When consultation opens on the Otago Regional Council’s six-yearly representation review, the focus will be on the significant population growth in the Dunstan ward, made up of the Central Otago district and Queenstown Lakes district council areas.
A staff report presented at yesterday’s council meeting said the council’s proposal was not to change the geographical boundaries, nor the total number of councillors.
The proposed change would address the swiftly growing urban areas of Queenstown, Wānaka and Cromwell that had common interests in terms of urban housing, transport connections, civil defence and visitor numbers.
It also kept intact the rural Dunstan areas with viticulture, horticulture, sheep and beef and dairy farming.
Cr Kevin Malcolm said the council had been through a "very robust" process and it would be good to sit as a council to listen to submissions.
"What I think these boundaries clearly reflect is not only the growth in population, but it reflects the huge area that the rural councillors have to cover.
"That often gets overlooked if we look at a purely numerical basis.
"This fairly reflects where the majority of the environment is — it’s out in rural Otago."
Cr Alexa Forbes, who pushed for the creation of a new ward that captured the burgeoning Upper Lakes areas, told councillors she was voting for the option favoured by the majority.
"But as you know it’s not my preference and I don’t think we are going the right way."
She was very interested to see what feedback the council received from people in Queenstown Lakes district, and said in six years’ time "things will look very different again".
Cr Gretchen Robertson encouraged people to submit on the issue.
"Our ears will certainly be open, because there isn’t a perfect model here."
Under the proposal, Dunedin would be represented by five councillors instead of six.
Dunstan would have four councillors instead of three.
The Molyneux ward, Mosgiel to West Otago and the Catlins, would have two councillors.
And Moeraki, North Otago, would have one.
