Ward decision months off

RACHEL PINDER
A 10-week wait lies ahead for three community organisations who got together to voice their objections to the Napier City Council's decision to stick with the at-large system of council elections, instead of wards.
They put forward their submissions at a Local Government Commission hearing last week, where Maxine Boag from the Maraenui Community Council Trust, Pat Magill from the Pilot City Trust, and Gill Appleton from the Taradale and District Community Development Association, recommended the introduction of a part ward system for the next two city council elections. Representations were also made from residents Les Hewett, Derek Williams, and Dave Taggart.
The city council's decision that Napier citizens are best represented by at-large elections, in which the whole city votes for the same candidates, was contested by the six appellants.
They prefer the partial ward system, with a mixture of six at-large and six ward seats instead of the council's recommendation for a continuation of the first-past-the-post system.
The council's decision was based on its contention that Napier is one homogenous "community of interest" so is adequately served by a body elected across the city.
All six appellants believe that Napier's diverse communities are not represented in a council currently dominated by white middle-class members living only in the city's most affluent areas.
Gill Appleton from the Taradale and District Community Development Association, posed three questions during the hearing.
"I questioned whether there are three separate communities of interest in Napier, and I believe the answer is yes. My second question was whether ward representation is necessary for these communities of interest to be properly represented, and the answer is yes.
"My final question was whether council reliance on the outcome of the 1995 referendum on the ward system versus the large system, taken together with the result of the 2005 NRB survey, was reasonable. And my answer to that is no," she said.
Pat Magill, spokesperson for the Pilot City Trust, said 12 councillors were needed to adequately represent Napier.
"The Napier City Council has enough supportive statistics from other submitters to endorse their present model of administration is unfair. We suggest a compromise, as recommended by the Taradale Community Development Association, of four wards, calculated using 2006 census figures.
"This arrangement would require six councillors elected by ward, leaving a balance of six to be elected at large. We strongly believe that a combination of election by ward and at large would produce better representation for the people of Napier.
"At present, Napier city councillors think they can effectively represent the poorer parts of the city and the various communities of interest. They aren't troubled by the concentration of councillors on the hill and don't think it makes the council unrepresentative," Mr Magill said.
The last National Research Bureau survey showed 70 percent of the population said they believed councillors got involved in the wider issues of the city under the current system.