Simon Telfer: More Queenstown-Wānaka representation needed on ORC

Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board chair Simon Telfer wants to see more representation on the Otago Regional Council from Queenstown and Wānaka, and he thinks a proposal by the regional council on the table right now does not go far enough to achieving that.

Mr Telfer is urging people to make the most of a "one in six years" opportunity presented by a representation review ahead of next year's local government elections.

The regional council is asking for submissions on a proposal to add an extra councillor from the Dunstan constituency at the expense of Dunedin.

The Dunstan constituency includes the towns of Queenstown, Wānaka and Cromwell but also stretches to cover Alexandra, and the Manuherikia and Teviot Valleys.

Simon Telfer says there're too many divergent needs across the large Dunstan constituency (Image: ORC).

For now it is represented by three councillors - Queenstown-based Alexa Forbes, Cromwell-based Michael Laws, and Springvale farmer Gary Kelliher.

While Mr Telfer supports the proposal, he is also calling for the regional council to consider a more substantial representation shake-up.

He is suggesting the creation of a whole new constituency - centred on the towns of Queenstown, Wānaka and, potentially, Cromwell.

"We live in a high growth area. Since 1996, the district has been the fastest growing area in Aotearoa New Zealand, with 4.82 percent per annum growth," he says in a post to social media lobbying for change.

"Over the past 10 years, it has grown at 5.92 percent per annum.

"By 2030 the usually resident population in the Queenstown Lakes is projected to be 60,212. That represents a 43 percent increase since the 2018 ORC representation review."

The Dunstan constituency now has a population per elected member ratio that is non-compliant with legislative requirements, and the ORC proposal seeks to correct this.

But Mr Telfer says, "this change is not sufficient".

It his is view the scale of the Dunstan constituency creates "too many divergent needs to consider the population as a whole as one community of interest".

He wants to see three dedicated elected members for a new "Upper Lakes" constituency.

He says the area has unique challenges related to rapid and sustained growth and development, particularly public transport delivery, which the regional council is responsible for, and the numerous significant lakes and waterways, including Lakes Whakatipu, Wānaka, Hāwea and Dunstan.

The regional council is proposing keeping the total number of councillors at 12.

Councillor Laws, who lives in Cromwell, says it is "all tyranny of numbers stuff".

"There are too many residents for two reps in the Queenstown area, but too few for three."

For him, it is "interesting" where Cromwell's community of interest sits - is it with Alexandra and its Central Otago neighbours or with the Queenstown Lakes?

It is his view a look into constituency boundaries "might be an idea for the next representation review".

Councillor Forbes, who lives in Queenstown, says Mr Telfer has "comprehensively articulated what's going on in our representation review" and encourages people to make a submission on it.

Submissions will be accepted until August 11 and can be made either online at www.orc.govt.nz/RepReview24 or in person at the council's Queenstown office in Alta House at 1092 Frankton Road.

Main image: Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board chair Simon Telfer.