Auckland super city boundaries unveiled

BY MICHAEL FIELD

Super city Auckland has been divided up into 13 wards with 21 local boards.

Its southern boundary has been expanded in parts - but both Waikato and Hauraki have been awarded chunks of land that was to be in the super city.

In a 12-minute announcement at a city hotel this morning - where no questions were taken - the Local Government Commission unveiled the boundaries.

Seven of the new wards will elect two councillors each to the super council later this year and six of the wards will have one councillor each, giving a total of 20 councillors.

Some of the wards have been renamed - Howick and Clevedon disappear, while Whau comes into existence in an area around Avondale.

The body rejected Franklin District Council's call to become a unitary authority.

Commission chairwoman Sue Piper said the body had received more than 700 submissions on the proposed boundaries and representation.

"As a result of these submissions, we have made a number of changes, including an additional ward and a further two local boards.

"We have worked hard to achieve the best possible outcomes for the people of Auckland as intended by the legislation. Our goal has been to achieve the best balance between good local governance and effective engagement of local communities."

The wards are:

1. Waitemata and Gulf Ward - it used to be the Maungawhau-Hauraki Gulf Ward.

Excluded from it are parts of Mt Eden and Kingsland communities of interest formerly split between two wards.

Included in the new ward are the Auckland Zoo, MOTAT and Western Springs Park. Parts of the Newmarket business district have been included.

Population: 79,300 with one councillor.

2. Orakei Ward

Destined to be Auckland's richest ward, including Remuera, it has been remodelled to exclude working class Mt Wellington.

Population: 81,100, one councillor

3. Maungakiekie-Tamaki Ward

It cuts across the southern motorway and includes many of Auckland's poorer suburbs - Glen Innes, Point England, through to Otahuhu and the industrial areas of Westfield, Southdown and Te Papapa.

Population: 73,000, one councillor

4. Albert-Eden-Roskill Ward - it used to be the Mt Albert-Mt Roskill Ward

It's been remodelled to include all of Mt Eden and Kingsland and Waterview.

Population: 154,900, two councillors

5. Whau Ward

Effectively a new ward including Epsom, Kelson, Avondale and the country's most racially diverse suburb - Blockhouse Bay.

Population: 76,400, one councillor

6. Waitakere Ward

A geographical giant, it covers much of the existing Waitakere City Council area, reaching out to the Tasman Sea to include Piha and Karekare.

Population: 158,700, two councillors

7. Rodney Ward

A vast rural ward, from the Tasman to the Pacific, it includes the Kaipara Harbour through to Kawau Island.

Population: 54,100, one councillor

8. Albany Ward - formerly Hibiscus-Albany-East Coast Bays Ward

It includes the Whangaparoa Peninsula and in a change from the draft, it is extended southward to include Whenuapei, home to the air force base, and Hobsonville.

Population: 137,800, two councillors

9. North Shore Ward

This mirrors the North Shore City Council area with the exclusion of Campbells Bay.

Population: 143,200, two councillors

10. Manukau Ward

Its boundaries have been moved to include the Manukau CBD, Papatoetoe cemetery, Manukau memorial gardens, South Auckland crematorium, Puhinui Reserve and area north of Puhinui Stream on community of interest grounds.

Population: 156,200, two councillors

11. Te Irirangi Ward - formerly Howick-Pakuranga-Botany Ward

The ward is now named after the long road that runs through an area of the city undergoing explosive residential and business growth around the Botany Downs area.

Population: 128,100, two councillors

12. Manurewa-Papakura Ward

With working class suburbs like Clendon and rural areas like Drury in the south, the ward is among the most mixed in the city.

Population: 131,500, two councillors

13. Franklin Ward

Home to the Bombay Hills, the traditional southern border post for Auckland, the ward reaches right across from the Tasman to the Pacific. Its lost some of it proposed southern boundary with areas going to Hauraki and Waikato.

Population: 64,200, one councillor.

- with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News