More than 500 people have had their say so far on how they want Tauranga city's future councillors to be elected.

People have until 5pm this Friday to complete the Council's online representation survey.

Commission chair Anne Tolley says the commissioners want to hear from as many residents as possible before selecting a preferred option for formal community consultation.

'Tauranga's current representation arrangements have been in place for more than a decade and we want to ensure we have a model for the next local election that provides fair and effective representation for all our residents and communities.”

Democracy services manager Coral Hair says the survey asks residents to select their preference from four broad options for electing council representatives, or they can offer alternative views

'We are looking to determine how many councillors Tauranga needs and whether our communities want to vote based on wards or a mixture of wards and at large (city-wide) representation,” she says.

'We are also interested in whether residents would like to see community boards established. It's really important that people express their views on how they want to be represented.”

Following analysis of the results, a council meeting will be held on August 23 to consider feedback received through the survey, and an initial proposal will then be adopted for public consultation.

To participate in the survey, visit www.tauranga.govt.nz/representation