Christchurch City Council

The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the 415,100 people of Christchurch.^[1] Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who succeeded after the retirement of Lianne Dalziel.^[2] The council currently consists of 16 councillors elected from sixteen wards, and is presided over by the mayor, who is elected at large. The number of elected members and ward boundaries changed prior to the 2016 election.

Christchurch City Council
Type
Type	City council of Christchurch
History
Founded	1862
Leadership
Mayor	Phil Mauger
Interim Chief Executive	Mary Richardson
Structure
Seats	17[a]
Political groups	Independent (9)   The People's Choice /   Labour (6)   Independent Citizens (2)
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post (FPP)
Motto
Fide condita, fructu beata, spe fortis
Meeting place
Christchurch Civic Offices, Worcester Street frontage
Website
www.ccc.govt.nz
Footnotes
Mayor plus 16 city councillors

A view of part of Christchurch's central business district, showing former civic offices (building on lower right corner) and the former New Zealand Post office, which was updated in 2009–10 by the architectural firm Ian Athfield and Associates to become the new civic offices (large white building in centre right rear). The Avon River / Ōtākaro flows through the city centre.

History

As a result of the 1989 local government reforms, on 1 November 1989 Christchurch City Council took over the functions of the former Christchurch City Council, Heathcote County Council, Riccarton Borough Council, Waimairi District Council, part of Paparua County Council, and the Christchurch Drainage Board. On 6 March 2006, Banks Peninsula District Council merged with Christchurch City Council.^[3]

Councillor Yani Johanson campaigned since 2010 to live-stream council meetings for more transparency. Whilst the technology had been installed well before the 2013 local body election, it has only been used since the change in mayor.^[4]

In mid-June 2024, the Christchurch City Council announced it would be withdrawing from Local Government New Zealand after the local government bodies association raised its annual membership costs by more than NZ$20,000. Mayor Phil Mauger welcomed the withdrawal, saying that it would allow the Council to directly advocate for issues important to Christchurch and Banks Peninsula.^[5]

Elections

The council is elected every three years using the first-past-the-post voting system. The vote is conducted by postal ballot. The 2016 elections had a turnout of 38.3% down from 42.9% and 52.2% in 2013 and 2010 respectively.^[6]

Prior to the 2004 local elections, there were 24 councillors in Christchurch. At that election, the number of councillors halved to 12.^[7] For electoral purposes, Christchurch was divided into six wards from 2004, and seven wards after the amalgamation with Banks Peninsula in 2006. The six metropolitan wards each elected two councillors, with the remaining councillor elected for the sparsely populated Banks Peninsula ward. The 2016 representation review by the Local Government Commission has resulted in 16 wards, with each ward electing one councillor, i.e. an increase in three councillors.^[8]

Political groupings represented on the council are the centre-right Independent Citizens^[9] and the centre-left The People's Choice (formerly Christchurch 2021).^[10] Party politics are less influential in elections to the council than is the case for the House of Representatives, with 10 councillors elected on tickets and 7 elected as independents in 2019, including the mayor.

Organisation

Mayor, council and committees

See also: Mayor of Christchurch

Under most circumstances, the council is presided over by the mayor. At its first meeting after a local election, the council elects from among its members a Deputy Mayor, who acts as mayor in the absence and with the consent, or in the incapacity, of the mayor. The Deputy Mayor also presides at meetings if the mayor is not present. The Deputy Mayor is recommended by the mayor and is either confirmed or replaced in a vote of the first council meeting.

Councillors also serve on a number of committees. As of 2008^[update], there is one Standing Committee, eight Standing Subcommittees, seven Joint Standing Committees and Working Parties (so called because they involve members of other local authorities), and 14 ad hoc subcommittees and working parties. The council can delegate certain powers to these committees, or alternatively they can consider matters in more detail and make recommendations to the full council.

Community boards

The council has established six community boards.^[11][12] These community boards deal with matters delegated to them by the council, act as representatives and advocates for their communities, and interact with community organisations and interest groups. General tasks typically delegated to local community boards are the locations of council rubbish bins, traffic lights, stop signs and pedestrian crossings; Also rubbish collection, local disturbance review and relaying information to the main council from their Ward area through the Councillor who has a right to sit on the board within their ward.

Some community boards, like the council, have created committees for specific purposes.

