Electoral Representation Review 2021

Representation Review for local elections 2022

All local councils must carry out a representation review at least every six years. This is to ensure residents have fair and effective representation at local elections. Selwyn District Council carried out a representation review in 2021-2022.

Final representation arrangements for Selwyn District Council for the 2022 local elections were confirmed by the Local Government Commission on 4 April 2022. The Commission upheld the Council’s Final Proposal.

For the 2022 local elections, to be held on 8 October 2022, the Council will comprise:

• the mayor – elected at large
• 10 councillors – elected from four wards
  • Ellesmere (2 members)
  • Malvern (2)
  • Rolleston (3)
  • Springs (3)

A community board will be elected, representing the Malvern ward. The Malvern Community Board will elect five members. One councillor will be appointed to the community board from the Malvern ward.

The Malvern Community Board will be subdivided for electoral purposes as follows:

• Hawkins subdivision (2 members)
• Tawera subdivision (1)
• West Melton subdivision (2)

View the Selwyn district wards and subdivisions maps, [PDF, 927 KB] showing the confirmed ward and subdivision boundaries for the 2022 local elections.

Read the Local Government Commission’s final determination [PDF, 1011 KB] on the Council’s representation arrangements.

For more information on the 2022 local elections visit www.selwyn.govt.nz/elections.

Hearing of Appeal and Final Determination April 2022

Selwyn District Council notified its Final Proposal for the 2022 Electoral Representation Review on 10 November 2021. One appeal against the proposal was received. The Local Government Commission considered the appeal in a hearing on Tuesday 1 March 2022. The hearing was livestreamed on the Local Government Commission’s YouTube channel.

Final proposal December 2021

The Council received and considered submissions on the Initial Proposal on 13 October 2021, and confirmed its support for the proposal as previously outlined.

The Council formally adopted the proposal as its Final Proposal at its meeting on 27 October 2021. The final Proposal was publicly notified on 10 November 2021.

Appeals and objections to the Final Proposal closed on 13 December 2021. One appeal was received.

The appeal has been forwarded to the Local Government Commission, which will consider the appeal, and make a final determination no later than 10 April 2022.

Read the Public Notice [PDF, 60 KB] notifying the Final Proposal
View the maps [PDF, 1183 KB] showing the proposed ward and subdivision boundaries
Read the report [PDF, 840 KB] to the Council meeting on 27 October 2021
Read the appeal [PDF, 1065 KB] received to the Final Proposal.

Initial proposal August 2021

The Council adopted its initial proposal for public consultation on 25 August 2021. Under this proposal the existing ward structure was largely retained, with the major changes proposed from the current electoral arrangements being:

• The total number of councillors would reduce from 11 to 10
• The Council would comprise 10 members elected from four wards, and the mayor elected at large
• West Melton would move from the current Selwyn Central ward to the Malvern Ward
• An area between Burnham and Rolleston would move from the current Selwyn Central Ward to the Ellesmere Ward
• An area east of Rolleston moving from the current Selwyn Central Ward to the Springs Ward.

Under the proposal, the Malvern Community Board was proposed to be retained, with five members to be elected from three subdivisions for electoral purposes: Hawkins, Tawera and West Melton. The West Melton subdivision was a new addition.

Public consultation on the initial proposal was undertaken from 3 September until 4 October 2021. The Council received 14 submissions on the proposal.

Read the Consultation Document [PDF, 1052 KB] on the initial proposal
View the Public Notice [PDF, 602 KB] notifying the initial proposal
View the maps [PDF, 1180 KB] showing the proposed ward and subdivision boundaries
Read the Council report [PDF, 90 KB] adopting the initial proposal for consultation

Preliminary consultation June 2021

In June 2021, the Representation Review Subcommittee confirmed four representation options to be the basis for preliminary consultation. These were:

• Option 1: Four wards, 10 councillors
• Option 2: Three wards (Springs/Ellesmere combined), 10 councillors
• Option 3: Three wards (Springs/Ellesmere combined), 9 councillors
• Option 4: Four wards, 7 councillors

The preliminary consultation also asked respondents to indicate whether they would like to have a community board in their ward.
Preliminary consultation was open from 5 July to 30 July 2021. A total of 106 submissions were received. Of the four proposed options, options 1, 2 and 4 scored within 6% of each other: option 2 (three wards, 10 councillors) was supported by 30% of respondents; option 1 (four wards, 10 councillors) was supported by 26%; and option 4 (four wards, 7 councillors) was supported by 24%.

In relation to community boards, 62% of respondents indicated that they favoured having a community board in their ward.

After reviewing the findings of the preliminary consultation, and taking account of the principles of fair and effective representation of communities of interest, the Subcommittee recommended to the Council Option 1 as its preference, and supported proposing a community board for Malvern.

Read the Consultation Document [PDF, 2619 KB] on the preliminary consultation
View the maps [PDF, 2232 KB] showing the options for ward and subdivision boundaries
Read the subcommittee report  [PDF, 110 KB]adopting the optionsfor consultation

Pre-consultation engagement March 2021

In March-April 2021 the Representation Review Subcommittee commissioned research to canvass the views of Selwyn residents relating to “communities of interest”. This involved a two-stage process of qualitative interviews, followed by telephone and online surveys of residents.

Three key themes emerged from the research:

• Residents identify more with the township they live in, than the ward
• Local representation is important
• No strong desire for substantial change.

These findings provided a useful framework for the subcommittee when assessing options and scenarios for the initial proposal.

Read the report [PDF, 2010 KB] on pre-consultation research findings

You can also find information about consultation on the Representation Review on our engagement website Your Say Selwyn.