Kumeu’s Super-City decision

The Local Government Commission will be in Kumeu on November 2 to hear from residents whether they want north Rodney to stay in the supercity or have its own unitary authority.

In August 2015 the commission agreed to assess an application from the Northern Action Group (NAG) for a unitary authority for north Rodney after NAG successfully appealed an earlier decision by the commission in the high court on public interest grounds.

But those south of Warkworth say they were never asked their views or considered by NAG in their application.

It’s more than just one hour of travel time that separates Warkworth from Kumeu - Kumeu has come out in support of staying within Auckland.

Chairman of the KumeuHuapai Residents and Ratepayers Association, Pete Sinton, says Kumeu-Huapai has more people than Warkworth and Wellsford and with its explosive growth needs to be inside an authority large enough to fund its infrastructure.

However, the residents association does want to see some change. Sinton says the Rodney area should be split into two wards, north and south, with one councillor for each. At present Greg Sayers is the ward councillor for the entire area. He also wants to see more delegated local authority over the Rodney Local Board Kumeu Subdivision.

‘‘We don’t see it - the breakaway - as financially viable.’’

Sinton says it is crucial the community ‘‘activate’’ and get along to the meeting with the commissioners.

There is a third option - keeping the status quo. But Sinton says the commission ‘‘is looking at change’’.

Rodney councillor Greg Sayers says he’s open to listening to all options.

‘‘We were promised that the super-city would reduce our rates, and be more efficient and cost effective. Yet we have seen none of that. In fact, we have seen the exact opposite.’’

He says he understands why people feel Rodney should be out of Auckland, or should be allowed a different more community empowering governance model because of the difficulties Rodney has being such a huge diverse area. The meeting will be held at the Kumeu Community Centre on November 2, starting at 7pm. For more information contact Pete Sinton on 09 412 2016.