A brief history of the Waimakariri District Council

The Waimakariri District Council was established in October 1989 as part of the local government reforms.

It was formed  from Rangiora District, Kaiapoi Borough, Oxford County, Eyre County (based on Ohoka) and part of Hurunui County.

Most of the originating councils came into being in April 1912 after a series of Acts was passed in 1911 to overhaul local government. ‘The Ashley Subdivision, and the Waimakariri-Ashley Water-supply Board Act, 1911’ abolished the seven Road Boards and created five Counties, these being Ashley, Eyre, Kowai, Oxford and Rangiora. Kaiapoi Borough Council came into being in 1868. In 1968 Ashley County Council merged with neighbouring Kowai County Council. In 1986 Rangiora County Council joined with the Rangiora Borough Council to form the Rangiora District Council. Rangiora District Council and Eyre County Council merged on 1 April 1989.

The first Mayor of the Waimakariri District Council was Trevor Inch, who had been Mayor of the Rangiora District Council and Chairman of the Rangiora County Council before that.

The Waimakariri District  is divided into four wards, with each ward being represented by a community board or ward advisory board. There are community boards for Kaiapoi, Rangiora and Woodend-Ashley, and a ward advisory board for Oxford-Eyre.

The Waimakariri District occupies some 225,000 hectares, and extends from Pegasus Bay in the east to the Puketeraki Range in the west. It is bounded to the north by the Hurunui District.

Mayors of the Waimakariri District Council

  • 1989 - 1995 Trevor Inch
  • 1995 - 2001 Janice Skurr
  • 2001 - 2007 Jim Gerard
  • 2007 - 2010 Ron Keating
  • 2010 - David Ayers

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