As of the 2022 local elections, the members of the community boards are:^[13]

Organisational support

The day-to-day administration of the City of Christchurch is carried out by a large team of Council staff. Indeed, in everyday usage, the term the council is extended to include not just the Mayor and Councillors, but the entire local civil service. The professional head of the civil service is the Chief Executive, who is appointed by the council under contract for up to five years. The Chief Executive is assisted by a team of General Managers, who each have an individualized portfolio.^[14]

In early July 2013, CEO Tony Marryatt was put on indefinite leave on full pay over the council losing its accreditation with International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) to issue building consents, one of council's core functions.^[15] General manager Jane Parfitt was appointed acting CEO.^[16] Karleen Edwards was chief executive from June 2014 to June 2019. In July 2019, she was succeeded by Dawn Baxendale.^[17] Baxendale resigned in November 2023, and was replaced by Mary Richardson on an interim basis.^[18]

List of Chief Executives^[a]

Years	Name
1862–1875	G. Gordon[19]
1875–1901	F. T. Haskins[19]
1901–1924	H. R. Smith[19]
1924–1940	J. S. Neville OBE[19]
1940–1961	H. S. Feast OBE[19]
1961–1967	Colin Bowie[19]
1967–1973	M. B. Hayes[19]
1973–1993	John H. Gray CBE[19][20]
1993–2003	Mike Richardson[21]
2003–2007	Lesley McTurk[21][22]
2007–2013	Tony Marryatt[15][22]
2013–2014	Jane Parfitt (acting)[16]
2014–2019	Dr Karleen Edwards[23]
2019	Mary Richardson (acting)
2019–2023	Dawn Baxendale
2023–present	Mary Richardson (interim)

Elected members

Main category: Christchurch City Councillors

The current elected members were selected at the 2022 New Zealand local elections. There have also been two by-elections to fill vacancies on community boards; one in the Innes ward and one in the Lyttelton subdivision of Banks Peninsula.

