Otago regional councillors voted unanimously yesterday to remove a councillor from Dunedin and add one to the burgeoning Dunstan ward.
City councillor Sophie Barker said she hoped the city council would appeal the decision.
She struggled to understand why the regional council’s Dunedin representatives had voted for the change.
"This change makes us lose a voice around the ORC table, which is vital for Dunedin to be well represented."
In a 12-0 vote yesterday in Dunedin’s Hutton Theatre, regional councillors decided the number of Dunedin representatives should drop from six to five, and Dunstan — made up of the Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes district areas — should increase from three to four.
They also signalled more change would likely come to the regional council as the population growth in inland Otago continued to outpace the rest of the region.
Cr Alexa Forbes, of Frankton, said she wanted to acknowledge the frustrations of both the Queenstown Lakes District Council and Dunedin City Council during the regional council representation review.
She believed the new arrangement should be considered an interim one.
"The demographics of our region are changing.
"We’re ending up with two urban centres and with a very large rural constituency between those centres.
"We need to consider that as we’re going forward.
"We should be preparing ourselves for a very big change next time.
"We may need to look at all of our constituencies more carefully."
Cr Michael Laws, of Cromwell, said there had been significant cultural, demographic and political change in recent years in Otago.
In his view Queenstown was on the cusp of becoming a city and there was no doubt the region was "changing and changing quickly".
"People are flocking from all parts of New Zealand, not just from the Otago and Southland regions, but from all parts of New Zealand and internationally to the central region.
"There is nothing to suggest that that particular trend will be arrested anytime soon.
"Representation follows population, that’s the fundamental aspect of it."
The council’s representation review, which began about a year ago, focused on the population growth that inland Otago experienced since the last review six years ago when the status quo was retained.
In the lead-up to yesterday’s vote, councillors decided the present number of councillors, 12, was appropriate, but the growth in places such as Cromwell, Luggate, Hāwea, Queenstown and Wānaka should be addressed.
In 2018, the Dunstan ward grew from 57,400 people to an estimated 78,800, far exceeding the growth in other areas.
Over the same six-year span, the Dunedin constituency (central Dunedin and the city’s Waikouaiti Coast, West Harbour, Otago Peninsula and Saddle Hill community board areas) grew from 110,800 to 115,200 people.
At hearings at the start of the month, Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich argued for Dunedin to retain six councillors.
The Molyneux constituency, made up of the Clutha district territorial area and Mosgiel-Taieri and Strath-Taieri community board areas, should have been split so Dunedin could be represented by a Mosgiel councillor, Mr Radich said.
He did not find favour with the regional councillors, and said the regional council’s decision was disappointing.
Cr Carmen Houlahan said the city should be "fully represented".
Cr Lee Vandervis said the city council should appeal to central government for a representation review that would result in a unitary council for the Dunedin territorial area.
Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Glyn Lewers also failed to convince councillors to choose a different council makeup during hearings.
At the time he made a bid for a fifth council constituency to be created — one that accounted for the growth in his district’s urban areas plus Cromwell.
In a statement, the regional council said yesterday there would be a one-month appeals period.
It noted, too, that in August last year, the council resolved to change its electoral system to single transferable vote for the 2025 and 2028 local body elections.
— Additional reporting Grant Miller
