Kaipara District Council representation arrangements confirmed for 2019

Kaipara mayor Dr Jason Smith.

The Local Government Commission has endorsed Kaipara District Council's final proposal from last year's Representation Review which will apply in this year's local authority elections.

The changes include some boundary adjustments to the Otamatea and West Coast-Central wards and the establishment of a new Kaiwaka–Mangawhai ward.

The Kaipara District currently has one mayor who is elected "at large". And eight councillors elected from three wards - Dargaville, Otamatea and West Coast-Central - with no community boards.

Each ward will elect two councillors, with the mayor being elected "at-large" across the district.

The process of this review has taken just over a year, with the final judgment being set by the Local Government Commission.

The full report and determination can be found at www.kaipara.govt.nz/repreview

A representation review is required to be held every six years to ensure council representation is fair, effective and meets the needs of our communities.

However, council may choose to review its representation arrangements prior to the 2022 triennial elections.

Kaipara District Council mayor Dr Jason Smith said: "Here's an emphatic endorsement of the work of Kaipara District Council in improving representation of Kaipara people at the council table.

"It's a job well done with the experts saying we got this right. This sets us up confidently for the October council elections and beyond."

Poetry slam inspires kids

A new campaign to inspire young poets has set a brave goal aiming to get 96,000 students to write their own unique and fabulous poem.

Students from another school involved in the poetry campaign. Photo/Supplied

The project is being run by SchoolKit which provides free teacher resources to schools through-out New Zealand.

Students from St Joseph's primary school in Dargaville, took part in the campaign which saw them exchange slam poetry with students from Kawerau Primary School.

Teacher Marsha Bellamy said the students really enjoyed the project and in particular loved receiving poems from students at another school.

Slam poetry encourages students to write poems that can be enjoyed by being read out load and in some cases performed.

Dargaville Intermediate school swimming sports day

Dargaville Intermediate school students enjoyed a balmy day out for their school swimming sports day. Students dressed up in their house colours as they cheered their teams on. Pictured are, from left: Meiyah Howard-Kapa, Dianii Johnson and Zareigha Vanderharst from house Rata.

Jaydee Taurua, Georgia Blissett, Madison Blissett, Ashton Kareko and Wendy Gilmour dress up in their Totara house colours to cheer on teams in their school swimming sports.

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