Three-ward system for Nelson elections gets backing from council

Thursday, 12 August 2021

The Nelson City Council has given its support to a two-ward system (along with a city-wide Māori ward) for the 2022 council elections – pending public feedback.

The Nelson City Council has backed a move to set up a ward structure for the next council elections in 2022, including two general wards and a Māori ward.

This new representation structure would comprise a Central ward with four councillors, a Stoke-Tahuna ward with four councillors, and a Māori ward with one councillor.

As well as voters voting within their own wards, there would also be three “at large” council positions and the position of mayor that everyone enrolled was eligible to vote for.

The proposal selected by the council was the one recommended by staff, out of a possible seven options.

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Councillor Tim Skinner was the only councillor to vote against the proposal on Thursday.

The proposal was passed at a council meeting on Thursday with only councillor Tim Skinner voting against it. However, councillors Yvonne Bowater and Gaile Noonan sat in the public gallery and did not take part in the vote.

Bowater later said she was comfortable letting the majority decide as she felt she did not have enough understanding of the option.

Skinner said he did not believe the public had been heard on the issue, referring to their involvement in the decision-making process “like sheep being herded through some gates”.

Option 5 in the representation review included the possibility of setting up three general wards in Nelson.

“I think people view Nelson as a whole … I don’t think this tailoring suits us at all.

“The public did not get an opportunity for a referendum or feedback on whether they wanted a wards system at all – we rushed that right through.”

Councillor Brian McGurk said while it seemed council had been “overdosed on change” from 3 Waters to STV voting to the upcoming local government review – the new ward system would be an opportunity for better representation.

“I think most representatives here are from north of the Bishopdale Hill – if we can get a better spread across the city that will be an advantage.”

Options 6 and 7 of the representation review would divide Nelson up into four general ward categories.

Councillor Mel Courtney said the two-ward system was easy to understand, which was necessary given the major shake-ups to local government expected to come in the next few years.

“I don’t think it will be long, I would predict two elections away, before we are all one in Nelson-Tasman, and therefore we will find ourselves into total ward system in my view.”

Deputy mayor Judene Edgar said that while the proposal was not the “perfect option”, the current system had not been perfect either.

“I really implore people to engage and really hope we will be able to run clinics or speak to groups.

“I am open to different options … the more submissions on something like this the better.”

Councillor Trudi Brand said she was happy for the proposal to go out as a starting point for public feedback.

Councillor Matt Lawrey said he was hopeful the news generated by the change would help stimulate interest in local government elections.

“There is a real opportunity to get people engaged and interested … it would be fantastic if we got more people participating at the next election.”

The need to shift towards a ward system was triggered by a council decision in May to establish a Māori ward in Nelson.

As Māori wards can only operate within a ward system, this means the Nelson electorate will also have to move from an “at large” to a ward system in time for the 2022 elections.

In the other proposals, the number of general wards range from one to four – with options for either ward-only or mixed system voting.

Before council settles on a final proposal, the proposal will be open for public submissions from August 16.