Community groups unite to lobby Super City

Auckland City. Photo / Janna Dixon

Auckland's disparate community groups are gingerly coming together to present a united face to the Super City.

Groups focused on existing cities that will cease to exist in November, such as Community Waitakere and North Shore Community and Social Services, have started working towards a Super City coalition of "community development oriented organisations".

And the Manukau Community Foundation, set up by the Manukau City Council to fund initiatives in South Auckland, is changing its name to the Auckland Communities Foundation so it can serve the region.

A discussion paper issued by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has invited the community sector to propose "mechanisms for formal engagement" with a planned "social policy forum", which will bring together the minister, the Super City mayor, chairs of relevant council committees and "select representation" from local boards.

"For instance, the not-for-profit sector may choose to organise itself in such a way as to identify an agreed point of contact for the sharing of information and engagement with the forum," the paper says.

Manukau Community Foundation chief executive Mark Bentley said the paper was "just the kind of challenge we need".

Foundation chairman Steve Chaney said the revamped regional foundation let donors give money at any level from local suburbs such as Papatoetoe up to existing city areas such as Manukau, the Auckland region and the whole country.

"Research says a community is 5000 to 9000 people, so if you take a community with 1.6 million people you have a lot of communities," he said.

The foundation aims to match donors with causes through funds for different local areas, specific companies and individual donors. It plans advisory boards to raise funds in each area and local grants committees.

Community Waitakere chairman Tony Mayow said he was working with groups to create a regional body to work with the new council.

"There are many, many organisations across the region who will want to have a large degree of say around how this social issues forum will operate," he said.

The forum will not have any direct funding or decision-making role, but will make recommendations to the Super City and to central government.

It says the forum will need to establish "a meaningful relationship" with Maori, and notes a bill before Parliament provides for a nine-member Maori board to be chosen by a selection body comprising one member from each of the region's "mana whenua" [original inhabitants] groups.

The bill also proposes two advisory panels of "Pacific peoples" and "ethnic peoples" to be appointed by the Super City mayor.

Wayne Huang, chairman of the Manukau Asian Forum and deputy chairman of the Botany Community Board, said the ethnic advisory panel should be elected in the local elections.

But Auckland Refugee Community Coalition chairman Kafeba Mundele said members could be chosen by each separate ethnic community.

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