Western Bay of Plenty District Councillors are proposing to shrink the council and reorganise the council ward system.
The proposal to create a new look council reducing the current 12 councillors representing five wards to eight councillors representing three wards has been put out for public consultation.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor Ross Paterson with a map of the proposed new ward system for the council.
Under the requirements of the Local Electoral Act every councillor should represent a similar number of people.
At present the Western Bay of Plenty has an unequal balance of elected representatives to the population in some wards.
Te Puke and Waihi Beach residents are now over-represented by councillors, while Katikati residents are under-represented.
The council proposal is to merge the five wards of Waihi Beach, Katikati, Kaimai, Te Puke and Maketu into three new wards.
These will be the Western Ward (Waihi Beach, Katikati and Matakana Island) the Central Ward (Kaimai, Omokoroa and Te Puna) and the Eastern Ward (Te Puke and Maketu).
There will be three councillors each for the Eastern and Central wards and two for the Western Ward. Councillors believe the reduction in the number of councillors from 12 to eight is a better ratio of councillors to population.
Each councillor will represent about the same number of people within their ward, within a 10 per cent range of the average.
Community boards will remain the same in name and boundaries but the number of councillors appointed to the Te Puke Community Board will be reduced from three to two. All other community boards will keep two appointed councillors.
The council is required to review its political representation every six years in order to ensure fair and effective representation.
The proposed changes are the result of an on-line survey of electors' opinions, several council workshops and the consideration of many options as to how the district could be better represented.
Submissions on the proposal must be received by council no later than 4pm, Wednesday, July 25.
Submissions will be heard on Friday, August 17. Council will deliberate on the submissions and the final representation proposal will be notified and go out for further public consultation.
Any appeals will be determined by the Local Government Commission. If no appeals are lodged, the proposal will be adopted by Council later this year and will take effect from the Local Government Elections to be held on October 12, 2013.
Written submissions can be forwarded to Western Bay of Plenty District Council, email representationsubmissions@westernbay.govt.nz or post Private Bay 12803, Tauranga, 3143.
Further information is available at www.westernbay.govt.nz/Major-Projects/Representation-Review/
3 comments
A step in the right direction
Posted on 22-06-2012 14:36 | By SpeakUp
We tentatively applaud WBoPDC's proposal, in general. As so often, the proof will be in the pudding. Smaller does not necessarily mean reduced cost. And REDUCING COST to the ratepayers is the crux. It will have to be a FAST and HUGE turn-around to get the fiscal, financial and credit position back into positive direction, if not positive territory. Redemption of colossal mismanagement is a MUST. There is still a (small as we believe) window to address these positions. Hopefully it won't be too little too late. So, in this instance the WBoPDC has our acknowledgement. The bozos in the Tauranga City Council still have their blinkers on. It won't help them to avoid responsibility and accountability. All is been noted, nothing will be forgotten. -Citizens Monitoring Council-
Wrong Again
Posted on 22-06-2012 16:35 | By Jitter
If people are going to use common sayings why can't they get them right ? "Speakup" says "The proof will be in the pudding" ! Wrong. This is quoted incorrectly time and time again. The correct quotation of the saying is "The proof of the pudding is in the eating". This sort of thing really annoys as the English language is rapidly being bastardised. Other examples that really annoy me are radio and TV front people mispronouncing words. Very common ones are the words "now" and "how" pronounced by a number of radio and TV people(Mark Sainsbury being a major mispronunciation offender) as "nar" and "har". Another one I have heard in the last couple of days is a radio advert for the Tauranga production of "Around the World in Eighty Days" where it is stated this show is an "adaption" etc. "Adaption" ?? There is no such word. The word is actually "Adaptation". The bad spelling and misuse of words in our printed media is also generally very poor these days.
No reduced cost - Sorry Speakup
Posted on 23-06-2012 08:03 | By Murray.Guy
As I understand it, the remuneration authority allocates a fixed dollar amount to the Mayor and a dollar pool for the payment of Councillors, based on population, budgets and possibly other logistical considerations. Reduced representation will likely increase incomes to Councillors (which are at present unreasonably low), increase the workload of those who actually get out into the community on a regular basis with a corresponding increase in mileage travel expenses. The real cost and threat to the community is reduced democratic representation - more power to an ego fuelled few.
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