Tasman's representation are under review and one of the pressing questions is whether Golden Bay should have one or two councillors. Photo: Supplied / www.nelsontasman.nz
Tasman's ward boundaries are more than just lines on a map - they determine how residents are represented in the district council, and soon they will be up for public debate.
Currently Tasman is divided up into five wards and represented by 13 councillors, not including the mayor: four councillors for Richmond, three for Moutere-Waimea, three for Motueka, two for Golden Bay, and one for Lakes-Murchison.
But the council, which is required to review its representation arrangements, will ask residents if the system is the right one when consultation opens on Friday 26 July.
The current arrangements benefit from familiarity with residents but do contain several anomalies.
The Local Electoral Act seeks to ensure fair representation of residents but continuing to have two ward councillors for Golden Bay would see that community over-represented by 36 percent.
The bay's over-representation has been allowed by the Local Government Commission in the past because it's considered an "isolated community" - there is only one land route to the bay, over the Tākaka Hill via State Highway 60.
Richmond ward councillor Kit Maling thought the area should be represented by just one councillor given the over-representation and argued that the use of video-conferencing tools meant the region was no longer isolated.
However, both Golden Bay ward councillors advocated strongly for retaining two councillors.
Richmond councillor Kit Maling thought Golden Bay shouldn't be over-represented by two councillors. Photo: Max Frethey
Chris Hill highlighted that residents in her ward would be under-represented by 18 percent with only one councillor while Celia Butler said one councillor would further minimise the voice of remote, rural communities.
The town of Wakefield is part of the Moutere-Waimea Ward, but Totara View Road - just 2km from the centre of Wakefield - lies within the Lakes-Murchison Ward.
Wakefield-based Moutere-Waimea Ward councillor Christeen Mackenzie described the situation as "crazy".
"We are majorly dividing a community of interest."
Residents will be asked what they think of the current representation arrangement of five wards. Photo: Supplied / Tasman District Council
Other options explored, but not suggested by council, included shifting the Motueka Valley and Tasman village communities from the Moutere-Waimea Ward and into the Motueka Ward.
An even more radical option could see the merging of wards into just three: the Richmond Ward, the Golden Bay-Motueka Ward, and the comprehensively-named Moutere-Waimea-Lakes-Murchison Ward.
The Local Electoral Act, in trying to achieve fair representation, aims to ensure ward populations are not under- or over-represented by 10 percent or more.
The three merged wards would achieve this, with all three being disproportionately represented in some way by less than 5 percent.
But it breaches the act in another way by contradicting the principle of communities of interest - Murchison and Māpua have few commonalities and are separated by a 90-minute drive but would be part of the same ward under the model.
When elected members discussed the wards on Wednesday, the idea of increasing the number of wards was only mentioned in passing, but also remains a possibility for residents to suggest.
Golden Bay councillor Celia Butler thought removing a councillor for the area would further minimise the voice of remote rural communities. Photo: Max Frethey
Both the Golden Bay and Motueka Community Boards are also proposed to remain in place.
The proposed representation arrangement that will go out for consultation will include a Māori ward which would bring the total number of councillors to 14.
The government has introduced a bill that would require councils that created Māori wards without a poll, as Tasman did in September 2023, to disestablish them or hold a binding poll on the ward during the 2025 local election.
But because the bill has not been enacted yet, a council report said it is currently "unable" to decide on whether it will rescind or continue with the Māori ward.
That decision will be made with guidance from local iwi.
Earlier in Wednesday's council meeting, elected members supported two remits for Local Government New Zealand which would see the organisation lobby the government to ensure Māori wards are not subject to binding polls, and to see the entrenchment of Māori wards that have been introduced so a two-thirds majority vote of Parliament is required to remove the ward.
However, Tasman Mayor Tim King expressed reservations about the latter remit, saying that if councils should have the power to introduce Māori wards, they should also be able to disestablish the wards themselves.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.