Bay of Plenty Regional Council Final proposal for representation arrangements for the 2025 and 2028 local elections

On 13 August 2024 the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC) considered submissions received on its initial proposal regarding representation arrangements to apply for the local elections to be held in 2025 and 2028.

BOPRC received 29 submissions. Submitters were able to submit on General and Māori constituencies separately.

General constituency proposal: 17 submissions in favour of the proposal, nine submissions contained objections as follows:

• Three submitters sought a variation of Councillor numbers
• One submitter preferred discarded option one
• Four submitters sought Councillor numbers based on environmental factors such as land size
• Two submitters sought increased representation for Māori and Pasifika
• Two submitters sought the removal of Māori constituencies

Māori constituency proposal: 11 submissions in favour of the proposal, 11 submissions contained objections as follows:

• Eight submitters sought the removal of Māori constituencies
• Two submitters sought an increase to the number of Māori constituency Councillors
• One submitter sought boundaries based on cultural perspectives
• Three submitters preferred discarded option two.

Final Proposal

Having considered the submissions BOPRC resolved to adopt its initial proposal as the final proposal with no amendments. BOPRC considers the proposal is appropriate for the following reasons:

• It balances fair and effective representation of communities of interest
• The constituency boundaries coincide with the boundaries of the Territorial Authorities
• The representation arrangements are well understood by the population and have been previously approved by the LGC
• Current boundaries cannot be realigned in a way that will not alienate communities of interest.

The matters raised in objections were rejected for the following reasons:

• Any variation to the proposed Councillor numbers in the General constituencies would worsen the discrepancy to the +/-10% rule
• Altering the constituency boundaries would reduce alignment with Territorial Authorities boundaries
  •    The Local Electoral Act requires representation arrangements based on population size and community locations
• The formula which dictates the number of Māori Councillors is set out in section 6 of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Māori Constituency Empowering) Act 2001
• The removal of Māori Constituencies is outside the scope of this review
• Moving Maketū/Kaituna from Mauao to Ōkurei would combine areas with differing interest, being lakes and coastal.

Council Representation

It is proposed that BOPRC comprise of 14 members, with three Māori Councillors elected from three Māori Constituencies and 11 General Councillors elected from four General Constituencies, this being no change to the current representation arrangement. The seven constituencies reflect the following identified communities of interest:

The population that each member will represent is as follows:

 * StatsNZ population estimates as at 30 June 2023

 * StatsNZ population estimates as at 30 June 2023

Māori Constituencies: In accordance with section 7 of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Māori Constituency Empowering) Act 2001 the ratio of members to population in each Māori Constituency must be similar and in accordance with section 19V(2) of the Local Electoral Act 2001 the population that each member represents must be within the range of 22,367 +/- 10% (20,130 to 24,604), unless particular community of interest considerations justify otherwise. All three Māori Constituencies comply with both these requirements.

General Constituencies: In accordance with section 19V(2) of the Local Electoral Act 2001 the population that each member represents in the General Constituencies must be within the range of 26,124 +/- 10% (23,512 to 28,736), unless particular community of interest considerations justify otherwise.
The representation of the Eastern Bay of Plenty and the Tauranga Constituencies fall outside the stipulated range. However, BOPRC considers that the final proposal ensures effective representation of communities of interest.

Appeals

Any person who made a submission on the initial proposal may lodge an appeal against the decision. An appeal must relate to the matters raised in that person’s submission.
Appeals must be made in writing and must be received by BOPRC no later than Friday 27 September 2024. 

Appeals are to be forwarded to:
Attention – The Representation Review Team
•    Post: PO box 365, Whakatāne, 3158
•    Email: representation.review@boprc.govt.nz

Further Information

Any queries regarding the Council’s decision should be directed to the Representation Review Team, 0800 884 880 or representation. review@boprc.govt.nz
Relevant information is also available on the Council’s website.

Fiona McTavish
Chief Executive
15 August 2024