These wards came into effect in 2016 following the review of representation arrangements.

About the Representation Review

All Councils are legally required to review their representation arrangements every six years to ensure the arrangements provide fair and effective representation for communities. After significant consultation with communities, Christchurch City Council proposed its ward boundaries, community boards and councillor numbers to the Local Government Commission in 2015. After hearing from the Council and appellants, in March 2016 the Local Government Commission decided to uphold the Council's proposal, apart from three small boundary changes.

Key features of the Local Government Commission's final decision included:

  • 16 councillors, plus the Mayor, with one councillor elected from each of the 16 wards (a change from the current 13 councillors elected from six wards, each with two members, apart from Banks Peninsula, which current has a single member)
  • Banks Peninsula Ward stays as it is
  • Six urban community boards
  • One Banks Peninsula community board
  • Overall, the number of elected members stays the same as present, at 54.

The boundary changes in the final decision were:

  • The inclusion of the whole of the Prestons subdivision in the Burwood Ward (instead of it being divided between the Burwood and Innes Wards)
  • The transfer of a small area in Bexley from the Burwood Ward to the Coastal Ward
  • The inclusion of the western part of the Heathcote Estuary in the Heathcote Ward (instead of including the whole estuary in the Coastal Ward).

Over 3000 residents participated in the Council's process to find out what people thought about these issues.

View the full determination(external link)

The Local Government Commission reached its final decision, following a long process of the Council consulting with the community:

The Council agreed to its Final Proposal for the boundaries and numbers in December 2015 after an extensive review of the city's representation arrangements.

It publicly notified the detailed changes in November 2015, with appeals and objections to the Council's decision closing in December 2015.

The appeals and objections were referred to the Local Government Commission, along with the Council's Final Proposal. The Commission held hearings in Christchurch in March 2016 before issuing the final decision.