Council has indicated it will retain five elected members for the Methven Community Board, after considering submissions from the community on its representation review for the Ashburton District.

Council’s initial proposal was to lower community board representation from five to four, to promote contested elections; there were two other proposed changes to extend ward boundaries.

Mayor Neil Brown said most submitters preferred that the Methven community had a board with differing skillsets at the table and more people to express their concerns to.

“The community and board gave compelling reasons why they should remain five members strong and now that Council has heard and considered their reasons, we have changed our view.

“We had previously thought by reducing members we would increase election contest to the board, but their submission pointed out that having four members increases chances of the casting vote sitting with the chairperson, meaning decision-making could be less democratic.”

Councillors also factored township growth into their decision with Methven’s population estimated to increase by 220 people to 2230 over the next 10 years.

The initial representation proposal was out for five weeks of consultation from 13 June until 21 July and followed early talks with the community last year.

It also proposed that the boundary for the Methven Community Board expand to include properties on the south-western periphery of the current Methven Community Board boundary.

The Council will retain this change as it is in line with Statistics NZ areas and aligns with the direction of the town’s development.

The Ashburton Ward boundary will also be expanded to include newly-developed residential areas off Trevors Road, on the eastern side of Ashburton.

The final proposal will be brought to Council for adoption on 4 September and it will be able to be appealed and objected until 12 October. It will then be considered by the Local Government Commission.