Constituencies

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Representation review

The council is conducting a representation review, which it is required to do every six years. The last review was in 2018.

The review process includes public consultation to gather feedback from the community. Any changes in council representation will take effect for the 2025 triennial elections.

The review is crucial to ensure compliance with the Local Electoral Act 2001 (LEA) and the principles outlined in the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA).

In this review, the council must consider several key factors, including fair representation, effective representation, and communities of interest. Factors such as population data, demographic trends and projected population growth are all considered.

Consultation closed 5pm, Friday 7 June 2024

Public submissions on the council proposal have now closed. Waikato Regional Council has received 10 submissions on the proposal. These submissions will be considered by councillors at the end of July 2024.

You can read more on our proposal, below.

What we're proposing

Currently, our representation arrangements consist of 14 councillors, with six general constituencies and two Māori constituencies. In August 2023, the council reaffirmed its commitment to retaining Māori constituencies for electoral processes.

As part of the review, council decided to continue to have 14 elected members, six general constituencies and two Māori constituencies.
When the latest population statistics are applied, we've found that the Waihou general constituency doesn't comply with the fair representation rule of +/- 10%. In practice, this means the Waihou general constituency is over-represented.

The Waihou constituency comprises the entirety of the South Waikato and Matamata-Piako districts, Arahiwi (a small area within the Rotorua Lakes district) and part of the Hauraki district.

On 24 April 2024, the council made an initial resolution on the representation review. Councillors voted 11-1 to modify the boundary of the Waihou constituency to include the Waihi and Paeroa rural areas—currently in the Thames-Coromandel constituency—to meet the requirements for fair representation. The initial resolution would involve approximately 2400 people from the Thames-Coromandel constituency being incorporated into the Waihou constituency.

The initial proposal is based on current representation arrangements to maintain continuity wherever possible. However, the primary focus lies in addressing the existing representation imbalance by modifying the northeastern boundary of the Waihou general constituency.

Looking ahead, council acknowledges that other constituencies may face similar issues in the coming years due to population growth and shift. While detailed 2023 census data won't be available until after the current representation review, the council intends to revisit arrangements as soon as legislatively possible to allow better alignment with insights from the census data. That is signalled to occur in 2027.

Read the public notice

Public notice - Initial proposal for representation arrangements for the 2025 local elections

Published: 8 May 2024

On 24 April 2024, Waikato Regional Council reviewed its representation arrangements, and resolved that the following proposal apply for the Council for the elections to be held on 11 October 2025:

Council Representation

The initial proposal is based on current representation arrangements to maintain continuity wherever possible. However, the primary focus lies in addressing the existing representation imbalance by modifying the northeastern boundary of the Waihou general constituency. Looking ahead, Council acknowledges that other constituencies may face similar issues in the coming years due to population growth and shift. While detailed 2023 census data won’t be available until after the current representation review, Council intends to revisit arrangements as soon as legislatively possible to allow better alignment with insights from the census data.

It is proposed that the Council comprise 14 members elected from eight wards. The eight wards reflect the following identified communities of interest:

Constituency	Communities of interest
Thames-Coromandel general constituency	This constituency comprises the entirety of the Thames-Coromandel District and a portion of the Hauraki District. The proposed modification involves relocating the Waihi and Paeroa Rural areas into the Waihou general constituency.
Waihou general constituency	This constituency comprises the entirety of the South Waikato District, Matamata Piako District, Arahiwi (a small area within the Rotorua Lakes District) and part of the Hauraki District. The proposed modification involves the inclusion of the Waihi and Paeroa Rural areas.
Waikato general constituency	This constituency comprises the entirety of the Waikato District (status quo).
Taupō-Rotorua general constituency	This constituency comprises of Taupō District and Rotorua Lakes District (status quo).
Hamilton general constituency	This constituency comprises the entirety of Hamilton City (status quo).
Waipā-King Country general constituency	This constituency comprises Waipā District, Ōtorohanga District and Waitomo District (status quo).
Ngā Tai ki Uta Māori constituency	This constituency comprises Thames-Coromandel District, Hauraki District, Matamata Piako District, Waipā District, Otorohanga District, South Waikato District, Waitomo District, Taupō District and Rotorua District (status quo).
Ngā Hau e Wha Māori constituency	This constituency comprises the entirety of Hamilton City and Waikato District (status quo).

The population that each member will represent is as follows:

Constituency	Population	Members	Pop per member
Thames- Coromandel	36,500	1	36,500
Waikato	74,200	2	37,100
Waihou	66,500	2	33,250
Taupō-Rotorua	37,000	1	37,000
Hamilton	157,400	4	39,350
Waipā-King Country	70,700	2	35,350
Ngā Hau e Whā	43,800	1	43,800
Ngā Tai ki Uta	36,400	1	36,400
Total	522,500	14

In accordance with section 19V(2) of the Local Electoral Act 2001, each member’s represented population must fall within a range of +/- 10%. However, specific community of interest considerations may justify deviations from this requirement. The population ranges are as follows: for general constituencies, the range is 33,173 to 40,544; for Māori constituencies, it is 36,090 to 44,110. Consequently, the initial proposal adheres to the provisions of section V(2).

Further Information

Copies of the Council’s resolution and maps setting out the areas of the proposed wards, communities and subdivisions may be viewed and obtained from Waikato Regional Council Office, 160 Ward Street, Hamilton.

Any queries regarding the Council’s decision should be directed to elections@waikatoregion.govt.nz

Submissions are invited

Persons with an interest in the proposed representation arrangements are invited to make an online submission. Go to www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/constituency-boundaries

Written submissions are to be forwarded to:

Email: elections@waikatoregion.govt.nz

Or post: Attention – Democracy Services, Waikato Regional Council, Private bag 3038, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton, 3240

Submissions must be received by Council no later than 7 June 2024.

Constituency boundary maps

Image - maps showing constituency boundaries

View our consitutency maps and boundaries. Enter a property address into our interactive mapping tool and find out what constituency the property is in.

Note: These maps were last updated in March 2024.

Enter your address, and view your property

To use the mapping tool

click the drop-down arrow to expand the Constituencies list in the right hand menu
deselect (un-tick) the constituency type option that doesn't apply (either General or Māori).
click the drop-down arrow to expand the required constituency type, and view its boundary colours
enter your address in the Search for address field (top left of screen).
The map will then show your property in the correctly coloured location.
You can zoom in and out of the map, using the + and - buttons, and move around using the arrow buttons or by click and dragging the map.

Use the mapping tool and enter your address