Spotlight on community boards
Christchurch City Council Newsline: 16th September 2025
Voters will be electing six new community boards in October’s local elections, but what does a Community Board actually do? Retiring Community Board chairperson Emma Norrish explains what the job can involve.
Emma Norrish has been serving her community as a member of the Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board for 12 years.
Back in 2013, Emma was on maternity leave with two young children. As the election approached, she realised she didn’t know much about community boards.
“I thought that if I didn’t know, then others in my demographic wouldn’t either and our voices weren’t being heard.
Emma, then aged 30, was also conscious that she wanted to make a positive difference in the ward that her children were growing up in.
She describes herself as initially naïve and unaware of Council processes and governance.
“I had no idea what I was getting into, it was an eye-opener. I learned so much in my first term, and it went very fast."
For her second term, she became the board’s deputy chair, and she has chaired the board for the last two terms.
“It has been a really interesting time. For a large part of it we’ve been in the recovery phase from the earthquakes but the last few years it has felt like we've finally moved out of that phase.
“It’s an interesting role, it’s what you make it. I took the approach that to do the job well I needed to get out there in the community and get amongst the grass roots groups to really make decisions on behalf of the community.”
The Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board meet monthly for a formal meeting, and twice more for briefings.
Emma notes a lot of reading is involved with the role, especially if a proposal has been out for public consultation.
She is particularly proud of the board's work managing the ongoing downstream effects of the Christchurch Northern Corridor, securing the rebuild of a facility on Shirley Community Reserve, overseeing the rebuild of the St Albans Community Centre, ensuring the completion of the Northern Line, safety improvements to roads across the board area and the development of Papanui Bush.
While proud of the way she represented her community’s views and engaged with residents, Emma says she won’t miss steering challenging meetings with contentious issues.
Her children are now 11, 12 and 15. She had her youngest child while in office and for the first six months would bring her baby along to meetings, only ever missing one.
Emma says she feels now that it is time for a change for her, and for new voices and fresh ideas for the board.
Community Board facts
There are six community boards in Christchurch, and 37 members positions available on those boards.
The six community boards represent their individual areas and cover three wards, with the exception of the Banks Peninsula ward, which has its own community board.
Each community board in the city has nine members, elected by voters from the areas they represent. The Banks Peninsula community board has eight. Councillors are also appointed to the community board covering their ward.
Community boards make decisions on local issues, activities and facilities, and help build strong communities. Community Board meetings are available to watch on Youtube, simply search the name of the Community Board to find the latest videos.
Remuneration on community boards
The time requirements for the community board chairperson is estimated to be upwards of 20 hours per week, and members 10 to 20 hours per week.
Community board remuneration is based on population, and the table below shows each boards’ current remuneration figures.
Community board chairpersons receive twice the remuneration of members. These figures are set by the Remuneration Authority and may change after the election.