A new fifth constituency, as well as an extra representative, has been proposed by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) in response to the Otago Regional Council’s (ORC) representation review.

ORC has acknowledged the population increase in its Dunstan constituency (which includes Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes District) and has proposed increasing the number of representatives from three to four at the 2025 local elections.

Revealed at last week’s (Thursday August 1) full council meeting in Wānaka, the QLDC’s submission to the ORC indicated one more representative didn’t go far enough.

Instead, it’s recommending the ORC adopt Option 2 in the ORC’s May 2024 representation report which proposes three elected members for a new Upper Lakes constituency (electoral area). 

The new constituency would incorporate Queenstown, Frankton, Wānaka and Cromwell and their respective environs. 

In its submission, QLDC said the proposed reallocation of ORC elected representatives (removing one from the Dunedin constituency and adding one to the Dunstan constituency) was “fair”.

But representation was required to be fair and effective, QLDC said, and redrawing the boundaries to create a new fifth constituency approximating the existing Queenstown Lakes District boundary and including Cromwell “would enable fair and effective representation”.

Effective representation recognised “community of interest” and QLDC argued the geographic scale of the existing Dunstan constituency creates too many divergent needs to consider the whole population as one community of interest. 

As a metro sector territorial authority, Queenstown Lakes District is an important area of growth, urban investment and development, a centre of increasingly diverse economic activity, and the base for an international airport - the fourth largest in the country.

The challenges and needs of this district should be viewed as similar to those of urban centres, such as Dunedin city, and do not align with those of large, low population rural locations in the Dunstan constituency, such as Ranfurly and Alexandra, QLDC said.

QLDC said aligning with Cromwell made sense as it has already forged close links in the form of employment, housing, roading and shared sports venues and its increasing growth and associated challenges mimic those of Wānaka, Frankton and Queenstown.

This proposal would decrease the size of the existing Dunstan constituency and reduce its representation to one elected member.

A representation review is required to be undertaken every six years: ORC currently has 12 councillors, elected from four constituencies: Dunstan (3), Moeraki (1), Molyneux (1) and Dunedin (6). 

At present, Dunedin’s six councillors represent just over 115,000 people compared with Dunstan’s three councillors covering a population of almost 79,000. 

Dunstan is the largest constituency and its population is also growing faster than Dunedin’s: “This rapid and sustained growth should be taken into consideration now when adopting a final arrangement for representation,” the submission stated.

Read more: Extra councillor proposed for growing district

PHOTO: Supplied