Wellington City Council made its final proposal on the representation review at the Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Council meeting on 28 October 2021.
You can read the minutes of the meeting, or watch it online.
The proposal has been referred to the Local Government Commission for a final decision, the decision is due by 11 April 2022.
The Local Government Commission made its final determination and upheld Council's final proposal. You can read the full determination in the Key Documents section.
Have your say on how you’re represented at a local level.
The 2021 Representation Review looks at governance arrangements for Wellington City in the next local election.
As Wellington changes it is important that the make-up of our electoral boundaries still ensure fair and effective representation of the communities that live here. To successfully do this we need to regularly check in with Wellingtonians through a representation review.
A representation review will look at the number of councillors there should be in a district or region and the way they are elected. It could change the number of councillors we elect, the number of wards, the local electoral boundaries, or our number of community boards.
Under the Electoral Act 2001 we are required to review our elected representation at least every six years. Wellington City Council last did this in 2018 however in 2021 Council agreed to introduce a Māori Ward which means we need to review our representation boundaries and check in with our communities again.
The dates for representation reviews are set by legislation and so we need to start public submissions now while we are still in lockdown.
The outcome of this year’s review will apply to the 2022 local election. Council may conduct another review ahead of the 2025 election.
What's been considered
The Council has come up with some options which are outlined in the representation review consultation document. From these, a preferred option for Wellington has been chosen by Councillors and we want to hear what you think.
After considering all the options, Council is recommending that the current ward structure is kept in place with no changes and the new Māori ward councillor is added.
We are proposing to keep our current community board structure with Tawa Community Board and Makara/Ohariu Community Board. We are also proposing to update the name of the Makara/Ohariu Community Board to have the right macrons – Mākara/Ōhāriu Community Board.
This means the proposal is to have fifteen councillors in total: 14 general ward councillors elected from five wards, one Māori ward councillor elected from one ward over the whole city, and a mayor elected by the whole city. Wellington City Council is currently represented by 14 councillors and a mayor.
Regardless of the number of councillors we have, the total amount available to pay elected members remains the same; the money is split between the number of councillors there are.
How to share your views
The Council has come up with some options which are outlined in the representation review consultation document. From these, a preferred option for Wellington has been chosen but we want to know what you think. Do you agree with the preferred option?
You can access and read the full consultation document from this page.
If you have any questions, ask them via the “Ask a question’ button and we’ll reply to you within two working days.
Share your views either online or by mailing in your submission form to Deputy Electoral Officer, PO Box 2199, Wellington 6140
