I whakaputahia tuatahia tēnei atikara e RNZ
Tauranga residents will vote on the future of its Te Awanui Māori ward next year.
A binding poll will be held on 23 March 2027, the city council decided this week.
Most councils held polls on Māori wards at last year’s local elections, but Tauranga was exempt because it had already held an election the year before.
Those polls came after a 2024 amendment which required any councils that had previously introduced Māori wards without polling residents to do so retroactively.
Tauranga councillors voted in June to retain Te Awanui, and it was given until the end of March 2027 to hold a poll.
Voters have until 11 January 2027 to enrol before voting on 23 March 2027.
The poll will ask voters whether the ward should be kept or removed in future elections.
