‘Failing’ representation proposal adopted by Selwyn, ECan sticks with status quo

Wednesday, 23 October 2024

A representation review for Selwyn has failed to account for the future, some councillors say. (File photo)

Councillors have listened to the “squeaky wheel” rather than making “sound decisions” by throwing out Selwyn’s proposed representation structure in favour of one almost opposite, an elected member says.

The Selwyn District Council proposed to cut a councillor from Ellesmere and Malvern wards and disestablish the Malvern Community Board in a recent representation review.

The review was sparked by Selwyn’s significant growth, which saw the district’s population almost double in the past 10 years to 86,000. A further 23,000 people were expected to be living in the area by 2034.

But on Wednesday a new representation structure was adopted that will add a councillor to Rolleston Ward instead and split some communities in half.

Meanwhile, Environment Canterbury agreed to largely retain the status quo on Wednesday. The only change was moving the Linwood Ward into the Christchurch North-East/Ōrei constituency and the Papanui Ward into Christchurch Central/Ōhoko.

There were also some minor boundary adjustments.

Councillor Phil Dean says the council will have to do another expensive review in a few years. (File photo)

Selwyn councillor Phil Dean said councillors read more than 600 submissions (almost 70% of them from Malvern residents) and heard from 36 people during deliberations on October 10, but the decision they made came down to “patch protection”.

“The feedback came from a small part of our community. We over considered it because they were the squeaky wheel while ignoring the wider feedback from a similar number of people from across the whole community.”

Selwyn’s deputy mayor Malcolm Lyall warned the new structure may spark concerns from the Local Government Commission. (File photo)

He said another representation review, which was expensive, would likely need to be done by the next council because the growth of the district would distort representation levels again because the council could not makes “sound decisions”.

Deputy mayor councillor Malcolm Lyall said the new model was a “failing” of the council because it did not meet the requirements set out by the Local Electoral Act.

“This proposal fails. It does not reflect the communities of interest of Burnham, West Melton or Rolleston West.”

Malvern Community Board has been saved from disestablishment. From left, community board members Sharn Nu'u, Bob Mugford, John Verry, Bruce Russell, Lydia Gliddon, Calvin Payne, and Phill Freeman. (File photo)

The housing development chosen by the Fast-Track Bill will see 4200 homes built in Rolleston West in the coming years which will throw the math out for even representation, he said.

But councillor Sophie McInnes said those houses were not built yet, and if the new homes triggered another representation review so be it.

Malvern ward councillor Lydia Gliddon said she was impressed with the new structure because the council listened to the residents of Malvern and acted accordingly.

“We’re making decisions based on what our community is telling us and if we can’t find the data to back us [the proposal] then it doesn’t make sense to roll with those.”

Community board member Calvin Payne thanked the council for “listening to the voices of the community and applying common sense during the decision on the representation review”.

The adopted proposal will also add Māori names to the wards to Tawera Malvern Ward, Kā Mānia Rolleston Ward, Te Waihora Ellesmere Ward, and Kā Puna Springs Ward reflecting the history of iwi in the area before colonisation.

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