Cities vs Communities

I regard one of the best decisions by the Government about Auckland, was to expand the second tier underneath the Auckland Council from the proposed six local Councils to 20 – 30 local Boards.

The six local Councils would have been on very similiar boundaries to the existing cities and I dont think they would would reflect communities at all well, despite some assuming they do.

Communities can be hard to define, but we know them when we see them. In Wellington, Thorndon is a distinct community. In Auckland, West Auckland is a distinct community as any Westie can tell you.

But Waitakere City is not the same as West Auckland. Waitakere City includes Piha, which is not West Auckland. It includes Hobsonville which is very different to Henderson and Glen Eden.

The same occurs in Manukau City. People may think Manukau City is about South Auckland. Well South Auckland is very much a community with its own culture and identity. But Manukau City is far larger than that.

Pakuranga is not the same community as Mangere. The rural Botany-Clevedon area has little in common with Papatoetoe.

The move to 20 – 30 local boards, instead of 6 local councils, provides an opportunity for far better reflection of natural communities. And each local board can propose a local targeted rate for their local area, to cover proposed extra services or facilities. Now of course the overall Auckland Council has to agree to them, but if the local Board does a good job of ascertaining the views of its residents, I doubt there will be much second guessing.