Representation shake-up hearings to go ahead online

Public hearings on the proposed changes to representation in the Queenstown Lakes district will start today, despite a call for them to be postponed.

Queenstown Lakes District Council senior governance adviser and electoral officer Jane Robertson said hearings had been scheduled to take place in Queenstown today and Wanaka tomorrow before the full council, but would now take place via Zoom and streamed on Facebook.

The council proposes creating three new wards — Whakatipu (4 seats), Kawarau (3 seats) and Wanaka-Hawea (4 seats) — as well as a single-seat Arrowtown ward, increasing the number of councillors from 10 to 12.

It also proposes disestablishing the Wanaka Community Board.

Earlier this week, Wanaka resident Michael Ross wrote to Ms Robertson, council chief executive Mike Theelen and Wanaka Community Board chairman Barry Bruce requesting the hearings be deferred to ‘‘demonstrate council’s commitment to genuine community consultation’’.

‘‘Digital technology does not enable presenters to fully engage with and present their case to councillors, the media and the wider public,’’ he said.

Ms Robertson said she contacted the Local Government Commission and its advice was that ‘‘no government provision has been made to vary the statutory timeframes for the representation review, so we are obliged to continue to hold hearings as previously signalled’’.

Ms Robertson said that following the hearings the council would consider whether to retain the original proposal or to change it; a decision was expected to be made on September 16.

There would be a one-month period for appeals.

‘‘If any appeals and/or objections are received, the Electoral Commission will make a final decision,” Ms Robertson said.

The council received a total of 302 submissions between July 5 and August 6.

Nearly three-quarters of submitters were from Upper Clutha, Ms Robertson said; the rest came largely from Arrowtown.

In her submission, Robyn Bardas, of Hawea, said she supported the proposal to increase the overall number of councillors but if an Arrowtown ward was created then she would like to see a separate one for Hawea.

‘‘Not only is Wanaka treated as second cousin by Queenstown, Hawea and Hawea Flat are distant relatives ... I am tired of Hawea being ignored,’’ she said.

Terry Drayton, of Wanaka, said there was a greater need for Wanaka to have autonomy.

‘‘The needs and desires of the Wanaka ward are clearly different from Queenstown [and] the uniform council decisions for both towns are no longer fit for purpose,’’ he said.

On the issue of the Wanaka Community Board, Andrew Millar, of Wanaka, submitted it should stay and ‘‘there should be discussion within council to remove executive constraint from what the board can and cannot fairly discuss with its constituents’’.

Trevor Tattersfield, of Wanaka, said based on his experience working with community boards in Southland and Otago, the community board structure created an extra level of bureaucracy, leading to mistrust, division and difficulties with communication.

Arrowtown resident Alison Dench, meanwhile, wanted the option to elect more than one councillor for Arrowtown.

Wayne Hudson, of Wanaka, said he believed the representation review process was flawed because the advisory group report given to councillors stated the community board created an additional level of bureaucracy and was inequitable.

‘‘My concern is that the statement contains a number of emotionally charged phrases, none of which appear in the minutes of the two advisory group meetings,’’ Mr Hudson said.

kerrie.waterworth@odt.co.nz