Selwyn District Council could take on new look

The Team Reporter from The Press

The Selwyn District Council has agreed on proposed changes to the number of councillors and wards in the district: reducing the number of councillors from 11 to 10 and changes to the four ward boundaries.

The council will publicly notify its proposal early next month. If adopted, it will result in changes to the way the council is elected and structured from the next local elections in 2022.

The key changes in the proposal include:

- The Selwyn Central ward would be replaced by a smaller Rolleston ward established, which would have three councillors rather than the current four, with all the other wards retaining their current number of councillors.

- West Melton would move from the current Selwyn Central ward to the Malvern Ward

- The area between Burnham and Rolleston would move from the current Selwyn Central Ward to the Ellesmere Ward.

- The Malvern Community Board would be retained with five members, elected from the existing subdivisions of Hawkins (2) and Tawera (1), and a new subdivision covering West Melton (2).

Since Selwyn's last review, its population has grown rapidly but unevenly across the district, meaning changes were required to the existing ward boundaries to ensure an even spread of representation.