Whangārei District Council (abbr. WDC; Māori: Te Kaunihera o Whangārei) is the territorial authority for the Whangārei District of New Zealand. It serves as the district's local government alongside the Northland Regional Council as the regional council. The current entity has existed since 1989, prior to which local government in the area was split between four local authorities.
The governing body of the council has 13 councillors and is chaired by the mayor of Whangārei (currently Ken Couper since October 2025).
History 1989 reforms Whangarei District Council was formed on 1 November 1989 by an amalgamation of Whangarei City Council, Whangarei County Council and Hikurangi Town Council as part of New Zealand's 1989 local government reforms.
Governing body Mayor
One mayor is elected at-large; they chair meetings of the governing body and act as the head of local government in the district.
Current composition The current members of the governing body of council are: RolePortrait Name AffiliationWard Mayor Ken Couper IndependentElected at-large Deputy Scott McKenzie IndependentHikurangi-Coastal Councillor Steven Martin IndependentHikurangi-Coastal Councillor Matthew Yovich ACT LocalBream Bay Councillor David Baldwin Independent Bream Bay Councillor Simon Reid IndependentMangakahia-Maungatapere Councillor Tangiwai Baker IndependentWhangārei Heads Councillor Nicholas Hunter Connop IndependentWhangārei Urban Councillor Brad Flower IndependentWhangārei Urban Councillor Crichton Christie IndependentWhangārei Urban Councillor Paul Yovich IndependentWhangārei Urban Councillor Marie Olsen IndependentWhangārei Urban Councillor Deb Harding IndependentWhangārei District Māori Councillor Phoenix Ruka IndependentWhangārei District Māori
Elections List Mayoral
Council
Wards The council has always had six wards, electing thirteen councillors, but the composition of the wards has changed.
The original six wards were Denby (the northern part of Whangārei city, with three councillors), Okara (the southern part of Whangārei city, with four councillors) and Bream Bay (two councillors), Coastal (two councillors), Hikurangi (one councillor) and Maungatapere (one councillor). In 2007, a new Whangarei Heads ward was created (one councillor) and the Coastal and Hikurangi communities were combined as the Hikurangi-Coastal ward (two councillors). In 2022, a district-wide Māori ward was created and Denby and Okara were merged as the Whangārei Urban ward.
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