The submissions keep on coming. More than 600 submissions on Timaru District Council's representation review proposal have already been received - 100 times more than last time.

Submissions on the draft representation proposal close at 5pm on Monday, but more than 100 have arrived in the past couple of days, bringing the total received at this stage to more than 600. It is the largest number of submissions council corporate planning manager Mark Low can recall on any issue during the eight years he has been with the council.

The last representation review six years ago attracted "five or six" submissions at the same stage of the process, Mr Low said.

The present count is also twice as many as was received at the previous stage of the process when people were commenting on the 10-councillors-elected-at-large option.

Earlier this week the submissions were running about nine to one in favour of the latest option of the mayor being elected at large and nine councillors being elected to three wards.

Submissions can be made in writing and delivered to the council, faxed, made online or emailed.

The option the public is submitting on at present retains the same ward boundaries and would see one councillor elected in Geraldine, two in the Pleasant Point-Temuka ward and six in the Timaru ward.

The Timaru ward has seven councillors now, but changes to the population base meant a change was needed.

The population estimates show an increase of 600 people in the Timaru ward from 2005 to 2011, 500 in the Pleasant Point-Temuka ward, and 520 in the Geraldine.

The councillor-to-resident ratio must be plus or minus 10 per cent across the whole district. Though the 10 councillors could have been retained if the Geraldine ward boundary had been changed to move 300 people to another ward, an advisory panel advised against that as each area was seen to have a community of interest.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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