Photo: Supplied/ Marlborough District Council
Marlborough residents will vote on whether its district council will retain Māori representation in 2025 after elected members endorsed its seat at the table.
In an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday held in front of a packed public gallery, councillors unanimously moved to retain its sole Māori ward.
It means the matter will now go to a binding public referendum at next year's local body elections, with the result taking effect from 2028 onwards.
It comes as the government proposes changes to the Electoral Act, forcing councils that introduced Māori wards without polling residents to decide whether to hold a referendum, or scrap the wards altogether.
The decisions needed to be made by Friday.
Councils in both Nelson and Marlborough introduced Māori wards for the first time in the 2022 local government elections.
Marlborough is one of three councils at the top of the South Island deciding on the future of their Māori wards this week.
Allanah Burgess is Marlborough's first Māori ward councillor after stepping into the role two years ago.
Allanah Burgess is Marlborough's first Māori ward councillor. Photo: Supplied
Councils in Nelson and Marlborough introduced Māori wards for the first time in the last local government elections, while elected members in Tasman voted in 2023 to establish a Māori ward at the next election in 2025.
In chambers on Tuesday, Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor said the vote was not "personally about Burgess" but the seat itself.
"I want to be clear we are wrapping our support around you - you are part of our team and you hold your head high," she said.
She said the turnout in the public gallery was the largest she had seen.
"It is excellent to see the level of interest and support," she said.
Local iwi in Marlborough have applauded the backing of the ward by elected members.
Corey Hebberd, Kaiwhakahaere Matua (general manager) of Rangitāne o Wairau Group told RNZ the decision was "hugely significant".
"We're really pleased with the decision," he said.
"To have the ward there for another term is just another way for our voices to be heard at the council table. It's really amazing."
Elected members had described the moves from the coalition as "over-reaching into local government".
More than 100 people were jammed into the public gallery for the meeting.
"What amazed me today was that the room was full of not only the defendants of the people who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi in our region in 1840, but also dozens of Tangata Tiriti partners as well.
"The room was full of rangatahi, the room was full of Maori, and that's because we see a place for us at the table now."
Of New Zealand's 78 councils, 44 will have to drop their Māori wards ahead of the next elections or put them to a 2025 public vote.
One more council (Tauranga) has until its next election in 2028 to make a decision.