Council representation review decision next week

Western Bay of Plenty District Council will make its decision next week on the final proposal for representation arrangements for the 2019 elections onwards.

The decision will be made during a public meeting at 1pm on Thursday, 20 September in Council's chambers at Barkes Corner.

Council's final proposal will be available to view on Council's website (www.westernbay.govt.nz) - two working days before Thursday's meeting.

Consultation on the representation review was held from 24 July to 24 August and included nine community events, as well as a formal submission process.

Council's initial proposal was:

• No change to the number of councillors or number of wards
• Move from the current five, elected community boards to three ward-based community committees where members would be nominated from the community through an expression of interest-style process. Council would make the appointments to the committee to ensure wide community representation.
• Make a minor adjustment to the boundary of the Katikati-Waihi Beach/Kaimai wards. This would allow those communities of interest identified by community and council to be grouped to better reflect their relationships with their wards.

The proposed changes aim to create a fairer and more effective way to represent our District's communities of interest.

A period from 2 October to 2 November (5pm) is provided for appeals or objections to the final proposal. If any appeals or objections are received a final determination will be made by the Local Government Commission (which is independent of Council) by April next year.