Council seats to go

There will be three less Porirua City councillors at next year’s election.

As part of a representation review – required by law every six years – carried out late last year, PCC has decided to push ahead with a proposal to strip each of the three wards of one representative. There will be four seats in the northern and eastern wards, and two in the western ward.

Also, Ranui will become part of the eastern ward.

The review also included consideration of ‘councillors- at- large’, Maori wards and community boards, none of which have been recommended.

A report to council said the reduced number of seats would still ensure fair and effective representation.

Only nine submissions from the public were received on the review, while just three further submissions came in after PCC put forward their proposals in March. While two submitters were in support of a community board for Titahi Bay, it was decided ‘‘adequate mechanisms’’ are in place to act for residents in different parts of Porirua.

Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett said there was no support for community boards and agreed with the report’s finding that they added an ‘‘additional level of governance’’ to the council. Cutting councillor numbers to 10 and realigning Ranui made sense, he said.

Wellington, with 200,000 people, had 15 councillors, while Porirua’s 52,000-strong population was served by 13.

‘‘These proposals should go forward to the (Local Government) Commission for approval because it’s prudent and the best fit for this city.’’