Public submissions are being called for on Tauranga City Council's decision to remove ward voting in council elections.

At present Tauranga city councillors are elected in a mixed system with three ward councillors, seven elected at-large, and one mayor.
The remaining wards are Mount Maunganui-Papamoa, Te Papa-Welcome Bay, and Otumoetai-Bethlehem.
The next step in the statutory process is calling for public submissions on the proposal to do away with the three remaining wards.
The reasoning behind the council proposal is that Tauranga's relatively small size means it does not have specific communities of interest as larger cities do nor do larger cities have a split between rural and urban voters. The councillors are required by oath to serve the city as a whole, not just the wards they represent.
If no submissions are received during from June 15 to July 17, the proposal becomes final. The objections and appeals hearing process could be dragged through till next year when the Local Government Commission would decide. The LGC decision can be appealed on a point of law only.
The representation review is required by law every six years. Since the last review, in 2003, the city's population has increased by 15,000 to 110,000 people.