North Rodney keen on breakaway

NAG chairman Bill Townson.

A poll suggests most people in northern Rodney want to break away from the Auckland Council - and they could have their own unitary council in time for next year's local body elections.

North Rodney is mostly rural, with farming or farm servicing the main industries. The people have never wanted to be a part of or to be ruled by Auckland, and feel they have little in common with its citizens.

The new Warkworth-based council would stretch from Puhoi in the south to just north of Te Hana in the north and Tapora in the east, and take in Wellsford, Warkworth, Puhoi, Snells Beach/Algies Bay and Kawau Island.

A recent poll of North Rodney by the Northern Action Group Inc (NAG) showed 94 per cent favoured breaking from Auckland and setting up a separate council.

NAG chairman Bill Townson of Scotts Landing says the 22,000 people of North Rodney have felt for several years the Auckland Council is not adequately representing their interests.

Following a Local Government Commission decision in 2014 not to consider NAG's proposals to de-amalgamate from Auckland, the High Court ruled that such decisions were supposed to be driven by local communities rather than by the Auckland Council, and ordered the commission to reconsider the proposals.

Campaigning under the slogan : "Putting Local back into Local Government" the group has had to counter opposition from Auckland Council and the Local Government Commission.

But, with the support of a majority of ratepayer and residents' groups and individuals from across the Auckland region, NAG has sent its proposals to the Local Government Commission for a final decision on North Rodney's future.

Two new members are being appointed to the commission on August 1, and Bill Townson says he hopes a decision will be made in time for the elections in October next year.

The new North Rodney Council would have five councillors representing five wards plus a mayor. The council would levy its own rates (calculated at 10 to 15 per cent lower than current levels) and major decisions such as a district plan and transport issues would be based on community consultation. "An emphasis would be placed on councillors getting out amongst the community to stay in touch with what needs to happen. Regular electronic polling would also be used."

Core services NAG says the new council's primary focus would be on core services and basic regulatory functions. It would also focus on the "four wellbeings" - social, economic, environmental and cultural - but only as and when the community asked for and could afford it.

The nine regional parks in the area would remain under Auckland Council control, and the debt incurred by the Auckland Council on capital projects in the area - estimated to be worth about about $10 to $15 million - would have to be repaid by the new council.

The Rodney Local Board currently looks after North and western Rodney for Auckland Council. It has nine members, including several from Warkworth and Wellsford.