Committee or board? Decision on Amberley’s representation looms

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

Around 5000 North Canterbury residents will soon learn if they will fall under a proposed new community board, which will represent their views to council.

The Local Government Commission heard an appeal against a proposal to establish a community board for the Hurunui District Council’s south ward on Tuesday morning.

Councillors who supported the proposal said it was ‘‘more democratic’’ and would better represent the south ward's growing population, with Amberley, Leithfield and two beach communities within the ward's boundary.

Eleven objections were received, but just one, Amberley District Residents’ Association chairperson Roy Myers, gave an oral presentation to commissioners.

Myers said there was no evidence to support the change and he believed the community board would reduce representation.

‘‘The community board will not have the same level of representation or activity which is on the ward committee.

‘‘Amberley is the largest area with an expanding population. It has grown significantly and stands to grow even more.

‘‘Leithfield is an historic village with a very active community, and Amberley Beach and Leithfield Beach face challenges with climate change, sea level rise and the possibility of managed retreat.’’

Councillors voted in favour of replacing its south ward committee with an elected community board in June, following a representation review.

The proposed community board would have five members elected at large, plus the four ward councillors and the mayor.

The south ward committee comprises nine community members elected at its first meeting in a council term, plus the four ward councillors and the mayor.

Community members include representatives from residents’ associations, the Amberley Reserves Advisory Group, the Hurunui Youth Council and three independent members.

Myers said he was the elected representative of the Amberley District Residents’ Association on the south ward committee.

But when questioned by the commissioners, he acknowledged that while the entire town was invited, only around 30 to 50 people attended the residents’ association’s annual meetings.

Hurunui mayor Marie Black said the council believed a community board would provide more strategic direction.

She said a walking and cycling fund of $370,000 has been established from development contributions since 2010, with decision making delegated to the south ward committee.

But the committee has been unable to agree on how to spend it.
‘‘We believe an elected community board would be able to make a more strategic decision,’’ Black said.

Council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said Census figures indicated the south ward had a population of 5620 in 2023, up by 410 since 2018.
This represented growth of 1.53 percent a year, compared with the average growth of 2.3% a year since 2001.

But Dobbie said the council had concerns with the Census data and believed the growth was considerably higher, as it did not match the council’s own data including consents issued for new houses.

The Local Government Commission said it aimed to communicate with the council in four to six weeks.

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