Supplementary Agenda of Council Meeting

Council Meeting SUPPLEMENTARY item: 7.7

21 August 2018

TITLE:	Representation Review 2018 Final Proposal
ID:	A1092406
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

Executive summary

The purpose of this report is to adopt the Northland Regional Council’s Representation Review 2018 Final Proposal. It concludes with a series of recommendations in accordance with the requirements of the Local Electoral Act 2001.

Recommendations

1. That the report ‘Representation Review 2018 Final Proposal’ by Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager and dated 14 August 2018, be received.

2. That pursuant to section 19N(1)(a) of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Northland Regional Council resolves that, after the consideration of all submissions received, the Initial Representation Arrangements Proposal of 21 June 2018 be adopted as the Northland Regional Council’s Final Representation Arrangements Proposal as follows:

a) That the Northland Regional Council be divided into seven (7) constituencies (as shown in Appendix One).

b) That the names and descriptions of the seven (7) constituencies be as follows:

i. Te Hiku Constituency – Comprising the area that extends on the west coast from near the northern side of the Whāngāpē Harbour northwards to Cape Rēinga. On the east coast it includes the Karikari Peninsula and south to Taipā, Mangonui Harbour, Hihi and Taemaro. Moving inland it includes the settlements of Oruaiti, Kenana, Fern Flat, Mangataiore, and Takahue. The proposed constituency includes the towns of Kaitāia, Ahipara, Awanui and Mangonui (as shown in Appendix Two).

ii. Hokianga-Kaikohe Constituency – Comprising the area whose south-west boundary matches the Far North District Council boundary at Waipoua Forest and extends north to include all of the Hokianga and Whāngāpē Harbours. Extending eastwards, the constituency includes Mangamuka, Rangiahua, Waihou Valley, Ōkaihau and Oromahoe. Extending southwards, the settlements of Pakaraka, Matawaia, Kaikou, Pipiwai, Moengawahine and Opouteke are included. The towns of Opononi and Kaikohe are situated in this constituency (as shown in Appendix Two).

iii. Coastal North Constituency – Comprising the area that begins south of Doubtless Bay and extends south along the east coast to include the coastal settlements at Taupo Bay through to Matauri Bay, Takou Bay and Taronui Bay. It includes the town of Kerikeri and all of the Bay of Islands including Paihia, Ōpua and Russell. Continuing down the east coast, it includes the coastal settlements of Oakura, Helena Bay down to Whananaki South. To the west it includes Marua and Hikurangi. Further south around the western side of Whangārei it includes Gumtown, Maungatapere, Wharekohe, Poroti and Kokopu. Northwards from there it includes Matarau and Purua and northwards to include Motatau, Otiria, Waimate North, Mangapa, Otangaroa and Akatere. The towns of Moerewa and Kawakawa are also included in this constituency (as shown in Appendix Two).

iv. Whangārei Urban Constituency – Comprising the area that includes the northern Whangārei suburbs of Kamō, Whau Valley, Tikipunga and Otangarei. It extends through Kensington to Riverside and westwards to Woodhill through to Maunu ending before Barge Park. The southern border of this constituency is just north of Toetoe Road and it also includes the area known as Port Whangārei (as shown in Appendix Two).

v. Coastal Central Constituency – Comprising the area north of the Whangārei Urban constituency, east to Glenbervie and further south adjacent to Riverside and extending to Onerahi. The boundary then follows the northern side of Whangārei Harbour out to the east coast. It includes Ocean Beach, and extends north to include Pataua, and the Tutukaka Coast settlements of Ngunguru, Tutukaka, Matapouri, Woolleys Bay and Sandy Bay (as shown in Appendix Two).

vi. Coastal South Constituency – Comprising the area that includes the southern fringes of Whangārei from Toetoe extending westwards to the Otaika Valley, Otuhi, Tangihua and Maungakaramea. It extends south to include the settlements of Waipū, Brynderwyn and Kaiwaka before extending eastwards to just south of Mangawhai Heads. This constituency also includes the towns of Mangawhai, Kaiwaka and Ruakākā (as shown in Appendix Two).

vii. Kaipara Constituency – Comprising the area that includes Poutō Peninsula and the northern area of the Kaipara Harbour and extends northwards to meet the Far North District Council boundary at Waipoua Forest. It extends eastwards to include Waimatenui, Kaihu, Titoki and southwards to include the settlements of Waiotama, Omana, Parahaka and south to Maungaturoto. This constituency also includes the towns of Ruāwai and Dargaville (as shown in Appendix Two).

c) That the council comprise nine (9) councillors – the constituencies, number of councillors per constituency, the constituency populations (estimated at June 2017) and the population ration per councillor is as follows:

Constituency	2017 population estimate *	Number of councillors	Population per councillor **	Fits +/- 10% rule
Te Hiku	19,860	1	19,860	Yes (+1.86%)
Hokianga-Kaikohe***	16,120	1	16,120	No (-17.32%)
Coastal North	42,160	2	21,080	Yes (+8.12%)
Whangārei Urban	41,440	2	20,720	Yes (+6.27%)
Coastal Central	20,070	1	20,070	Yes (+2.94%)
Coastal South	17,760	1	17,760	Yes (-8.91%)
Kaipara	18,060	1	18,060	Yes (-7.37%)
	175,470	9

* Based on Stats NZ population estimates only as at 30 June 2017.

** In accordance with section 19V(2) of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the population that each councillor represents must be within the population range of 19,497 plus or minus 10% (17,547 to 21,446).

***For the Hokianga-Kaikohe Constituency the population that the councillor represents falls outside of the range and therefore does not comply with section 19V(2) of the Local Electoral Act 2001. Accordingly, under legislation, this must be treated as if it were an appeal and forwarded to the Local Government Commission for determination.

