Tamaki Community Successfully Gains Own Representation On Supercity

Submissions from the Tamaki Community Board and Tamaki residents, ratepayers and community groups have successfully persuaded the Local Government Commission to form two separate, single-member, Auckland Council wards from the originally proposed two-member Orakei-Maungakiekie ward.

The Local Government Commission’s final determination gives a sole Auckland councillor each to the distinctively different Local Board areas of Maungakiekie-Tamaki (covering Glen Innes, Panmure, Mt Wellington, Riverside, Penrose, Onehunga, Oranga, Te Papapa and Royal Oak; population 73,000) and Orakei (covering Orakei, Mission Bay, Kohimarama, St Heliers, Glendowie, St Johns, Meadowbank, Ellerslie and Remuera; population 81,100), rather than combining these two vastly different communities in one, huge, two-member Auckland Council ward with a population of 165,000, as was proposed in November 2009.

Tamaki people expressed enormous dissatisfaction with the draft proposal at various public consultation meetings run by the Tamaki Community Board in late 2009, said Tamaki Community Board Deputy Chair Christine O’Brien.

“There was a great deal of fear in the community that there would be, in effect, no democratic representation at all for the eastern area of the present Auckland city south of Orakei and that the communities of the Tamaki ward would become invisible in the new super city.”

Tamaki-Maungakiekie ward Councillor Richard Northey said, “I am very pleased that the widespread concerns of Tamaki people at being dumped in a new Auckland Council ward dominated by the Eastern Bays and Remuera have been heard and responded to in our final Auckland Council boundary.

“It is a tribute to the Business Associations and many community groups and individuals who made compelling submissions to the Local Government Commission on this issue.

“Splitting off most of the current Tamaki and Maungakiekie ward into a separate Council seat will ensure that the concerns of the people of these areas have a direct and authentic voice on the new Council.”

Ms O’Brien noted that a further change from the draft now sees most of the suburb of Otahuhu removed from its traditional linkages to Mt Wellington, and added into the Manukau Ward of the Auckland Council and a Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board area.

“There are strong and mixed feelings about this in the Otahuhu community,” Ms O’Brien said.

“Otahuhu is already included in a number of administrative districts that include suburbs to its west and south, such as Counties-Manukau Police. However, feedback from residents, strongly expressed at public consultation meetings, was in favour of retaining traditional community links to the north.”

She added, “There are many community, church congregation and personal relationship links running across the Mangere-Otahuhu area, which should provide a good base for the new Local Board to work from in creating this new community.”

Tamaki-Maungakiekie ward Councillor Leila Boyle said, “I am very disappointed that Otahuhu has been split off into a Manukau seat. It is really important that an experienced Otahuhu person gets elected to the new Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board.
“I am also pleased that the call of Mt Wellington people for the former Mt Wellington Borough not to be split has resulted in the whole of Mt Wellington being reunited with the other Tamaki suburbs.

“Ellerslie will be a loss to the Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board but at least they do have strong links to Remuera and Meadowbank where they will be joined for representation purposes in future.”
ENDS

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