Representation review

The Local Government Commission announced on 11 April 2019, the constituency and membership arrangements for Environment Canterbury for the upcoming 2019 local authority elections.

Environment Canterbury had proposed a 14-member Council elected from seven constituencies. Following consideration of Environment Canterbury's proposal and 201 appeals and objections the Commission has confirmed that proposal.

The decision means that for the 2019 elections, Environment Canterbury will be elected as follows:

Constituencies	Members
North Canterbury-Ōpukepuke	2
Mid-Canterbury-Ōpākihi	2
South Canterbury-Ōtuhituhi	2
Christchurch North East-Ōrei	2
Christchurch West-Ōpuna	2
Christchurch Central-Ōhoko	2
Christchurch South-Ōwhanga	2
Total	14

Read the determination on Local Government Commission website.

The Local Government Commission will be in Christchurch on Thursday 21 March to hear appeals and objections to the Representation proposal.

The hearing will be held in the Council Chamber, Environment Canterbury, 200 Tuam Street from 1.30pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

The hearing will be live streamed, you can join the hearings via Skype Broadcast here. (You can join from any PC or mobile device browser).

The proposal, plus the submissions, appeals and objections are now with the Local Government Commission to make a decision. You can find all the appeals and objections here.

The Local Government Commission will be in Christchurch on Thursday 21 March to hear appeals and objections to the Representation proposal.

The hearing will be held in the Council Chamber, Environment Canterbury, 200 Tuam Street from 1.30pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

The hearing will be live streamed you can join the hearings via Skype Broadcast here. (You can join from any PC or mobile device browser)

At a public meeting yesterday the Environment Canterbury Council advised the Chief Executive that they would like to amend their initial proposal for representation as a result of submissions received.

Chairman Steve Lowndes confirmed the changes through a show of hands from his Council: “We received 64 submissions on our initial proposal, with 27 of those in support of what we had put forward. We did however also hear 20 strong submissions requesting that we consider an additional representative for South Canterbury-Ōtuhituhi.

“The discussion was robust around the Council table, as it was during the development of the initial proposal, but in the end the decision was unanimous to increase the number of representatives in the south from one to two, taking the total number to 14.

“We are thankful to all those who submitted for the time taken to make their submission and, for those who attended the hearings, for travelling to our offices in Christchurch.”

In addition to the increased southern representation, the initial proposal will also be amended by changing the name of the Christchurch North constituency to Christchurch North East.

Council meeting to take place on 23 August

A final proposal will now be prepared for adoption at the Council meeting on 23 August. Following that meeting, the proposal will be sent to the Local Government Commission for determination in preparation for the 2019 elections.

Under the Local Electoral Act 2001, every local authority is required to undertake a representation review at least once every six years. In the case of Environment Canterbury, the Environment Canterbury (Transitional Governance Arrangements) Act 2016 requires the council to review its representation arrangements before the next local authority election in 2019.

Under the current arrangements, Environment Canterbury has a Council made up of 13 members: seven were elected in the 2016 elections, and six were appointed at that time by the Government.

To undertake the review of community representation on the Council, ie how many councillors can be elected and from which geographical areas, Council considered communities of interest, population distribution and the other local authorities’ boundaries, as well as the issues facing the region and the work the council undertakes. The Local Electoral Act 2001 provides the guidance for the review.

A local bill is being pursued with Ngāi Tahu for mana whenua representation to continue on the Environment Canterbury Council.

When a local government council is elected, voters are given a number of candidates you can vote for to represent you on that council. How many councillors for each geographical area, and what the boundaries of those areas are, is determined by the council under guidelines set out in the Local Electoral Act 2001.

Before elections, the Council reviews the representation arrangements for the number of electoral constituencies, their boundaries, names, and number of members. This is known as a ‘representation review’.

The Local Electoral Act 2001 (LEA) sets the parameters within which the representation review process must be undertaken.

The membership to any regional council cannot be less than six nor more than 14 councillors.

Find out more information about the Representation Review Process here:

• Local Government Commission – Local Electoral Act 2001

Environment Canterbury is currently represented by seven elected councillors and five government appointed councillors. These arrangements were made to transition Environment Canterbury to a fully-elected council.

Under the Environment Canterbury (Transitional Governance Arrangements) Act 2016 Council must complete a representation review for the 2019 elections, and return ECan to a fully democratically elected Council.

Council explored a number of representation options available to it under the Local Electoral Act 2001, and ended up supporting an initial proposal for a 13-member council elected from 7 constituencies.

The proposal seeks to maintain the 3 Canterbury constituencies we have now of North, Mid and South Canterbury and allocate Christchurch City into 4 constituencies of North, West, Central and South Christchurch (see map below).

Council also supports dual English / Maori names for each constituency (the English name first followed by the Maori name in brackets).

As Council worked through various options, it was mindful of the requirements of the Local Electoral Act to have regard to fair and effective representation which determines “as far as practicable constituency boundaries coincide with territorial authority or ward boundaries” and that “the ratio of population for each constituency falls within +/-10% of the average population per member”.

What this means is that each councillor should represent the same number of citizens within a threshold of +/-10% of the region average population.

Like most regional councils’, Environment Canterbury is faced with the challenge of applying the Local Electoral Act population rules across a geographically large region that includes sizable rural areas with small populations.

Whilst the proposal clearly aligns with territorial authority and ward boundaries, we end up with 3 constituencies that don’t fall within the +/-10% rule (North and South Canterbury and Christchurch South) however Council believes the degree of non-compliance in these 3 areas would not unreasonably compromise fair and effective representation in Canterbury and we have done this to align with communities of interest.

Should Council end up deciding on a representation proposal that doesn’t comply with the Local Electoral Act, it must be refer it to the Local Government Commission for determination.

Since 2011 ECan has enjoyed the value and benefit of having 2 Ngai Tahu representatives at the council table. Prior to developing the representation options, Council considered how the review could support continued Maori representation at ECan.

The Local Electoral Act provides for councils to establish Maori constituencies if they so choose, however, our investigations concluded that applying the Local Electoral Act for Maori representation would result in a single member Maori constituency with a representative that need not be Ngai Tahu.

This is because any eligible elector can stand as a candidate in a Maori constituency and therefore Ngai Tahu - the tribal authority and mana whenua in Canterbury - would not be guaranteed a seat at the council table.

We therefore confirmed our position that Maori constituencies are not appropriate for the Canterbury rohe and this view is shared by Te Rūnanga o Ngai Tahu who support Council’s decision to not establish Maori constituencies.

Anyone can make a submission on the Representation Review. Submissions open on Thursday 28 June and close Monday 30 July.

Submissions can be made online. You can also download a submission form and submit it either by mail to:

Freepost 1201
PO Box 345
Christchurch 8140

or drop your submission form in at the offices of Environment Canterbury.

- 200 Tuam Street, Christchurch
- 75 Church Street, Timaru
- 96 West End, Level 2, Kaikoura

A hearing will be held during the week of 13 - 17 August 2018, and Council will make a decision on its final proposal on 23 August 2018.