Public notice: Whanganui District Council - Representation Review 2025
In accordance with section 19R of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Local Government Commission determines that for at least the triennial general election of the Whanganui District Council to be held on 11 October 2025, the following representation arrangements will apply:
Whanganui District Council, as delineated on Plan LG-037-2025-W-1 will be divided into wards and will be represented by a Council comprising the mayor and 12 councillors elected as follows:
|
Ward |
Councillors |
Plan delineating area |
|
Whanganui Māori Ward |
2 |
LG-037-2025-W-2 |
|
Whanganui General Ward |
10 |
LG-037-2025-W-3 |
There will be one community with a community board as follows:
|
Community/ Community Board |
Area |
Subdivision |
Members* |
Appointed members |
|
Whanganui Rural Community Board |
As delineated on Plan LG-037-2025-Com-1 |
Whanganui As delineated on Plan LG-037-2019-S-1 |
2 |
2 representing the Whanganui General Ward and/or the Whanganui Māori Ward |
|
Kaitoke As delineated on Plan LG-037-2019-S-2 |
2 |
|||
|
Kai Iwi As delineated on Plan LG-037-2025-S-1 |
3 |
*number of members elected by the electors of each subdivision
The ratio of population to elected members for each ward will be as follows:
|
Wards |
Population* |
Number of members |
Population per member |
Deviation from district average population per member |
% deviation from district average population per member |
|
Whanganui General |
40,200 |
10 |
4,020 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Whanganui Māori |
8,720 |
2 |
4,360 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Total |
48,920 |
12 |
|
|
|
*Based on Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa 2023 population estimates (2018 census base)
The community board will be subdivided for electoral purposes. The ratio of population to elected members for each subdivision will be as follows:
|
Whanganui Rural Community Board subdivisions |
Population* |
Number of members^ |
Population per member |
Deviation from community board average population per member |
% deviation from community board average population per member |
|
Whanganui Subdivision |
1,350 |
2 |
675 |
-215 |
-24.16 |
|
Kai Iwi Subdivision |
2,950 |
3 |
983 |
93 |
+10.49 |
|
Kaitoke Subdivision |
1,930 |
2 |
965 |
75 |
+8.43 |
|
Total |
6,230 |
7 |
890 |
|
|
*Based on Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa 2023 population estimates (2018 census base)
^Not including appointed members
Under section 19V(6) of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Commission determines that the Whanganui and Kai Iwi subdivisions of the Whanganui Rural Community Board will not comply with section 19V(2), as compliance would limit effective representation of communities of interest by uniting within the Whanganui subdivision two or more communities of interest with few commonalities of interest, being:
-
- the rural communities located along the Whanganui River and north-eastern parts of the district, which are remote both from each other and the urban city area; and
- part of the Brunswick-Papaiti rural community on the north-western urban fringe of the city, which has commonalities of interest with other rural communities located on the outskirts of the Whanganui urban area.
As required by sections 19T(1)(b) and 19W(c) of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the boundaries of the above wards, community and subdivisions coincide with the boundaries of current statistical meshblock areas determined by Statistics New Zealand and used for Parliamentary electoral purposes.
The determination is available on the Commission’s website: Recent Determinations - Local Government Commission (lgc.govt.nz)
Penny Langley
Chief Executive Officer