2024 Election – PRRA newsletter
Tauranga City Council election – 20th July 2024.
The 2024 election - PRRA Newsletter No.2
What Ward are you in and who can you vote for?
Ward boundaries have changed since the last election. There are now three general Wards instead of two on our side of the Harbour.
Broadly speaking, the Mount Ward will run from the Mount down to Girven Road and will include Matapihi; the Arataki Ward will lie between Girven Road and Domain Road, with a few twists and turns along the way; and the Papamoa Ward will start at Domain Road and finish at the very far end of Papamoa East. In addition, there will be one Maori Ward for the whole City.
Some people will be surprised to learn that they are now in the Arataki Ward instead of the Mount or Papamoa Ward. The council has a Ward finder tool on its Elections 2024 webpage that you can use to find out which Ward you are in.
You will have two votes; one for your Ward councillor and one for the Mayor.
Important dates.
· 29 June to 3 July: Voting papers will be delivered.
· 29 June: Special voting begins.
· 19 July: Last day to enrol and be eligible to vote. All NZ citizens and permanent residents over 18 who are already on the roll are eligible to vote. Some non-resident ratepayers could also be eligible to vote. To find out if you are on the roll go to the council’s Information for Voters webpage.
20 July: Voting closes at noon.
If you want to make sure that your Ward is represented on the council by someone who has been elected by the community in which you live, you must vote!
Candidates
Nominations for Ward councillors and Mayor opened on Friday the 26th of April and will close on the 24th of May. The names of the candidates who have been nominated will be posted daily on the council’s webpage. Google “Tauranga City Council Elections 2024” and scroll to the bottom of the page to find out who is standing in your Ward and for Mayor.
Papamoa Ratepayers will be holding a meeting in June at which the candidates for our three Wards and the Maori Ward will be invited to tell the audience something about themselves and their plans for the City if they are elected.
In July PRRA will hold a similar meeting for the Mayoral candidates.
Make sure you attend these meetings. The best vote is an informed vote!
What is important to you?
Let us know what matters you think the new council should be focussing on by sending an email to chairprra@gmail.com. We are interested in learning your thoughts about matters that affect the City at large as well as local matters.
Newsletter No.1.
Yes; it’s about to happen – The Commissioners’ term of office is about to come to an end. Special voting will commence on Saturday the 19th of June and all voting will finish at noon on Saturday the 20th of July
Through regular newsletters Papamoa Residents and Ratepayers Association is going to do its best to explain the voting system and keep its members up to date with what is happening on the election scene. The committee also plans to hold meetings at which candidates will present the reasons why they should be elected. PRRA wants to help our members can make informed decisions about who they should vote for.
Wards. Mayor and Councillors.
The Commissioners and the Local Government Commission have divided the City into nine (9) Wards. There will be eight (8) general Wards and one (1) Maori Ward. Each Ward will be represented by one (1) councillor.
This is quite different to the previous system, under which Tauranga had 3 general Wards, each represented by 2 councillors, and 4 at large (city-wide) councillors who were not associated with any particular Ward. A total of 10 councillors. There was no Maori Ward or Maori councillor.
On this side of the Harbour we will have three (3) general Wards: Mauao/Mount Maunganui, Arataki and Papamoa, each represented by a single councillor.. Previously there was only one Ward: MountMaunganui/Papamoa, which was represented by two councillors. Papamoa was seen by locals as all the suburbs stretching from about Girven Road right down to the end of Papamoa East. TCC may have split Papamoa into two parts but PRRA still speaks for residents in the whole area. The Council has a Ward finder tool on its webpage that you can use to find out which Ward you are in.
Term of council.
The Council term will be 4 years and 3 months. It will run from July 2024 until October 2028.
Tauranga will not take part in the mandatory NZ-wide triennial local authority elections that will be held in October 2025. In August last year Labour’s Minister for Local Government, Kieran McAnulty postponed our 2025 election until 2028.
Voting.
This is what you will be voting for:
· Everyone who is on one of the electoral rolls, general or Maori, will be entitled to two votes: one for the Mayor and one for a councillor to represent their Ward. No-one will be entitled to more than two votes.
· The Mayor is an all-of-city candidate. Everyone can vote for the Mayor.
· People who are on the general electoral roll will have one vote for a councillor to represent their Ward. A vote cannot be cast for a councillor in another Ward.
· People who are on the Maori roll will be able to vote for one candidate for the Maori Ward. Maori Ward councillor is an all-of-city position.
Candidacy.
To be a candidate for Mayor or councillor you must be a New Zealand citizen and on the Parliamentary roll.
You must be nominated by two electors who live in the Ward you wish to represent.
You do not have to be living in the Ward you wish to represent, but both your nominees must be living there.
Nominations for mayoral and council positions open on the 26th of April and close at noon on the 24th of May.
Other dates you should know about.
19 February: The council will hold a candidate information meeting between 4pm and 8pm.
29 June to 3 July: Voting papers will be delivered. These will tell you which Ward you may vote in.
29 June: Special voting begins.
19 July: Last day to enrol and be eligible to vote.
20 July: Voting closes at noon.
General.
PRRA has done its best to ensure that this information is correct We have studied the council webpage, asked questions and consulted the Company tasked with organising the election. If you have any questions put them in an email to chairprra@gmail.com and we will get an answer back to you as quickly as we can.
Some of you might not like this election format, but we are stuck with it for a while. We will not have an opportunity to make changes until the next representation review takes place in 2027/28.
The council has a webpage dedicated to the election. Google Tauranga City Council 2024 elections.
Anyone who is interested in standing for Mayor or as a councillor, including as the Maori Ward councillor, should go along to the council’s 19 February information meeting.
Candidates.
If you are thinking of standing as a candidate for the Papamoa or Arataki Ward, or as Mayor, and would like to know more about the issues that affect and concern our residents, contact PRRA and we will have a chat with you. Our email address as given above, is chairprra@gmail.com.