Listen Now: 
Whakatāne District Council will hold an extraordinary meeting next week to vote on whether or not to establish Māori wards.
The council has consulted with its iwi forum and also asked for feedback from its youth council and four community boards.
It will hold a public forum at the start of the meeting on May 20, which will allow it to meet the deadline for creating a ward in time for next year’s local government election.
Whakatāne tried to create Māori seats in 2018 but was overruled by a binding referendum.
There are 29 councils across Aotearoa that are either required to undertake a representation review or have chosen to do a further review ahead of the 2022 elections. Ten councils have already decided to establish Māori wards in time for the 2022 local elections, joining three councils that have already done so.
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