Hamilton City Council ( mi, Te kaunihera o Kirikiriroa) is the
territorial authority
Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a c ...
for the New Zealand city of
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
.
The council is led by the
mayor of Hamilton, who is currently . There are also 14 ward councillors.
Council elections are held every three years.
Composition
The council has three
wards
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
or constituencies. One Maaori ward covers the whole city and has two councillors, elected by voters on the
Māori electoral roll. Two general wards, East and West, have six councillors each, elected by voters on the general electoral roll. The East and West wards cover half the city, with the boundary between the two being the
Waikato River
The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...
.
The current council members are:
History
The current city council was formed as part of the
1989 local government reorganisation, which added parts of
Waikato
Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...
and
Waipā counties to the previous city area. The original Hamilton borough had an area of . It now covers , which includes of
Rototuna
Rototuna is a suburb in northern Hamilton, New Zealand, east of Flagstaff. It is one of the newest and fastest-growing suburbs in Hamilton, along with neighbouring Huntington and Flagstaff.
Sometimes the name Rototuna is used to collectivel ...
,
Rotokauri and
Peacocke added in 1989, and of
Temple View added on 1 July 2004.
Several councils, boards and committees had preceded it –
* The first local government in the area was Kirikiriroa Road Board formed by a meeting in 1868. Kirikiriroa Road Board covered the east bank of the Waikato from
Tamahere
Tamahere is a locality (located on a semi-rural ward that bears the same name) within Waikato District, New Zealand; on the outskirts of Hamilton. The majority of the Ward is zoned as Country Living, with a minimum lot size of 0.5ha. The la ...
to
Taupiri
Taupiri is a small town of about 500 people on the eastern bank of the Waikato River in the Waikato District of New Zealand. It is overlooked by Taupiri mountain, the sacred burial ground for the Waikato tribes of the Māori people, located ju ...
. Hamilton East took over its area from the Road Board in 1872 and the Board had its last meeting on 7 March 1921, before becoming part of Waikato County.
* Hamilton West Highway District was set up on 14 August 1871 and a similar district for Hamilton East shortly after.
*
Hamilton parish
Hamilton Parish (originally Bedford Parish) is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It was renamed for Scottish aristocrat James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton (1589-1625) when he purchased the shares originally held in the Virginia Company ...
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
committee was formed in 1876.
* Hamilton Borough Council was first elected on 7 February 1878.
* Frankton Borough Council was formed in 1913, but merged with Hamilton in 1917, after a poll in 1916. Its last meeting was on 30 March 1917.
Phillip Yeung was elected as a Councillor in the East Ward in the October 2019 election, but died while in office. A by-election was held in February 2018 to replace Phillip and Councillor Ryan Hamilton was elected.
In 2020, the electoral system was changed from
First Past the Post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
to
Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
, following consultation in which 78.1% supported STV.
Council offices
Hamilton Borough Council first met in Collingwood Street courthouse. In April 1878 an
immigrant cottage on
Victoria Street was adapted as council chambers.
After 1905 it was used as an insurance office, until demolished for the Security Building in 1924. That building was replaced by the
Novotel
Novotel is a French midscale hotel brand owned by Accor. Created in 1967 in France, the company grew into what became the Accor group in 1983, and Novotel remained a pillar brand of Accor's multi-brand strategy. Novotel manages 559 hotels in 65 ...
, which opened in 1999.
On 23 March 1905
Richard Seddon
Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the List of prime ministers of New Zealand, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand, premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. ...
opened a ₤3,510 town hall, with a council chamber, further south, near the
Municipal Baths. It was enlarged in 1914 and demolished in 1967.
On 22 October 1932
ferro-concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...
offices and a gas showroom were opened in Alma Street, bringing all the offices together, at a cost of ₤10,082,
paid for by profits from electricity supply. On 2 July 1949
1XH Hamilton started broadcasting from the basement of the Alma Street offices. When the council moved in 1960, 1XH took over the whole building, then 1YW took over one of 1XH’s two studios and, in 1968, a television station also moved in.
The building is protected by a
District Plan
A district plan is a statutory planning document of New Zealand's territorial authorities.
Mainly covering land use/zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called ...
heritage listing and is now occupied by several businesses.
In June 1960
the offices moved into a 4-storey building, with 2-storey wings (a library in the east wing),
was opened in July 1960, between Anglesea, Caro and Worley Streets
and a multi-storey block, built over Worley Street,
added between 1980
and 1983.
References
External links
Hamilton City CouncilPhotos
1906 Town Hall* Alma Street offices
19351970s as 1ZH* Anglesey Street office
1959openingMunicipal chamber
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Politics of Hamilton, New Zealand
City councils in New Zealand