Initial Representation Proposal

Consultation has concluded

Proposed Representation Arrangements for Greater Wellington's 2025 Local Elections

What's this all about?

On 27 August 2024, Greater Wellington Regional Council reviewed its representation arrangements and resolved its initial representation proposal to apply for Council’s triennial local elections on 11 October 2025.

Representation arrangements

It is proposed that Council comprise 14 members, with one member elected from a single Māori constituency and 13 members elected from six general constituencies.

The seven constituencies reflect the following identified communities of interest:

Māori constituency name	Number of members	Community of interest represented by the constituency	Māori Electoral Population represented by the Councillor
Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui Māori Constituency	1	The area of the Wellington Region	45,000

General constituency name	Number of members	Community of interest represented by the constituency	General Electoral Population represented by each Councillor (Regional average population - 38,869) (+/- 10 percent range - 34,982 to 42,756)
Pōneke/Wellington General Constituency	5	The area of Wellington City, excluding the area of the Tawa Community	38,420
Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai/Lower Hutt General Constituency	3	The area of Lower Hutt City	33,767
Porirua-Tawa General Constituency	2	The area of Porirua City, and the area of the Tawa Community of Wellington City	34,050
Kāpiti Coast General Constituency	1	The area of the Kapiti Coast District	53,400
Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta/Upper Hutt General Constituency	1	The area of Upper Hutt City	44,400
Wairarapa General Constituency	1	The area of South Wairarapa District, Carterton District and Masterton District, and that part of Tararua District that falls within the Wellington Region	46,000

In accordance with section 19V(2) of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the population that each general constituency member represents must be within the range of +/-10 percent of the regional average general electoral population of 38,869 (i.e., 34,982 to 42,756), unless particular community of interest considerations justify otherwise. Council considers that it is necessary to depart from the population formula of section 19V(2) to provide effective representation for the distinct communities of interest of Kāpiti Coast, Porirua-Tawa, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai/Lower Hutt, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta/Upper Hutt, and Wairarapa.

How does this proposal differ from current representation arrangements?

Council currently has six constituencies drawn from the Total Electoral Population.

As Council has established a Māori constituency, the initial representation proposal sets out the proposed name, boundaries and membership of that constituency. The population of this constituency is drawn from the estimated Māori Electoral Population of the Wellington Region as at 30 June 2023.

Six general constituencies are proposed - the names, boundaries and membership of these constituencies are unchanged from the current constituency arrangements; the statistics used for these general constituencies are drawn from the estimated General Electoral Population of the Wellington Region as at 30 June 2023.

Need more information?

We have included the report considered by Council in determining its initial representation proposal, the Local Government Commission's relevant determinations, and maps of the proposed Māori and general constituencies.

Contact Will Ogier, Principal Advisor Democratic Services - phone: 0800 496 734, email: repreview@gw.govt.nz - if you have any queries.

What do think?

If you have a view on the proposed representation arrangements, we invite you to make a written submission.

Please note that Council’s establishment of a Māori constituency and its decision to use the Single Transferable Voting system are not matters within the scope of the proposal.

In your written submission, please state your name; your personal contact details (email address and phone number); whether you wish to speak to the Representation Review Committee (see below); and whether you want your contact details removed from any publicly available copy of your submission.

We encourage you to upload your written submission through our Have your Say page. Alternatively, you may email, post or deliver your submission to us by:

Email: repreview@gw.govt.nz

Post: Representation Review, Greater Wellington Regional Council, PO Box 11646, Wellington 6142.

Deliver: Representation Review, Greater Wellington Regional Council, 100 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington.

Submissions must be received no later than Tuesday, 24 September 2024.

Consideration of submissions

The Representation Review Committee is scheduled to consider all submissions, including oral presentations in support of written submissions, on 10 October 2024.

Greater Wellington treats all submissions received on its public consultation processes as public information. As such, we:

May be required to release your submission if a request is made for it under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
Will only use your personal contact details to contact you (if needed) for this consultation process
Will consider removing your personal contact details from any publicly available copy of your submission (if you request this in your submission)
May choose to publish submissions, including on the Greater Wellington website, in full or as a summary. The personal contact details of individual submitters will be excluded from website publication.

In addition, the Local Electoral Act 2001 provides that Council shall forward all submissions to the Local Government Commission where it is required to determine the representation arrangements of Council for the next triennial local elections.

When you ready to provide your submission click the button below: