Rural communities feeling jilted

Residents of two rural communities who want to shun their district and step inside the city limits of Palmerston North feel like the welcome mat has been ripped out from beneath them.

The Local Government Commission has called for public submissions on a proposal to shift the boundary between the city and Horowhenua so 1400 people in piki and Tokomaru can become Palmerston North residents.

Horowhenua District councillors have submitted in opposition of the boundary change, and Palmerston North City councillors are being asked to do the same tomorrow.

piki farmer Clive Akers said neither council was showing respect for the wishes of the affected residents.

‘‘We are left with a rating authority we wish to depart from and an authority which doesn’t want us.’’

Akers was one of five residents who in 2018 initiated and developed the application with more than 300 signatures to the Local Government Commission.

If the boundary is shifted Horowhenua would lose about 14 per cent of its land area, and 4 per cent of its population.

Akers said the group was told deliberations would focus on the residents with consultation with affected councils and iwi.

But the councils had highjacked the process and slammed the door in the face of those affected. ‘‘Horowhenua does not want its territory for rate-taking reduced while Palmerston North City Council has turned its back on a community which, for generations, has contributed towards the city’s growth.’’

Tokomaru resident Christine Toms said the Horowhenua District Council should acknowledge

piki and Tokomaru residents wanted to be part of Palmerston North because its services were better suited for the community.

But Horowhenua District Council submitted that it was better placed than the city council to focus on the communities’ rural needs, and refuted the argument residents had been treated poorly and that services and representation would be better in Palmerston North.

Councillor Sam Jennings was the only councillor to vote against the submission.

He said it should be for the locals to decide on a majority basis.

Palmerston North city councillors would vote on endorsing a submission opposing the boundary change tomorrow.

It will be the first time the city council has expressed an opinion about whether the change should be allowed, having remained neutral until now.

Its draft submission said the change would disadvantage existing city ratepayers because of the investment that would be needed in Tokomaru’s ageing water and wastewater network, and on roads.

The council was less open to the suggestion of a boundary change after its 2012 experience of extending into the Manawatu¯ district, taking in the villages of Longburn and Bunnythorpe.

‘‘The infrastructure investment needed was not fully calculated at the time of the change. The experience has left the council less open to this proposal.’’