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Kaipara District Council has successfully defended an application for judicial review brought by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua concerning its decision to disestablish its Māori ward.
The decision was handed down by Justice Neil Campbell yesterday.
The application concerned the processes followed by KDC before it decided on August 7 to disestablish its Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori Ward.
The Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Act 2024 was enacted on July 30. Under the Act, councils had to decide by September 6 whether to retain or disestablish their Māori ward.
KDC resolved to disestablish its Māori ward, Te Moananui o Kaipara, at an extraordinary council meeting held in August.
It argued in court that the engagement and decision-making processes it followed before elected members decided to disestablish the Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori Ward were undertaken in a compressed timeframe, but still followed legislative requirements.
The court found that the KDC did meet legislative requirements.
KDC chief executive Jason Marris says that in the last three months since the court hearing in September, council has completed the shortened representation review that was triggered by the August 7council decision.
“We continued to make sure we met all our legislative requirements and followed proper process, as required by central government,” he says
Council says the court action has come at significant cost to the Kaipara ratepayers, costing more than $180,000.
