Major hurdle for Woodend, Pegasus representation review

A lack of Census data means Woodend and Pegasus will have to wait another three years to be considered for their own council ward.

The Waimakariri District Council voted to defer conducting a representation review until after the 2025 local government election.

The last representation review was completed three years ago, but councillors had wanted to do another review due to the rapid growth in the Woodend, Pegasus and Ravenswood area.

Governance manager Sarah Nichols said because the 2023 Census data has not become available in time, the council would be relying on out of date data to make decisions.

Mayor Dan Gordon said it was ‘‘frustrating’’, but he looked forward to doing ‘‘a thorough review’’ in three years time.

Councillor Philip Redmond noted that council data indicated the population of the Kaiapoi-Woodend ward was now higher than the Rangiora-Ashley ward.

But the council could not take that into account because it was not reflected in the available Census data from 2018.

In December, the council voted against establishing a Māori ward, after consulting with Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri Rūnanga.

By David Hill, Local Democracy Review

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.