Christchurch City Council
Position	Ward	Name		Ticket
Mayor	At-large	Phil Mauger		Let's Get Stuff Done
Deputy Mayor	Innes	Pauline Cotter		The People's Choice
Councillor	Banks Peninsula	Tyrone Fields		The People's Choice
Councillor	Burwood	Kelly Barber		Independent for Burwood
Councillor	Cashmere	Tim Scandrett		Truly Independent
Councillor	Central	Jake McLellan		Labour
Councillor	Coastal	Celeste Donovan		Independent – Let's Make Waves
Councillor	Fendalton	James Gough		Independent Citizens
Councillor	Halswell	Andrei Moore		Independent
Councillor	Harewood	Aaron Keown		Independent Voice of Harewood
Councillor	Heathcote	Sara Templeton		Strong Community: Sustainable Future
Councillor	Hornby	Mark Peters		Independent for Hornby
Councillor	Linwood	Yani Johanson		The People's Choice – Labour
Councillor	Papanui	Victoria Henstock		Your Local Independent Community Voice
Councillor	Riccarton	Tyla Harrison-Hunt		The People's Choice
Councillor	Spreydon	Melanie Coker		The People's Choice – Labour
Councillor	Waimairi	Sam MacDonald		Independent Citizens
Community Boards
Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula Community Board
Position	Subdivision	Name	Affiliation (if any)		Notes
Chairperson	Wairewa	Lyn Leslie		Independent
Member	Lyttelton	Cathy Lum-Webb		The People's Choice
Member	Mount Herbert	Howard Needham		Independent
Member	Mount Herbert	Luana Swindells		The People's Choice
Member	Akaroa	Nigel Harrison		Independent
Member	Akaroa	Asif Hussain		Independent
Member (former)	Lyttelton	Reuben Davidson		The People's Choice	Resigned in July 2023 to stand as the Labour party candidate for Christchurch East electorate in the general election of that year, which he won.[24]
Member	Lyttelton	Jillian Frater		The People's Choice	Elected at the 2024 Lyttelton Sub-division Community Board By-election.[25]
Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board
Position	Ward	Member	Affiliation (if any)
Chairperson	Linwood	Paul McMahon		The People's Choice – Labour
Deputy Chairperson	Linwood	Jackie Simons		The People's Choice – Labour
Member	Burwood	Greg Mitchell		Independent
Member	Burwood	Tim Baker		Labour
Member	Coastal	Jo Zervos		Independent
Member	Coastal	Alex Hewison		The People's Choice – Labour
Waimāero Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board
Position	Ward	Member	Affiliation (if any)
Chairperson	Harewood	Jason Middlemiss		Independent Citizens
Deputy Chairperson	Fendalton	Bridget Williams		Independent Citizens
Member	Harewood	Linda Chen		Independent Citizens
Member	Waimairi	Nicola McCormick		Avonhead Community Group
Member	Waimairi	Shirish Paranjape		Independent Citizens
Member	Fendalton	David Cartwright		Independent Citizens
Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board
Position	Ward	Member	Affiliation (if any)		Notes
Chairperson	Halswell	Marie Pollisco		The People's Choice	Appointed as chairperson after the resignation of Helen Broughton from the position. She has been the subject of concerns of a possible conflict-of-interest, as she also works for the Christchurch City Council planning department.[26]
Deputy Chairperson	Riccarton	Helen Broughton		Independent Citizens	Was initially chairperson, but resigned amid controversy over her leadership and a "dysfunctional" board. Her initial resignation was rejected, as she included the stipulation that she remain board representative for issues relating to planning. She later resigned again, that time with no stipulations, which was accepted. She remained a member of the community board in the deputy-chairperson role.[27]
Member	Hornby	Sarah Brunton		Independent
Member	Hornby	Henk Buunk		Independent	Formerly affiliated to The People's Choice, but resigned the affiliation to vote against the appointment of Pollisco as chair.[28]
Member	Halswell	Debbie Mora		Independent
Member	Riccarton	Gamal Fouda		The People's Choice	Imam of the Al Noor Mosque, moved to Australia in early 2025.[29]
Member	Riccarton	Luke Chandler		Independent Citizens	Appointed to the Riccarton board on April 10, 2025 following the resignation of Gamal Fouda.
Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board
Position	Ward	Member	Affiliation (if any)		Notes
Chairperson	Papanui	Emma Norrish		Independent
Deputy Chairperson	Papanui	Simon Britten		Think Papanui
Member	Innes	Emma Twaddell		Independent
Member	Central	Sunita Gautam		Labour
Member	Central	John Miller		Labour
Member (former)	Papanui	Shreejana Chhetri		The People's Choice	Resigned within one month of the election result declaration, triggering a by-election.[30]
Member	Innes	Ali Jones		Independent	Elected at the 2023 Innes community board by-election.[31]
Waihoro Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote Community Board
Position	Ward	Member	Affiliation (if any)
Chairperson	Spreydon	Callum Ward		The People's Choice – Labour
Deputy Chairperson	Cashmere	Keir Leslie		The People's Choice – Labour
Member	Spreydon	Roy Kenneally		The People's Choice – Labour
Member	Cashmere	Lee Sampson		The People's Choice – Labour
Member	Heathcote	Will Hall		Independent Voice For Heathcote
Member	Heathcote	Tim Lindley		For Communities You'll Love To Live In

Wards

The 16 councillors were each individually elected from one of 16 electoral wards:^[32][12]

Banks Peninsula ward

Covers the whole of Banks Peninsula, including the subdivisions of Akaroa, Lyttelton, Wairewa, and Mount Herbert.^[33]

Burwood ward

Covers the suburbs of Aranui, Wainoni, Bexley, Burwood, Avondale, Dallington, Shirley East, Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor, Prestons, Waitikiri, Marshlands and Travis Wetlands.^[34]

Cashmere ward

Covers the suburbs of Westmorland, Cracroft, Somerfield, Cashmere, Beckenham, Huntsbury, and St Martins.^[35]

Central ward

Apart from the central city, it covers the suburbs of Richmond, Linwood Village, Avon Loop, Phillipstown and Charleston.^[36]

Coastal ward

Covers the suburbs of the suburbs of Brooklands, Spencerville, Kāinga, Ouruhia, Queenspark, Parklands, Waimairi Beach, North New Brighton, New Brighton, South New Brighton, and Southshore.^[37]

Fendalton ward

Covers the suburbs of Fendalton, Merivale, Strowan and Bryndwr as well as parts of Ilam, Burnside and St Albans.^[38]

Halswell ward

Covers the suburbs of Halswell, Wigram, Aidanfield and Kennedys Bush.^[39]

Harewood ward

Covers the suburbs of Bishopdale, Harewood, Northwood and Belfast and parts of Casebrook and Yaldhurst.^[40]

Heathcote ward

Covers the suburbs of Sydenham, Waltham, Opawa, Murray Aynsley, Heathcote Valley, Ferrymead, Saint Andrews Hill, Mt Pleasant, Moncks Spur, Redcliffs, Sumner, Scarborough and Onepoto Taylors Mistake.^[41]

