Fewer councillors likely in district
The number of councillors sitting at the Stratford District Council table will drop, after councillors voted five to four in favour of reducing the number of councillors from 10 to eight for the next two elections.
Currently there are 10 councillors, six elected from the urban ward and four from the rural ward. The mayor is elected at large.
At last week’s full Council meeting, councillors had to decide how many councillors should represent the district, if they should be elected by the district as a whole (at large) or from wards, what those wards should be and what their boundaries should be and of community boards should be created,
By law, the council is required to review its representation arrangements at least every six years, with the last review in 2012.
That review resulted in an increase from nine to 10.
According to a report by director of corporate services Tiffany Radich, Stratford District Council currently has an elected representative per population (2017) ratio of 1:942 compared with a 1:1,345 average of other similar sized councils.
The national average number of councillors for a council is 11, although in districts of a similar population size to Stratford, it’s seven.
Peter Dalziel said he felt a reduction in the number of councillors was appropriate.
“Clearly compared to other councils of a similar size we have more councillors. If we cut the number by two, we would still have more than other comparatively sized councils but it would be a good first step.” He suggested one from each of the two wards,leaving five urban councillors and three rural. Councillor Boyde said he agreed.
Councillor Squire said he had some concerns regarding the proposed decrease in number, which would mean an increase in workload for the others because individual councillors represent Council on a range of committees and organisations.
Representing Council on these groups and committees can mean many hours of work, he said.
“It’s not the number of councillors, it’s the contribution that matters. Eight who don’t contribute would be no more effective than 10.”
He would like to see the ward system dropped, with all councillors to be elected at large.
“I am happy to support the number change to eight, but would like to note these points.”
Councillor Sandford spoke against reducing the number, saying he believes the workload for councillors has increased over the years.
“The number of hours needed can be staggering, especially when an agenda with more than 1000 pages arrives on a Thursday to be read by the Tuesday. Today we have two councillors on a leave of absence and we are making important and critical decisions, had we only had eight elected members, today we would have only had six councillors and the mayor making those decisions.”
What other councils do should be irrelevant to the discussion he said.
“I don’t give a toss as to what other councils do, it’s abut what Stratford needs and that is representation.”
He wanted to see the wards remain he said, as he believed rural ratepayers needed dedicated representation.
“Rural residents pay a large proportion of rates and need to be represented fully.”
Councillor Erwood said he supported Councillor Sandford’s argument.
“Two fewer elected members is two fewer people the community has access to. There will still be the same number of committees but fewer councillors to be on them.”
He also supported keeping the ward system.
“The voice of rural needs to be heard.”
Councillor Webby also spoke in support of keeping the number of councillors at 10, saying the decision shouldn’t be based on what other councils did.
“Stratford is unique. We’re a small community where every councillor counts.”
Mayor Volzke said he disagreedthat a reduction in numbers would mean in an increase in workload.
He said following the pending ruling by the Remuneration Authority, it is likely the mayoral role will become a fulltime role in the future, while currently it is set at a 20 hours a week in theory, if not in practice.
“So the mayor would then have the capacity and more of the committee roles would fall back on to the mayor.”
He said a reduction in the number of councillors would not translate into a significant financial saving for the district.
“Maybe a little less cost as there would be one or two fewer iPads needing purchasing for council use, but the remuneration pool, which is set by the Remuneration Authority, would remain the same and just be divided differently.”
The report also called for Council to make a decision on if community boards should be established, saying he was against that and preferred to keep the ward system in place.
Councillors then voted on reducing the number of elected members to eight at the next election, with the rural ward having three elected representatives and the urban ward five. Just one vote made the difference, with councillors Squire, Dalziel, Boyde and Walsh and Mayor Volzke voting in favour, and Councillors Kelly, Sandford, Erwood and Webby voting against. Councillors Coplestone and Jamieson were absent. The decision was also made to keep the ward system with the same boundaries as currently, and for no community boards to be established. These decisions now go out for public consultation.
■ Disclaimer: Ilona Hanne is married to the CEO of Stratford District Council.