Residents of Rodney lobbying the Government to shift the Auckland Supercity boundary south remain undeterred despite Local Government Minister Rodney Hide saying that they have “a big, big battle ahead”.

Representatives of the two organisations fighting for a boundary change – the Wellsford Action Group (WAG) and the Northern Action Group (NAG) – held an hour-and-a-half long meeting with the Minister at the Wellsford Golf Club on Wednesday evening, December 2. After the meeting, Mr Hide told Northern Matters that he was impressed by the information presented at the meeting and said the representatives had put their case “very well”.

“However, the reality is that Parliament has made its decision and the Local Government Commission process is well underway,” he said. “I explained to them that it is going to be pretty tough to get what they want. But, on the other hand, you never know with politics.”

Mr Hide believed that residents opposing the Supercity’s northern boundary, which currently follows Rodney District’s boundary north of Te Hana, were best to present their case through their petition. He said the petition would carry more weight than pushing for a poll of the nearly 15,000 voters in northern Rodney.

“A petition is a recognised process of Parliament and is a very powerful tool. My advice was that it should be presented to Parliament ahead of the Local Government Commission’s final report on boundaries and representation (due to be delivered by March 1).”

Mr Hide said the Wellsford meeting had showed him the depth of feeling in the community on the issue.

So far, around 4000 people have signed boundary change petitions. Following the meeting with Mr Hide, the NAG and WAG representatives were talking of ways to collect a further 6000 signatures before it goes to Parliament in February.

“At least 10,000 is what we need,” Dennis Brown said.

The groups have also agreed that the new boundary should be set just south of Puhoi, as recommended by the Select Committee.

Spokesperson for the two groups John Turner said the Minister had made it clear that the issue was firmly in the political arena and that’s where WAG and Nag needed to focus their efforts.

“The Minister admitted that he personally had always believed the whole of Rodney should be in the Supercity, but the information presented at the meeting, particularly on the hapu boundaries, had given him pause for thought,” Mr Turner said.

“I believe that as a result of the meeting, we have an allay in the Minister.”

PHOTO: Wellsford plumber Jeff Davies was at the golf club when Rodney Hide visited and took the opportunity to get his autograph. “I’m not interested in the politics, but he’s a bit of a character,” Jeff said. The Minister was happy to oblige.