Mount Maunganui and Papamoa residents who want to retain their local city councillor need to lodge submissions by July 17.

Both the Mount Maunganui and Papamoa Progressive associations are encouraging their members to fight to keep the Mount city councillor.
'Our main feeling is if it ain't broke, don't fix it,” says Dave Burnett from the Mount association.
'We feel we have better representation from the council,” says Neville Dixon from the Papamoa association.
'We have a couple of councillors coming to our monthly meetings. Wayne Moultrie the ward member, attends all of the meetings. David Stewart, an at large councillor, doesn't always attend.”
Tauranga City Council will remove the ward system in the next local body elections.
Tauranga city councillors are elected in a mixed system with three ward councillors; seven elected at large and one mayor.
The remaining wards are Mount Maunganui-Papamoa, Te Papa-Welcome Bay, and Otumoetai-Bethlehem.
The council's rational is Tauranga's relatively small size does not include specific communities of interest, as do larger cities. Nor are those split between rural and urban voters.
The councillors are required by oath to serve the city as a whole; not only the wards they represent.
'There are only three cities with an at-large system, all the others run with wards. Napier's been playing round with it. Residents there say they want to change back to the ward system. Hamilton residents say don't lose them – wards are far better,” says Neville.
'A lot of people won't know what's going on here,” says Dave. 'I would like to see the public informed and see what they say about it. I have a pretty good idea what Mount people will say about it.”
The council's call for public submissions on the proposal to do away with the three remaining wards is the next step in the statutory process.
If no submissions are received during the month from June 15 to July 17, the proposal becomes final.
The objections and appeals hearing process could be dragged through till next year with the Local Government Commission then deciding. The LGC decision can be appealed on a point of law only.
The representation review is required by law every six years. Since the last review in 2003 the city's population has increased by 15,000 to 110,000 people.