Public Notice

Representation Review

What is a representation review?
A representation review for local authorities helps to determine how many elected members (councillors) there should be and how they represent you.  The Local Electoral Act 2001 requires all local bodies to review their representation arrangements at least once every six years.

What is considered?

• How many Councillors should be elected to represent you?
• Should Councillors be voted for by ward or by city-wide voting or a combination of both?
• Should our city have community boards, and if so, how many?

Please note that a decision has already been made to retain First Past the Post as the electoral voting system.  Māori representation has also been considered by Council.

The process to date
A pre-review was undertaken during September and October 2011 and six submissions were received.  These submissions were used to form the initial proposal that was considered by the Upper Hutt City Council on Wednesday, 22 February 2012.  At that meeting, the Council made the following decisions:

	1.	That Council be elected by the electors of the district as a whole.
	2.	That the total number of Councillors to be elected remain at 10.
	3.	That Council not constitute any Communities.

		For the full resolution, including the list of reasons, please click here.
		For a copy of the officer’s report, please click here.
		For a copy of the public notification, please click here.

Election of Councillors

Electing Councillors at-large
Upper Hutt City Council’s Councillors are currently elected ‘at-large’.  This means all voters can vote for the full number of Councillors, regardless of where they live in the city.

People who like an at-large system for electing Councillors say….

• Ward boundaries are hard to work out.
• Voters want to be able to vote for who they think are the best candidates, regardless of where they are standing.

Electing Councillors by ward
Voters in a ward can only vote for Councillors standing in that ward.  If wards are to be considered, the number and boundaries of wards will need to be confirmed.

People who like a ward system for electing Councillors say….

• Voting for Councillors by ward is better because it gives a more even spread of Councillors across the city.  ‘At-large’ voting could lead to more Councillors coming from one part of the city.

• Wards are more likely to better represent different types of communities within the city.

At the Policy Committee meeting held on 15 February 2012, Councillors discussed the possibility of establishing a rural ward.  This is discussed in detail, further below.

Electing Councillors by a mixed system
A mixed system, where some Councillors are elected from wards and some at-large could be seen to provide a balance between representation of city-wide interests and local concerns.

Possibility of establishing a ward system
There are three factors that need to be considered when considering representation arrangements. They are:

	Community of interest – While this term is not defined in any statute the Local Government Commission considers that a community of interest is “the area to which one feels a sense of belonging and to which one looks for social, service and economic support”.
	Effective representation – There is no legislative requirement for cities to be divided into wards.  Cities that have opted for elections at-large tend to have a relatively compact geographic area, and/or share a common community of interest at the district level, and/or communities of interest which are not geographically located but spread across the district.  On the other hand, wards are likely to be appropriate in circumstances where a city contains a number of distinct, geographically identifiable communities of interest that are best served by separate representation.
	Fair representation – This factor requires that there be equality in the populations to be represented by all Councillors, in accordance with a formula in Section 19V [2] of the Local Electoral Act 2001. If a ward/or wards were proposed, using the 2011 population estimate of 41,500, that number would be 4,150 per Councillor (41,500 ÷ 10 Councillors).  The Act stipulates that there can be flexibility of ±10%.

By using the above factors to consider the possibility of establishing a rural ward the following should be considered:

	Has Upper Hutt remained a single community of interest?
	Have communities of interest emerged over time?
	While the residents who live in rural zones are distinct from the other zones in the Upper Hutt District Plan, are they such that the communities concerned have ceased to share the commonality of interest that exists throughout the rest of the city?
	It is important that the grouping together of two or more communities of interest that share few commonalities of interest should be avoided.

Possibility of establishing a rural ward
In the 1989 reorganisation, Upper Hutt was established with four wards, including a rural ward.  At that time, there were 12 Councillors and therefore the ‘fair representation’ formula outlined above would have allowed for a smaller ‘fair representation’ number.  Upper Hutt City Council subsequently received approval from the Local Government Commission to adopt an at-large system in which all Councillors are elected at large by all the electors of the city.

Given the request by Councillors to investigate the possibility of establishing a rural ward, officers have undertaken work to provide an estimate of the population of a possible rural ward.  That the estimates are merely indicative and that if Council was interested in considering the establishment of one or more wards then accurate figures will need to be obtained from the Statistics New Zealand:

Officers have provided two estimates as follows:

1. All rates assessments in the rural zones (according to the District Plan) were selected and then identified as ‘unique’ by removing multiple matches on additional parcels.  This left 1,341 unique assessments.  This is multiplied by 2.7 (the average number of people per household) and results in a rural population estimate of 3,621 people.  This calculation takes no account of meshblock boundaries and includes all properties zoned rural.
    
2. Officers overlaid meshblocks and rural zones on a plan and arrived at an estimated rural population of 3,200 based on meshblock population figures (from the 2011 estimates provided by Statistics New Zealand).

These estimates do not support the establishment of a rural ward with the current number of 10 Councillors.

If wards were established, is this considered to be a ‘reorganisation scheme’?
In short, no.  The procedures for reorganisation of local authorities are set out in the Local Government Act 2002.  There are two main procedures for change:

	altering boundaries and transferring responsibilities between local authorities (under Part 1 Subpart 3 of Schedule 3 of the Act); and
	for uniting, constituting, or abolishing districts and regions and creating unitary authorities (under Par 1 – Subpart 4 of Schedule 3 to the Act).

Based on the above, the establishment of a ward system would not be considered a reorganisation scheme.

The number of Councillors
The Council currently has a Mayor and 10 Councillors.  The Council can have the same, or a greater or lesser number of Councillors.
 
People who like larger Councils say…

	Larger Councils have more Councillors to share the workload including committee and group memberships.
	A large Council allows for greater diversity of Councillors and variety of ideas.
	A larger Council might be needed to represent all of the community.

People who like smaller Councils say…

	Smaller Councils can function more efficiently and with fewer committees.
	There may be more agreement in decision-making.
	A smaller Council may be more focused on major issues affecting the city.
	A smaller Council might cost less.

Community Boards
There are currently no community boards in Upper Hutt.  

Generally speaking, community boards act as an advocate for the interests of the community and undertake any other responsibilities delegated by their council.  There are also some things that council cannot delegate to a community board, such as the power to buy, sell or lease property.

A community board must consist of at least four but no more than 12 members.  Every community board must include at least four elected members and may include appointed members.  The number of appointed members is to be less than half the total number of members.  Councils can only appoint people to a community board who are members of the local authority, and if there are wards, members who represent the ward in which the community is located.

What happens next ?	Action completed
1. Public notice – public notification is given of the Council's decisions made in relation to the initial      proposal outlining how the City should be represented.	Completed
2. Formal submissions – the public have the opportunity to make formal submissions on the initial      proposal. The submission period runs from Wednesday 7 March 2012 to 5pm, Friday 20 April 2012.	Completed
3. Final proposal – Council will develop a final proposal, based on submissions received.	No submissions received.  Proposal final and publicly  notified 09/05/12.
4. Formal appeals – the public can make formal appeals, objections and/or present petitions or polls to      be held on options outlined in the final proposal.
5. Local Government Commission – if any formal appeals,objectionsand/or petitions are received for      the final proposal, then the Local Government Commission will determine how the City will be      represented for the next two council elections beginning on 2013.

If you have any queries, please contact Kate Glanville on (04) 527 2169.