14 council seats gets green light

Local Government Commission backs Horizons Regional Council proposal

The Local Government Commission has upheld Horizons Regional Council’s proposal for representation arrangements for local body elections in October.

Following the council’s representation review last year, the commission has backed Horizons’ final proposal for a 14-seat council, including two new Ma¯ori seats.

It said the arrangements provide effective representation of communities of interest and fair representation for voters in the Manawatu¯Whanganui region.

Horizons will keep its existing six general constituencies of Ruapehu, Whanganui, Manawatu¯-Rangit¯ıkei, Palmerston North, Tararua and Horowhenua, and bring in two new Ma¯ori constituencies: Raki Ma¯ori (Ma¯ori North) and Tonga Ma¯ori (Ma¯ori South).

The commission’s determination follows a hearing in February into the single appeal against the council’s final representation review proposal.

The appeal supported the introduction of Ma¯ ori seats but queried the size of the general constituencies, including whether the Ruapehu general constituency was viable given its relatively low population, and whether there should be more seats for urban populations.

Horizons acknowledged concerns the urban voice might be underrepresented but said many of the responsibilities of regional councils focused on rural areas, such as environmental and freshwater management.

The council said it had decided against merging smaller constituencies such as Ruapehu and Tararua with others because it would result in unnatural groups of communities of interest and would not support effective representation.

It said the Ruapehu constituency in particular was a large, remote and isolated part of the region and there were long-established reasons for having a separate Ruapehu constituency.