Rodney District Council is suggesting that the Local Government Commission consider dividing Rodney District into three single Councillor wards and three local board areas under the new Auckland Council structure. Two of the proposed wards would incorporate parts of neighbouring cities.
The Local Government Commission is responsible for identifying ward and local board boundaries, the names of these and how many people will be elected to each of them.
The Local Government Commissioners met with the Council last week and asked Councillors to present their views on possible representation arrangements.
After a series of workshops, the Council is recommending that the Commission consider dividing Rodney into three wards, to be represented by one Auckland Councillor each.
Legislation to set up the Auckland Council requires that there be “a single-member ward based on the rural area of Rodney District.” Other wards should have populations of around 70,000 people per Councillor.
In order to meet the population criteria, the more urban parts of Rodney need to be included in wards that cross into what are now North Shore and Waitakere cities.
The legislation also requires the Local Government Commission establish “local boards with 4 to 9 members on them and that their boundaries should be based on, or the same as, the ward boundaries.”
The Council briefed the Commissioners on relevant background information including demographics and data from an online survey of nearly 300 Rodney residents to help identify ‘communities of interest,’ in Rodney.
One proposed ward would take in Orewa, the Hibiscus Coast, Silverdale and also the East Coast Bays area of North Shore City as far south as Rothesay Bay.
The Council is recommending that the southern part of the Western Ward, including Waimauku, Muriwai, Riverhead and Kumeu - Huapai, be joined with parts of what is now Waitakere City to form another ward.
A third single member rural ward is recommended which would comprise almost all of rural Rodney as well as small towns such as Helensville, Kaukapakapa, Warkworth, Wellsford, Matakana and Leigh and extend to the northern boundary of Rodney District.
The Council’s recommendations were developed to meet the requirements around representation arrangements for the new Auckland Council and also took into account a number of other factors that influence communities of interest such as school catchments and sports club affiliation.
Rodney District Council is also recommending that three local boards be established with identical boundaries to the Councillor wards, but that each local board area be divided into a number of sub-wards with one or more local board members elected from each area to ensure that the board is made up of a mix of individuals from different areas.
Rodney Mayor Penny Webster says that the proposal to have three wards makes sense based on the survey results from local residents.
“The survey indicated that there was a clear community of interest amongst Hibiscus Coast residents who were orientated towards the North Shore and Auckland.”
“Residents living in Kumeu Huapai, Riverhead and the surrounding areas tend to look towards Waitakere and rely on State Highway 16 so it is logical for them to be incorporated into a ward which includes part of Waitakere City.”
She says that the Council’s recommendations needed to be guided by the Government legislation about the number of Councillors and local boards in the new Auckland Council.
“I think that, because the new Auckland Council will be dominated by the metropolitan areas of Auckland, in the future it will be difficult for other areas to find their views are adequately represented.”
"However, I believe that the Council’s proposal reflects the communities of interest within Rodney and is also the best option for ensuring that there are a number of Councillors on the new Auckland Council to represent our community.”
The Local Government Commission has met with all of the Councils around the Auckland Region to assist them to prepare a consultation document with draft proposals on local board and Councillor representation arrangements under the new Super City.
The Commission will be undertaking public consultation on boundaries for local board and Councillor wards in November and December of this year before a final decision is reached by 1 March 2010.
To view the RDC submission to the Local Government Commission, click here.