Rangitikei council size unchanged

Rangitikei citizens will continue to be governed by a district council with a mayor and 11 councillors.
However, in making that decision, the Local Government Commission has made changes to the way those councillors will be elected.
Instead of four wards, the district will, for the local body election later this year, be divided into five wards ? Taihape, Hunterville, Marton, Bulls and a new, Turakina ward.
Levels of representation for Taihape , Marton and Bulls wards are unchanged at three, four and two councillors, respectively.
The Hunterville ward will have just one elected councillor (one fewer than at present) and the Turakina ward will have one councillor.
The Taihape and Ratana community boards will also remain as they are, with four elected members each.
The mayor will continue to be elected by the district at large.
Where the new ward boundaries will be drawn is not clear. The commission's determination, released late yesterday, refers only to the map references and electoral mesh blocks. In making their decision, Commissioners Sue Piper and Gwen Bull appear to have placed a lot of emphasis on "communities of interest" ? a key element in the submissions made to the commissioners during hearings in Marton late last year.
The commission's decision also over-rules the district council's own preferred option ? a council of eight councillors and a mayor elected from just three wards. The commissioners believed that would be "insufficient to represent the diversity of communities within the district to an appropriate level."
"While the population of the district has declined, the commission does not believe this has affected the distinctiveness of communities of interest to a level that justifies a reduction in the number of councillors at this time," the decision document states.
Current Hunterville ward councillor Chalky Leary, who almost certainly would have lost out if the council's proposal (to merge the Marton and Hunterville wards) had been approved by the Commission was yesterday "pleased but very surprised" by the decision.
"I certainly wasn't expecting anything quite so radical. I am quite astonished but see it as being very fair," he said.
"At first glance I think it will mean that every part of the district will be well represented, and that was something I was concerned about. And I am very pleased that Hunterville will have at least one representative."
Mayor Bob Buchanan was not available last night to comment on the decision.