight general ward councillors, one from the Māori ward, and a mayor elected at-large. The commissioners also chose not to adopt community boards.
Local Government Commission senior advisor E-J Ruthven said the appeals and objections meant the organisation "must now determine the representation arrangements for Tauranga City Council for the 2022 local election".
Local body elections are expected to be held in October this year, when the term for the current Tauranga City Council commission ends.
The Local Government Commission's determination must be completed before April 11.
Ruthven said its immediate next steps would establish whether there were grounds under the Local Electoral Act to intervene and whether to hold a hearing.
If the commission decided to hold a hearing, all appellants and objectors would be invited to attend and present their views. These hearings would be open to the public and live-streamed where possible.
Rob Paterson does not agree with the final proposed model that will shape the future of Tauranga City Council's elected member group. Photo / NZME
"As the commission has not yet completed these steps, we are not currently able to share the appeals/objections, who they are from, or any details regarding them."
Representation reviews must be held by local councils at least once every six years.
Ruthven said this round of representation reviews attracted many appeals and objections from throughout New Zealand, including 180 in response to Whangārei District Council's latest review.
Citizens' Advocacy Tauranga chairman Rob Paterson submitted an objection to the Local Government Commission describing Tauranga's proposed wards system was flawed and "inane".
"Tauranga is struggling to cope with all the problems that come with being the fastest growing major city in New Zealand, yet here we are about to reduce the number of councillors and that frankly is not the answer," Paterson said.
"In my view, the representation system is one citywide general ward comprising nine councillors, one citywide Māori ward councillor and of course a mayor elected at-large is the preferred option. That would result in there being 11 around the council table."
Paterson said Tauranga was "one homogeneous city", unlike other New Zealand cities with a larger landmass.
"This is why it is so crucial to encourage representation by councillors with a whole-of-city vision, not a vision that sees no further than their own patch and accountable only to their specific constituents."
Tauranga resident Barry Scott said in his appeal that, in his view, the commissioners' decision did not provide a fair and equitable system for the city.
"[The decision] is a lousy piece of work that is totally inappropriate for the Tauranga of today and tomorrow."
Scott cited the single-member wards, lack of community boards, and even-number of elected members as issues he believed needed to be addressed.
Scott said he'd prefer to have 13 elected representatives make up the city's future council; one general ward comprising of five people, one Māori ward comprising of one person, and seven at-large councillors plus a mayor.
Scott also advocated for the establishment of community wards, highlighting the chance for better community involvement and the support these wards could bring to councillors representing a specific ward such as the Māori ward representative.
In response to the criticisms, council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said they have had a good process, "talking with the community about a variety of scenarios, and we are confident we have made a sensible proposal for Tauranga at the present time".
"All of the issues raised by the objectors have been addressed in our final report and decision," Tolley said.
"As this matter is now to be heard and determined by the Local Government Commission, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."
The commissioners' proposed model would mean each of the new wards would represent between 15,300 and 18,050 people and a new Māori ward will be called Te Awanui with its representative elected by voters on the Māori electoral roll.
The geographic wards, elected by voters on the general roll, will be called: Mauao/Mount Maunganui, Arataki, Pāpāmoa, Welcome Bay, Matua-Ōtūmoetai, Bethlehem, Te Papa and Tauriko.
