In a report to today’s Otago Regional Council meeting, strategy and customer general manager Amanda Vercoe said the Local Government Commission recommended the council review population data in 2027 to see whether an "out of cycle representation review" might be justified.
Mrs Vercoe said the commission agreed to the council’s proposal to increase the number of councillors in the Dunstan constituency from three to four at the expense of Dunedin’s six — now five — councillors, for this year’s local body election.
It also agreed the council should retain the present constituency boundaries for the region based on the "communities of interest", and retain the total number of councillors around the table at 12.
"The commission did note that the region’s population growth and its distribution is an issue the council needs to actively monitor from a representation point of view," Mrs Vercoe said.
"It recommended that the council gives consideration in 2027, as to whether up-to-date population statistics available at that time justify a further representation review."
And it should consider the impact of the new single transferable vote (STV) electoral system on the makeup of the council, she said.
Representation reviews must take place every six years, she said.
A 2018 review resulted in no change.
The 2024 review, which resulted in shifting a councillor from Dunedin to the Dunstan constituency, was appealed by Queenstown Lakes District Council and the Dunedin City Council.
Dunedin called for Mosgiel to be included in the Dunedin constituency for regional council purposes, removing Mosgiel from the Molyneux constituency, and allowing Dunedin to claim six councillors.
Queenstown Lakes called for the creation of a fifth ward in the Upper Lakes to recognise the significant population growth in the district and Cromwell over the last six years, she said.
The commission’s determination, attached to today’s council agenda, said although the commission acknowledged the Dunedin City Council’s arguments, "we do not detect a groundswell seeking the change sought".
As for the Queenstown Lakes appeal, it said the regional council’s solution — to increase the Dunstan constituency to four councillors — addressed population growth in the area.
And to carve off the Cromwell ward of the Central Otago district to add it to an Upper Lakes constituency with the Queenstown Lakes district left the remaining rural Central Otago constituency with too few people to be compliant.
The commission had "qualms" about creating a non-compliant constituency and about whether the residual Dunstan constituency would be effectively represented with only one member.
The commission said if growth continued in the Queenstown Lakes district eventually the district would be able to form a constituency on its own without requiring Cromwell voters.
