Peter Salmon, chair of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance, talks about the Super City. / Bernard Orsman
Seven years on from the creation of the Super City and residents of North Rodney want to flee the "Frankenstein" monster.
In fact, the residents, who go by the name of the Northern Action Group, never wanted to be part of the Super City in the first place and say their worst fears have been realised.
Action group chairman Bill Townson says the rural inhabitants are ruled by a large and faceless organisation whose urban-based academics wouldn't know one end of a cow from the other.
They want their own council serving the area north of Puhoi, taking in Warkworth, Wellsford and the flash beach homes at Omaha - and are battling the "Auckland City Frankenstein" and Local Government Commission to break away.
I would hate to be confronted with the challenges Auckland faces at the moment with huge growth and dealing with eight separate councils
Down south in rural Franklin, local board chairwoman Angela Fulljames says the area has benefited hugely from the Super City. Long-standing complaints about the colour and quality of Pukekohe's water have been fixed, the V8 Supercars have come to town, rail electrification is looming and several roading projects have occurred.
Love it or hate it, the unpredictable world of Auckland Council has been around for seven years. No one seriously wants to turn the clock back but nor is there is a lot of warmth towards the mega-council.
Getting the V8 Supercars at Pukekohe was a big coup for the Super City.
A trust and reputation survey by Auckland Council last year found only 15 per cent of Aucklanders are satisfied with council's performance, a rating mayor Phil Goff called "deeply corrosive to the system of local democracy" at his campaign launch last year.
The Super City was born out of what was known as the "Auckland disease" - seven territorial councils and one regional council constantly at loggerheads, pushing their own barrows, stroking their own egos.
By the late 2000s, the Clark Labour Government had had enough and set up the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance.
After hearing more than 4000 submissions, the commission concluded regional governance was weak and fragmented and community engagement was poor. It recommended bold change to revitalise local government to help steer Auckland towards a secure, prosperous and sustainable future.
Following the Royal Commission's recommendations - six local councils and 23 seats, including three Maori seats - the National Government under Local Government Minister Rodney Hide came up with the current model of one council, 21 local boards and a mayor with some executive powers. There were no Maori seats, but an Independent Maori Statutory Board with nine members who sit on major committees but not the governing body.
Hide, regarded as the architect of the Super City, did not respond to requests for an interview.
The Super City got off to a promising start - 51 per cent of voters participated in the mayoral contest between heavyweights Len Brown and John Banks in 2010. Brown triumphed, and at a swearing-in ceremony at Auckland Town Hall attended by 1200 guests he pledged to build the "world's most liveable city".
The first term was a bedding down time, marked by the completion of the Auckland Plan - a 30-year blueprint for the city - modest rates rises, ambitious plans for the waterfront and city centre and the successful 2011 Rugby World Cup. Brown made some progress on free swimming pools and got smeared with a lamington for not taking the side of workers in an industrial dispute at the port.
Len Brown's world came crashing down with news of his affair days after being re-elected in 2013.
Four days after being re-elected in 2013, Brown's world came crashing down with lurid details being made public of an affair with council adviser Bevan Chuang. He described the event as a "near-death political experience" when signing out from council last September.
Penny Hulse, who served as deputy mayor to Brown for six years, says the affair threw a cloud over the council and, at a personal level, "I found it absolutely heartbreaking".
A heaviness set in, she said, but to the credit of councillors "we plugged on and got through and managed to achieve everything we set out to do".
Penny Hulse said a heaviness set in after Len Brown's affair was made public.
Brown's second term was terminal, but stood out for two of the biggest achievements of the Super City - the Unitary Plan, the new planning rulebook for the city; and getting the Government on board with the $3.4 billion City Rail Link.
Hulse has been closer to the machinations of the Super City than most. The former Waitakere City deputy mayor marched through Henderson with other Westies to oppose the Super City.
Nine years later, she says it has taken an amalgamated council to tackle the challenges of Auckland, which has grown by a city the size of Tauranga in that time.
It has been like building a house for a large family with an unfinished kitchen and one bedroom, says Hulse, who concedes the council has not found the right way to engage with Aucklanders, has not explained the size and complexity of the problems facing the city or been clear about what can and cannot be delivered.
Hulse, who steered the Unitary Plan through over three tumultuous years that pitted young against homeowning Nimbys, says parts of the plan could be better, such as how it impacts on growth and water and stormwater, which Goff has assigned to her this term.
The Super City, she says, can go in two directions; a city that does reasonably well or a city that reaches its full potential and punches above its weight.
"We have some huge growth challenges and have to spend quite a bit of money to really build this city into its potential. But we run the risk of being overly cautious and too frightened to do some of the things that need to be done," she says.
Chris Mills with an overgrown grass berm outside his property on Celtic Crescent, Ellerslie in 2014.
Goff, who as Opposition leader said the Super City would be less transparent, less accountable and branded the council-controlled organisations (CCOs) a "clique of cronies", says nobody he talks to wants to turn back the clock.
He believes the local boards are a strong, enduring part of the system, but acknowledges Aucklanders want to see more evidence that savings are being made. Those savings have amounted to $237m since amalgamation but got lost in big rates rises, increases in staff numbers and costs and the behaviour of CCOs - a term often referred to as a misnomer.
"We are one city. It didn't make sense to govern it as seven different cities ... I would hate to be confronted with the challenges Auckland faces at the moment with huge growth and dealing with eight separate councils," Goff says.
The Hon Peter Salmon, QC, chairman of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Governance of Auckland. 19 August 2008 The Aucklander Photograph by Sylvie Whinray
Peter Salmon, the retired High Court judge who chaired the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance, gives the Auckland Council a score of eight out of 10.
The successes are many, he says, including the Auckland Plan and the amazing effort to get the Unitary Plan through within a tight timeframe.
He is impressed by the work at Wynyard Quarter and other city centre improvements, and progress on the City Rail Link. Getting Auckland to speak with one voice - one of the main reasons behind setting up the Royal Commission - has worked to Auckland's advantage, he says.
For Auckland to get 10 out of 10, Salmon says there needs to be greater clarity about the roles and functions of CCOs and local boards. The relationship between the governing body and local boards also needs to be put on a better footing.
The other missing ingredient is fresh funding sources, such as a regional fuel tax and refunding of GST on rates. Says Salmon: "That is necessary because of the pressure Auckland is under from increased immigration and the great stresses that puts on council services."
He agrees the Super City is still going through adolescence, saying it is a little early to make final judgments on the success of the council.
Some people have suggested a review after 10 years, a view Salmon is happy to go along with. "By the end of Phil Goff's first term things should have settled down and the shape of the city should be more apparent."
Grassroots democracy
The Weekend Herald invited the chairs of the 21 local boards to have a say on the Super City. Click here to read the views and verdicts of those who replied.
