Consultation on whether to have Māori wards as part of Napier City Council from the 2025 local body elections has been extended by a week due to lockdown.

Napier residents now have until Friday, September 17 to have their say. 

The consultation comes as the Government has made changes to let local councils decide whether or not to have Māori wards in their city or district.

Māori wards allow voters on the Māori roll to elect representatives to councils, in a similar way to Māori seats in Parliament. How many wards a city or district has is decided by a formula in the Local Election Act, based on the ratio of Māori electoral population to the total electoral population. If we go ahead with Māori wards, based on this formula, Napier will have two Māori ward members.

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says they have received hundreds of submissions so far, "but given we have just been through another lockdown, people‘s focus may have been elsewhere".

“If you’re unsure what Māori wards are about, I encourage you to visit our consultation website where you can find all the background information you need to help you with your submission. You can also view the community hui, which we had to hold online because of Covid restrictions.”

It is important to hear from everyone in our community before making a decision, she says.

Māori wards information can be found at sayitnapier.nz

Council is expected to consider the submissions next month. If Council is in favour of Māori wards this will be included in the Representation Review to be held in 2024. 

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