Hornby ward

Covers the suburbs of Hornby, Hei Hei, Islington and Yaldhurst, as well as parts of Wigram and Sockburn.^[42]

Innes ward

Covers the suburbs of Edgeware, Mairehau, Shirley, and St Albans.^[43]

Linwood ward

Covers the suburbs of Linwood, Woolston, and Bromley.^[44]

Papanui ward

Covers the suburbs of Papanui, Redwood, Northcote and Sawyers Arms.^[45]

Riccarton ward

Covers the suburbs of Riccarton, Ilam, Sockburn and Upper Riccarton.^[46]

Spreydon ward

Covers the suburbs of Addington, Hillmorton, Hoon Hay and Spreydon.^[47]

Waimairi ward

Covers the suburbs of Russley, Avonhead and Burnside as well as parts of Ilam.^[48]

Responsibilities and services

See also: Territorial authorities of New Zealand

The council is vested with a power of "general competence" for the social, economic and cultural well-being of Christchurch. In particular, the Council has responsibility for a range of local services, including roads (except State Highways), water, sewerage, waste collection, parks and reserves, and libraries. Urban development is managed through the maintenance of a city plan and associated zoning regulations, together with building and resource consents. The council has been given extra powers to regulate certain types of business operations, notably suppliers of alcohol and brothels.

Building consents

One of the core functions of the council is to check and approve building consents. In July 2013, Christchurch City Council lost its accreditation for issuing building consents, in the middle of a rebuild period following the devastating February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.^[49] A Crown manager, Doug Martin, was installed to reform the council's building consent department.^[50] The Council successfully obtained reaccreditation in December 2014. ^[51]

Kerbside waste collection

Christchurch has a wheelie bin kerbside collection system, which replaced their previous system. The previous system required the resident to put a black rubbish bag out every week to the kerbside, along with a green recycling crate. With the current system, residents are given three wheelie bins: One 240 litre bin (recycling), One 140 litre bin (rubbish), and one 80 litre bin (organics). Each week, residents can put two of the three bins out. The 80 litre organics bin goes out every week and the 240 litre recycling and the 140 litre rubbish alternate.

Christchurch City Libraries

See also: Christchurch City Libraries

The Shuttle

Whilst public transport is the responsibility of regional councils, the Christchurch City Council provided a free central city service. The Shuttle operated from December 1998 to February 2011 and came to an end with the main earthquake.^[52]

Offices

Christchurch civic offices

Christchurch's civic offices through the years (clockwise from top left): Christchurch Land Office (1862–1887), Our City (1887–1924), the Civic (1924–1980), civic offices in Tuam (1980–2010) and Hereford (2010–present) streets

1862–1887

The Christchurch Municipal Council, as it was originally called, was using the Christchurch Land Office, the first public building erected in Christchurch in 1851.^[53]

1887–1924

On the same site, the council had the so far only purpose-built council chambers constructed, designed by Samuel Hurst Seager in a Queen Anne style. The building became known as Our City and is registered as a Category I heritage building with Heritage New Zealand (NZHPT).^[53][54]

1924–1980

Council purchased the burned out shell of the former Canterbury Hall and built new civic offices in Manchester Street. Later known as the Civic, the building was registered as a Category II heritage building with the NZHPT,^[53][55] and was demolished after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

1980–2010

Council bought the former Miller's Department Store and moved to 163 Tuam Street in 1980.^[53] This gave rise to the occasional metonymic use of Tuam Street to refer to the municipal government. The building was registered as a Category II heritage building with the NZHPT,^[53][56] and was demolished after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

2010 to present

In August 2010,^[53] the Council's new offices were officially opened in a refurbishment of the former Christchurch Mail Sorting Centre, designed by the Ministry of Works in 1974. The redevelopment was supervised by Wellington-based architect Ian Athfield.

The council also maintains service centres in the suburbs of Fendalton, Linwood, Papanui, Riccarton, Shirley, Sockburn and Sydenham, and in the towns of Lyttelton, Little River and Akaroa.

See also

• Christchurch City Holdings, a wholly owned investment arm of the Christchurch City Council
• Coat of arms of the City of Christchurch, granted to the Christchurch City Council in 1949

Notes

1. The title of chief executive replaced the previous title of general manager, which in turn replaced the original title of town clerk.