Selwyn District Council

Selwyn District Council serves a fast-growing population of approximately 38,600 (estimate, June 2009) distributed over many farms and small towns.

The Council consists of 11 elected representatives – a mayor and 10 councillors - who are voted in by residents and ratepayers every three years. The elected representatives are drawn from four wards: Malvern (main town Darfield); Selwyn Central (main town, Rolleston); Springs (main town, Lincoln); and Ellesmere (main town, Leeston).

The District Council is actually the second tier of local government. Above it are:

• the Canterbury Regional Council (known as Environment Canterbury) which encompasses 10 South Island local authorities from Kaikoura to Waitaki and whose elected members set the policies for managing the air, water and land environment throughout the Canterbury Region; and
• the Canterbury Area Health Board, whose elected members set the policies for managing Canterbury's public hospitals and related services.