Auckland city to keep Gulf islands

BY DIANA WORTHY

Waiheke Island is not about to become part of the Coromandel.

The Local Government Commission last week rejected a proposal to transfer governance of the Gulf islands to the Thames-Coromandel District Council instead of Auckland City Council.

The decision not to proceed was announced at a special meeting in Ostend on Friday.

The proposal had been the subject of months of objections from councils and community boards and opponents have hailed the decision as sensible.

If it had gone ahead boundary changes would have been needed to enable governance of the islands by Thames-Coromandel but the commission received 347 submissions opposed to the idea.

Among those opposed were the Auckland city and regional councils, the Thames-Coromandel District Council, Environment Waikato, the Great Barrier and Waiheke community boards and two Maori trusts.

There were 13 submissions in favour.

The proposal came from Waiheke board member Nobilangelo Ceramalus, independent of the board, who initiated a petition to compel legal consideration of the transfer.

On Friday he listened as commissioner Gwen Bull outlined the reasons why the proposal could go no further.

She said it failed to recognise communities of interest between the islands and Auckland, and that it would not promote good local government.

Concerns included potential impacts on services, functional links already established with Auckland, infrastructure needs, finance, tourism, and transport links.

She said a call by Mr Ceramalus for the legality of Auckland's classification as a city to be referred to the High Court would not be pursued.

"It is not up to the commission to seek to review or undo decisions made under parliament."

Mr Ceramalus is disappointed but not surprised.

"A lot of people say if they wanted to live in the city they would. But it's been decided the city shall live with us. That's wrong - but it was worth a shot."

He says his attempt to change governance arrangements means the community now knows there will be other possibilities after Auckland's local government reforms.

But the decision is being hailed as a sensible one by opponents, who say the proposal was a waste of time and money.

Waiheke board chairman Tony Sears says most people on the island would have been shocked if it had become part of Thames-Coromandel and Environment Waikato.

And he says the proposal has damaged Waiheke's relationship with Auckland.

"The reality is we have no affinity with Thames-Coromandel. If we are to be part of a greater local authority, Waiheke residents see themselves as closer to Auckland than anywhere else.

"This exercise has been a terrible waste of time and money. Moreover it is probably is at least partially to blame for Auckland's decidedly lukewarm attitude to our aspirations.

"What council would be seriously willing to engage with a community that instigates proceedings to divorce itself from it?" he says.

"This process has set us back considerably, and the worst thing about it is that most of us knew it was a crazy idea and didn't want a bar of it."

Auckland city's Hauraki Gulf Islands councillor Denise Roche says Mr Ceramalus should have waited for the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance before proceeding.

She criticised the costs incurred and says the islands' relationship with the commission has been damaged.

"So many people had to put in so much work to oppose this."

Auckland's finance and strategy committee chairman Doug Armstrong also criticised the costs and says voters should hold Mr Ceramalus accountable at the next election.

"I suspect it cost tens of thousands and was not in the best interests of Waiheke - it's future is with Auckland."

Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye, a member of the select committee now considering Auckland governance, says she opposed the proposal because it was not in the best interests of the islands.

She was pleased by the commission's decision and vowed to see improved local government for the islands.

"I'm confident we'll be able to deliver better governance for the islands and that will help improve the relationship between the people and the agencies that serve them."

- Waiheke Marketplace