Councillors confirm Buller District Council's representation arrangement for the Local Government Elections

31 Oct 2024

Buller District Council has confirmed that its final proposal for representation in Buller District is to keep the status quo for the number of councillors, the basis for the election, and the boundaries and names of the districts’ wards for the Local Government Elections in 2025 and 2028. Retaining the status quo also means keeping the Inangahua Community Board and its current arrangement. 

The community was able to make a submission on these aspects of council’s Initial Proposal for representation arrangements between 4 August 2024 and 5 September 2024.

Council received ten submissions. Two submissions were in favour of council’s proposal to keep the status quo. Eight submitters suggested changing various elements of council’s Initial Proposal. 

These suggestions included reducing councillor numbers, creating a separate ward for Karamea, changing the boundaries of the wards, removing the Inangahua Community Board, and creating a Southern Ward including Carters Beach, Charleston, and Punakaiki.

Mr Cleine says: “Councillors considered all the submissions to the Initial Proposal and made their decision to retain the status quo as our Final Proposal for a number of reasons.  Reducing the number of councillors would limit council’s ability to represent the different communities across the district effectively and any variation to the proposed Councillor numbers each ward would worsen the discrepancy to the +/-10% rule. The minimum of two councillors per ward provides residents with a more effective representation. Also creating a new southern ward would divide existing communities of interest”

For these reasons, Councillors decided that the status quo would assure a fair and effective representation of Buller’s communities of interest. They adopted the Initial Proposal as the Final Proposal without any changes.

The Final Proposal (status quo) proposes that: 

  • Council would comprise ten (10) members elected from three (3) wards, and the Mayor elected at large.
  • The district would be divided into three (3) wards: the Seddon Ward, represented by two (2) Councillors; the Inangahua Ward, represented by two (2) Councillors; and the Westport Ward, represented by six (6) Councillors.
  • There will be an Inangahua Community Board, comprising the area of Inangahua Ward.
  • The Inangahua Community Board will comprise four elected members and two members appointed by the council representing Inangahua Ward

Given the wider community was able to express their views in the first round of consultation in August, under the Local Electoral Act 2001 only those people who submitted on the Initial Proposal can appeal the Final Proposal, for one month, until 3 December 2024. 

If no appeals are received, council will adopt the final proposal in early 2025 and the status quo will become the representation arrangement for the 2025 and 2028 triennial elections. 

If any appeals are received, they will be forwarded to the Local Government Commission, which will hold hearings, if necessary, in March 2025 and make a final determination.

More information is available on Council’s community engagement hub Let’s talk Buller. 

* The Local Electoral Act 2001 requires fair representation in determining membership for wards and constituencies and requires that the population of each ward is no more than 10% greater or smaller that the population of the district divided by the total number of members. 

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact: 
Community Engagement Team  
Buller District Council 
Media.Enquiries@bdc.govt.nz