Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst defended the proposal during the appeals hearing on Friday. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst defended the proposal during the appeals hearing on Friday. Photo / Warren Buckland
Cutting the number of Flaxmere councillors from two to one has become the biggest sticking point ahead of the introduction of Māori wards to Hastings District Council - with residents making a last-ditch attempt to save that second seat.
Māori ward councillors are set to be introduced to the councilfor the 2022 local body elections.
However, exactly how best to reshuffle the existing council and introduce Māori ward councillors has been the cause of much debate.
A final proposal by Hasting District Council was put before the Local Government Commission following plenty of public consultation last year.
The commission will have the final say around that proposal by April 11.
Before making its decision, the commission held an appeals hearing today to listen to and consider any final objections.
Six of the seven people who made a submission today opposed the reduction of two Flaxmere councillors to one.
Under the proposal, three Māori ward councillors would be introduced to Hastings District Council and the overall number of councillors would be increased from 15 (including the mayor) to 16 (including the mayor).
Two seats from the general wards - Flaxmere and Hastings/Havelock North - would be axed to make room for the new Māori ward councillors.
Flaxmere's two councillors Henare O'Keefe and Peleti Oli. Photo / NZME
Long-term Flaxmere resident Sandra Tuilaepa said during the appeals hearing that the Flaxmere population warranted two councillors.
During the last census in 2018, Hastings District had a population of 81,000 people which included more than 11,000 people in Flaxmere - roughly 13.5 per cent of the region's population.
"If we were to talk about fairness in numbers - with the looming proposal of one councillor for Flaxmere - it would only make sense to suggest that every other ward should only be allocated one councillor for every 11,000 people," she said.
"Two councillors would provide a voice for the voiceless, it would mean all Flaxmere residents would have a voice ... we need our concerns heard."
One of the commissioners Sue Piper also questioned the move to axe a Flaxmere councillor, considering it was not guaranteed that any of the three Māori ward councillors would hail from Flaxmere.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst defended the proposal.
"We think a single councillor can represent the views of the Flaxmere ward effectively."
She said there was a large Māori population in Flaxmere and three Māori ward councillors would see effective advocacy for that area.
"The council didn't pursue a separate Māori ward for Flaxmere as the strong feedback from the community was that one [Māori] ward across the district was preferred."
Hazlehurst also said she did not have a problem with the population in Flaxmere being represented by one councillor instead of two.
"The seven councillors proposed for Hastings/Havelock North ward will also represent on average over 6000 people per councillor."
She also claimed both current Flaxmere councillors lived outside the Flaxmere ward, and it would potentially not be an issue if all three Māori ward councillors lived outside that area also.