3. That pursuant to section 19N(1)(a) of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Northland Regional Council resolves that, after the consideration of all submissions, the following recommendations be confirmed:

i. Include the Oneriri Peninsula in the Coastal South constituency: the submission of Wendy Howard is not supported. The reasons for not supporting this submission are that it results in non-compliance of the fair representation criteria (+/- 10% rule), it fails to ‘future proof’ the Coastal South constituency (which has experienced the largest growth rates in the region) and it fails to acknowledge the link the Oneriri Peninsula has with the Kaipara Harbour.

ii. Transfer Mangawhai and Kaiwaka into the Kaipara constituency: the submissions of Margaret Hicks and Joe Carr are not supported. The reasons for not supporting these submissions are that they result in significant non-compliance of the fair representation criteria and it would be inconsistent with identified regional communities of interest.

iii. That the status quo be retained: the submission of Joe Carr is not supported. The reasons for not supporting this submission are that it does not comply with the fair representation criteria and misses an opportunity to refine the representation arrangements for Northland.

iv. That constituencies align with tribal areas of Te Tai Tokerau: the submission of Ms Merehora Taurua is not supported. The reasons for not supporting this submission is that the issue of Māori constituencies has already been considered (24 October 2017) as one of the first statutory steps required in the Representation Review and further consideration would result in council not meeting the statutory timeframes of the Local Electoral Act 2001.

v. General support for the Initial Proposal: the submission of Federated Farmers (Richard Gardner) is supported. The reason for supporting this submission is that it endorsed the ‘fine tuning’ of representation arrangements in Northland.

4. That the Chief Executive Officer be authorised to make any editorial changes arising from the adoption of this proposal.

Background

In accordance with the requirements of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Representation Arrangements Review looked at how many elected members there need to be on the Northland Regional Council, and how they can best represent the people of Northland.

The review, which is required at least once every six years, looks at:

· The total number of councillors to be elected;

· The number, boundaries and names of the areas (or constituencies) where councillors will be elected from;

· The number of councillors to be elected from each constituency; and

· What the names of these constituencies will be.

The council adopted its Initial Proposal on 21 June 2018 and invited public submissions over a one month period that ended on 24 July 2018. Council received five (5) submissions – one (1) in support and four (4) in opposition. Hearings took place in Whangārei on 31 July 2018.

Council gave careful consideration to all submissions (deliberations) on 13 August 2018. In doing so, the council contemplated the following three key factors:

1. Regional communities of interest;

2. Fair and effective representation for electors and communities of interest (and compliance with the ‘+/- 10% rule’; and

3. The practicality of constituency boundaries coinciding with territorial authority or ward boundaries.

Final proposal

Following deliberations, council decided to retain all changes proposed in the Northland Regional Council Representation Review 2018 Initial Proposal. This was on the grounds that it took into account the special attributes of Northland including the significant diversity of our region and our people, and our distinct geography including our river catchments, coastal areas and rural hinterland.

The Final Proposal retains nine (9) councillors elected from seven (7) constituencies as detailed in Appendix One and Appendix Two.

Next steps

Public notice of the Final Proposal will be made on Saturday 25 August 2018. There will be a one month appeal period where only an earlier submitter may make a formal appeal to the Final Proposal. The appeal period ends at 4.00pm on 26 September 2018.

Any appeals received will be forwarded to the Local Government Commission for determination.

Since one constituency (Hokianga-Kaikohe) falls outside of the fair representation criteria (+/- 10% rule), the Local Government Commission is required to determine the final representation arrangements for Northland. The Commission is required to make their determination by 10 April 2019, which is final other than an appeal to the High Court on a point of law. Any appeal must be lodged within one month of the Commission’s determination.

The Northland Regional Council triennial elections on 12 October 2019 will be based on the representation arrangements arrived at through the above process.

Considerations

1. Options

No.	Option	Advantages	Disadvantages
1	Adopt the Final Proposal included as Attachment 1.	Completes the legislative process within the required timeframes.	None identified.
2	Do not adopt the Final Proposal.	None identified.	Fail to meet the requirements of the Local Electoral Act 2001.

The staff’s recommended option is Option 1 – Adopt the Final Proposal.

2. Significance and engagement

With respect to the Representation Review, council has adhered to the public consultation requirements of the Local Electoral Act 2001 and in doing so has complied with the requirements of council’s Significance and Engagement Policy which states ‘we will consult when we are required to by law’.

3. Policy, risk management and legislative compliance

The 2018 Representation Arrangement Review process and the Initial/Final Proposals have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Local Electoral Act 2001. This is a complex and legislatively governed process. To ensure council compliance, external specialist advice has been sought when appropriate.

Further considerations

4. Community views

The views of the community on the Representation Review were obtained through the one month consultation on the Initial Proposal. Community views have been provided to council by way of the Hearings and Deliberations agendas.

5. Māori impact statement

Targeted feedback was sought from Māori in the earlier part of the representation review process when council gave consideration to the establishment of Māori seats.

The demographic profile of the Hokianga-Kaikohe constituency – being the highest % of Māori in all Northland constituencies was taken into consideration when deciding to maintain the existing constituency boundaries even though they are outside the +/-10% requirement of the LEA 2001.

6. Financial implications

Costs associated with conducting the 2018 Representation Arrangements Review have been outlined and approved in the Project Plan. Budget allocation is included within the Governance and Engagement group of activities.

7. Implementation issues

The adoption of the Final proposal and determination by the Local Government Commission are in accordance with the requirements of the Local Electoral Act 2001.

Attachments

Attachment 1: Northland Regional Council Representation Review 2018 Final Proposal ⇩