Whangarei District Council
Whangarei District Council Te Kaunihera o Whangarei | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1 November 1989 |
| Leadership | |
Deputy mayor | Scott McKenzie[2] |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 14 seats (1 mayor, 13 ward seats) |
Length of term | 3 years |
| Elections | |
Last election | 11 October 2025 |
Next election | 2028 |
| Meeting place | |
| Whangārei | |
| Website | |
| wdc | |
Whangarei District Council (Māori: Te Kaunihera o Whangarei) is the territorial authority for the Whangarei District of New Zealand.[3] The council consists of the mayor of Whangarei and 13 ward councillors, and is led by the mayor. Ken Couper[4] has been the mayor since 2025.
History
Whangarei District Council was formed on 1 November 1989 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, a district-wide Māori ward was created and Denby and Okara were merged as the Whangārei Urban ward.[5]
Members
There are 13 councillors and a directly elected Mayor. The councillors represent a 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).[6]
| Councillor | Affiliation | Constituency | First elected[7][8][9] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Couper | Mayor | 17 October 2025 | ||
| Matthew Yovich | Bream Bay General Ward | 17 October 2025 | ||
| David Baldwin | Bream Bay General Ward | 17 October 2025 | ||
| Steven Gregory Martin | Independent | Hikurangi-Coastal General Ward | 17 October 2025 | |
| Scott McKenzie | Hikurangi-Coastal General Ward | 14 October 2022 | ||
| Simon John Reid | Independent | Mangakahia-Maungatapere General Ward | 12 October 2019 | |
| Tangiwai Baker | Whangārei Heads General Ward | 14 October 2022 | ||
| Nicholas Hunter Connop | Whangārei Urban General Ward | 12 October 2019 | ||
| Brad Flower | Independent | Whangārei Urban General Ward | 17 October 2025 | |
| Crichton Christie | Whangārei Urban General Ward | 17 October 2025 | ||
| Paul Yovich | Whangārei Urban General Ward | 14 October 2022 | ||
| Marie Olsen | Independent | Whangārei Urban General Ward | 14 October 2022 | |
| Deb Harding | Whangārei District Māori Ward | 14 October 2022 | ||
| Phoenix Ruka | Whangārei District Māori Ward | 14 October 2022 | ||
References
- ^ "2025 local election final results". Whangarei District Council. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
- ^ "Mayor and Councillors". Whangarei District Council. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
- ^ "Council's role and purpose". wdc.govt.nz. Whangarei District Council. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "2025 local election final results". Whangarei District Council. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
- ^ "Determination on a decision of the Whangarei District Council to adopt representation arrangements for the local authority elections to be held on 8 October 2022" (PDF). Local Government Commission. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Representation arrangements". Whangarei District Council. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "2025 local election final results". Whangarei District Council. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
- ^ Ofsoske, Dale (14 October 2022). "Declaration of Results of Election" (PDF). Whangarei Regional Council.
- ^ Ofsoske, Dale (17 October 2019). "Declaration of Results of Election" (PDF). Whangarei Regional Council.