'H' added to Rural Community Board's name to reflect spelling of Whanganui District

There are a few changes for the Whanganui Rural Community Board after the Local Government Commission approved Whanganui District's representation review proposal.

Whanganui's Rural Community Board is finally having the "H" officially added to the spelling of its name.

The Local Government Commission has approved the change of name to Whanganui Rural Community Board as part of the representation review of the Whanganui District ahead of this year's local government elections. Councils must review representation every six years.

Whanganui District Council consulted the community in June 2018 about proposed changes in the representation review. The Local Government Commission signed off the changes in April.

The board's name will change to Whanganui Rural Community Board to reflect the spelling of the name of the district.

There are small adjustments of boundaries for the Kaitoke and Kai Iwi rural subdivisions to make sure those communities are more evenly represented on the board.

There are no major changes for the council which will continue to comprise a mayor and 12 councillors elected by the community as a whole, rather than through a ward system.

Voters will have another opportunity to have their say on representation through a poll as part of the local body elections in October 2019.

Policy and governance manager Stephanie Macdonald-Rose said the poll would ask whether voters prefer the Single Transferable Vote (STV) or First Past the Post (FPP) voting system. It would also ask how many councillors there should be and whether voters support a ward system.

"It's important that everyone who can vote is on the electoral role so they can vote for their preferred mayor and councillors but also so they can have a say on how people are elected and what systems are used," Macdonald-Rose said.

"The results of the poll will be considered by the new 2019 council and any changes would be put in place by 2022."