Central Otago could soon have an extra regional councillor, as the Otago Regional Council (ORC) proposes to move one seat from Dunedin into the regions.

Gary Kelliher (Alexandra), Michael Laws (Cromwell) and Alexa Forbes (Queenstown) make up the current Dunstan ward, but the ORC has now acknowledged the strength of population growth around Central Otago.

At a meeting earlier this week, council agreed to consult with the public about the loss of a Dunedin councillor in favour of Dunstan.

ORC chair Gretchen Robertson said “we’re keen to hear what communities have to say about this proposed change and we’re not making up our minds until we hear what they say.”

Staff will bring the formal initial proposal back to council at the end of June for notification, after which the community will be consulted on the structure of the region’s wards and number of councillors representing each ward on July 10. 

Should changes be made, they won’t come into effect until the next local government election in October 2025.

Dunstan regional councillor Gary Kelliher said the growth across the constituency and especially in Wakatipu and Wānaka, meant that there now was a councillor numbers imbalance between Dunedin and Dunstan.

The Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts covered many different communities and towns across a large geographical area, and councillors were expected to be available and talk through different issues.

“You have to be familiar with the entire area,” Gary said.

Cr Kelliher has accused the council of being Dunedin-centric in recent years, and said the new structure should create the rebalance that was needed for representation.

Giving the Dunstan ward four councillors would mean that the increased population would have an additional voice at the table representing Dunstan issues that were important to people, he said.

The Otago Regional Council ward areas. PHOTO: Supplied

The last representation review for the ORC was completed in 2018.

No changes were made to the existing constituencies or number of councillors.

The ORC is made up of 12 councillors, elected from four constituencies:

Dunstan                          3

Moeraki                          1

Molyneux                       2

Dunedin                         6

The initial proposal will be brought back to the June council meeting for notification by the ORC.

From there, the formal consultation and submissions process will follow.

Council will then receive a final proposal for adoption, on September 25, 2024.