Whangarei District Council Te Kaunihera o Whangarei | |
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History | |
Founded | 6 March 1989 |
Leadership | |
Structure | |
Seats | 14 seats (1 mayor, 13 ward seats) |
Length of term | 3 years |
Website | |
wdc |
Whangarei District Council (Māori: Te Kaunihera o Whangarei)[citation needed] is the territorial authority for the Whangarei District of New Zealand.[1] The council consists of the mayor of Whangarei and 13 ward councillors, and is led by the mayor. Vince Cocurullo has been the mayor since 2022.
There are 13 councillors, representing one district-wide Māori ward (two councillors) and five general wards – Bream Bay (two councillors), Hikurangi-Coastal (two councillors), Mangakahia-Maungatapere (one councillor), Whangārei Heads (one councillor) and Whangārei Urban (five councillors).[2]
Whangarei District Council was formed by an amalgamation of Whangarei City Council, Whangarei County Council and Hikurangi Town Council as part of New Zealand's 1989 local government reforms. It has always had six wards, electing thirteen councillors, but the composition of the wards has changed.
The original six wards were Denby (the northern part of Whangārei city, with three councillors), Okara (the southern part of Whangārei city, with four councillors) and Bream Bay (two councillors), Coastal (two councillors), Hikurangi (one councillor) and Maungatapere (one councillor). In 2007, a new Whangarei Heads ward was created (one councillor) and the Coastal and Hikurangi communities were combined as the Hikurangi-Coastal ward (two councillors). In 2022, the Māori ward was created and Denby and Okara were merged as the Whangārei Urban ward.[3]