KEY POINTS:
Waitakere is not "Gucci" and needs to retain its local flavour, according to two environmentalists from the west coast community of Piha.
Patricia La Roche and Yvonne Dufaur have made a heartfelt plea to the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Auckland Governance, lauding the self-proclaimed eco city and its culture of consultation and accessibility.
Yvonne Dufaur, who has lived at Piha for 18 years, said the area was different from South Auckland with its Polynesian weighting and from the eastern districts with their more city-fied and bland flavour.
"We in the west are a more strident lot, fiercely protective of our environment with its wonderful Waitakere Ranges and its wild beaches, and we are very proud of our eco city."
Patricia La Roche, co-ordinator of the environmental group Piha Coastcare, said: "We want to retain our identity. Gucci is not us."
It was the turn of Waitakere to come under the spotlight at three days of public hearings at Trusts Stadium in Henderson.
On the opening day, Waitakere City Council made the case for expanding the city to take in the western ward of Rodney District Council and the Avondale ward of Auckland City.
The council model featured four cities based on Waitakere, North Shore, Auckland City and Manukau and a strengthened regional council with the leader chosen by his or her peers. Mayor Bob Harvey disagreed on this last point and made a separate submission calling for a mayor elected at large with executive powers.
Not everyone in Waitakere was happy with the council. Oratia resident Bryan Trenwith said the council was predominantly rural, had few industrial and commercial ratepayers, a large socially deprived population and most of its workforce travelled to jobs outside Waitakere.
On top of that, the council had a culture of extravagance and lacked fiscal discipline.
Mr Trenwith said Waitakere should be replaced by a single city that united all Aucklanders.
The 1000-member Structured Plan Advocates Network, which opposed the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Act, also supported wiping out the council for a single city along the lines of Brisbane with fulltime councillors and staffed ward offices.
The commission also heard from the Helensville-Parakai Residents & Ratepayers Association, which wants its areas to leave Rodney District and become part of Waitakere City.
Secretary Scott Osmond said Rodney found itself in financial difficulty because of growth and development. The answer was to break it up.
He said small towns like Helensville and Parakai had been largely ignored and were unsustainable under Rodney, despite a 50 per cent rise in rates over the past four years.
The commission has been listening to public views on the biggest shake-up of local government since 1989 at Franklin, Papakura and Rodney District Councils and North Shore and Waitakere City Councils. It will move to Manukau City tomorrow and Auckland City next week.
