CommunityAction For People and Planet

Under the Local Government Act 2002, the council is required to review how its voters are represented.

The process delivered a jolt to some Motueka residents, who feared the town's community board might be disestablished and replaced with a community association. There was also concern that the three Motueka ward councillors – Eileen Wilkins, Pat O'Shea and Jack Inglis – might be reduced to two.

But board chairman Cliff Satherley said Motueka residents had made almost 100 submissions to the review by the closing date of July 5 and they unanimously supported the council's own preference – to maintain the status quo.

“We've got 95 responses for the Motueka ward representation review,” Mr Satherley said on Monday. “From what I've seen all 95 were in favour of retaining three ward councillors and the community board.”

In Tasman district only Motueka and Golden Bay operate community boards; other localities have associations such as residents' and ratepayers' groups, which some people regard as less powerful.

Mr Satherley said the Motueka board believed it served a valuable role in the community and to replace it with a community association would be a backwards step.

Accordingly, it had placed pro forma submissions in the Nelson Mail of July 1 to be returned by voters who wanted the board, and three ward councillors retained.

In a move similar to the board's, advocacy campaigners Community Action for People and Planet also distributed submission forms in support of the status quo. Coordinator Duncan Eddy said he had spent several days approaching “around 100 people” to discuss the benefits of having a community board and three councillors. Mr Eddy said he was encouraged by the response but did not know how many of the forms had been submitted.

The council is required to complete its representation review and forward it's recommendations to the Local Government Commission by August 31.