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This dataset was last updated on Stats NZ Geographic Data Service on 14 Jan 2021.
0fc19e61-7c51-a18c-4d1d-4ec9d698db91
eng
dataset
Geospatial Team
Stats NZ
0508 525 525
geography@stats.govt.nz
20201201
ISO 19115:2003/19139
1.0
239
WARD2021_V1_00
This dataset is the definitive set of ward boundaries for 2021 as defined by the territorial authorities and/or Local Government Commission, but maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian).
Wards were originally set up within any territorial authority with a population of at least 20,000. Wards are defined under the Local Electoral Act 2001 and result from dividing a territorial authority for electoral purposes. The ward system was designed to allow for the recognition of communities within a territorial authority and to increase community involvement in the local government system.
Territorial authorities can now choose whether they would like to maintain electoral wards. As a result, the number of wards has steadily decreased since they were first created in 1989. Ward boundaries are reviewed in the year before the three-yearly local government elections.
The following table lists the total number of wards by year:
Year | Ward totals |
1989 | 409 |
1992 | 380 |
1995 | 366 |
1998 | 332 |
2001 | 328 |
2002 | 320 |
2003 | 320 |
2004 | 320 |
2005 | 286 |
2006 v1 | 286 |
2006 v2 | 284 |
2007 | 284 |
2008 | 275 |
2009 | 275 |
2010 | 275 |
2011 | 248 |
2012 | 248 |
2013 | 248 |
2014 | 227 |
2015 | 227 |
2016 | 227 |
2017 | 232 |
2018 | 232 |
2019 | 232 |
2020 | 226 |
2021 | 226 |
Wards are numbered based on their corresponding territorial authority. Each ward has a unique five-digit number. The first three digits represent the territorial authority that the ward lies within. The following two digits are sequential and represent the number of wards within a territorial authority. For example, Westland District (057) has three wards, which are coded 05701, 05702, and 05703.
Several territorial authorities do not use wards. In the data, these territorial authorities use “99” at the end of the ward code, and the descriptor “Area Outside Ward”. In 2021, the following territorial authorities do not use wards:
TA code | Territorial authority name | Ward code |
024 | Rotorua District | 02499 |
026 | Kawerau District | 02699 |
037 | Whanganui District | 03799 |
040 | Palmerston North City | 04099 |
045 | Upper Hutt City | 04599 |
048 | Masterton District | 04899 |
049 | Carterton District | 04999 |
052 | Nelson City | 05299 |
054 | Kaikoura District | 05499 |
067 | Chatham Islands Territory | 06799 |
071 | Dunedin City | 07199 |
075 | Invercargill City | 07599 |
Ward boundaries are defined at meshblock level.
Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.
This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released ward boundaries as at 1 January 2021 as defined by the territorial authorities and Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). This version contains 226 wards, excluding area outside ward.
Stats NZ
Geospatial Team
Stats NZ
0508 525 525
geography@stats.govt.nz
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
eng
boundaries
Version 6.2 (Build 9200) ; Esri ArcGIS 10.3.1.4959
https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz/layer/105140-ward-2021-generalised/
Wards are based on the meshblock pattern.
Non-alignment of meshblock and cadastral boundaries are one of a number of reasons for meshblock boundary adjustments. Other reasons include requests from local authorities, Local Government Commission, Electoral Representation Commission and to make census enumeration processes easier.
From the meshblock pattern, higher geographies, including the 2021 ward pattern, were dissolved using the dissolve tool in the Arc GIS suite.
Attribution 4.0 International
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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