The Maniototo ward of the Central Otago District Council (CODC) will retain its original spelling after board members were not supportive of the Māniatoto alternative.

Under the council’s representation reviews, Aukaha was also asked as to the current position of Ngāi Tahu for the name, which said until the process through the New Zealand Geographic Board began, their position was neutral on the issue.

A representation review occurs every six years and is used as a tool to assess all facets of representation in the district. 

A pre-consultation was held in February and attracted 79 submitters.

A report to council for this week's CODC meeting, on Wednesday, March 20, said that due to population growth in Central Otago in recent years, and the need to stay within the +/- 10% range, there must be a change in representation number for council. 

Three options were offered as possible changes that would fit within the criteria - the first was to add an additional member to the Cromwell ward to increase it to five, remove a member from the Vincent Ward to decrease it to four or have a hybrid Cromwell / Vincent Ward with seven members in total. 

Of the three options given, two emerged as preferred options from the pre-consultation, which is to either add one more councillor from the Cromwell ward or reduce the number of Vincent ward councillors to four. 

While some councils around the country have adopted Māori wards - particularly in the North Island, the majority in the south have not, and Aukaha has also indicated no support for this proposal in Central Otago.

Once the proposal for the Representation Review 2024 is agreed by elected members, it will be consulted on for feedback by the community, which is planned for late March to early April, prior to consultation on the annual plan.