What's changing?

The Council is proposing to retain four wards, but change the existing ward boundaries to form Ellesmere, Malvern, Rolleston and Springs wards. The Council is also proposing to reduce the number of councillors to 10.

Currently, the Council is made up of 11 councillors elected from four wards, Ellesmere, Malvern, Selwyn Central and Springs, and a mayor elected at large (across the whole district). There is one community board for Malvern.

The final proposal largely retains the existing system, but with changes to a number of ward boundaries to ensure a more even spread of population across each ward. Selwyn Central will be replaced by a smaller Rolleston ward, and would have three councillors rather than the existing four, with all the other wards retaining their existing number of councillors.

The largest change to ward boundaries will see West Melton move into the Malvern Ward, while an area between Burnham and Rolleston will move from the current Selwyn Central Ward to the Ellesmere Ward.

The Malvern Community Board will be retained, with a third subdivision of West Melton added to the existing subdivisions of Hawkins and Tawera. The number of board members will remain at five, with two each from the West Melton and Hawkins subdivisions and one from the Tawera subdivision. Previously the board was made up of three members from Hawkins subdivision and two from Tawera.

For more information read our questions and answers on the representation review.