Representation Review 2024

We are undertaking a Representation Review, a mandatory process that must be carried out every six years. This review is crucial to ensure that all communities in our city are represented fairly and effectively.

Currently, the Upper Hutt community is represented by a mayor and ten councillors who are elected across the whole of Upper Hutt. There are no community boards.

This review will examine our representation model, considering the appropriate number of councillors and the establishment and structuring of any additional wards and community boards.

The review also focuses on evaluating governance structures, including options for wards and community boards by looking at the following factors:

• The total number of councillors we have.
• The number of wards there will be in addition to the Māori ward(s).
• What wards might be called, how many Councillors they each have, and where their boundaries will be.
• Whether there are community boards, and if so, the review must also consider how they are set up (e.g., what they’re called, where they are, how many members they have, etc).

This is the third stage of the review, following decisions by Council in 2023 to include at least one Māori ward and that the election will be conducted using the 'first past the post' system.

What happens after the engagement period?

The survey will inform development of a proposal that Council will adopt in July for further consultation thereafter.

What this questionnaire covers

For the assessment to be fair and effective, we first need a good understanding of the communities that make up Upper Hutt.

For this reason, we will begin by asking about what community, or communities, the people of Upper Hutt feel they belong to.

We are also interested in how well people know what the current representation arrangements are. We ask questions about the number of councillors there are now and how they are elected.

Following this, there are questions about how people think their community, and also the city as a whole, should be represented. Questions cover how many councillors there should be and how those councillors should be elected. We also ask whether there should be community boards and, if so, where they should be.

This survey is now closed, thank you to everyone who has put forward a submission.

Next Steps

The survey will inform development of a proposal that Council will adopt in July for further consultation thereafter.