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The ongoing saga of if and how Rodney Local Board subdivision boundaries should be altered to allow better rural representation was finally concluded at its monthly meeting on May 15.
Members voted for a Northern Action Group (NAG) proposal that allows for five subdivisions – North Rural, South Rural, Warkworth, Dairy Flat and Kumeu, but this time for a version that would still provide north Rodney with four elected members.
Board members had originally voted in principle to support bringing in the same number of subdivisons in March, but in that version, the North and South Rural boundaries were drawn differently.
That would have meant only one local board member for North Rural, three for South Rural, two for Warkworth, two for Kumeu and one for Dairy Flat, effectively losing one northern member – at the moment, there is one for Wellsford and three for Warkworth.
On May 15, Michelle Carmichael and Colin Smith suggested the alternative version, where the North Rodney area would run further south, almost to Kaukapakapa, meaning it would have the population numbers to justify having two members instead of one.
However, the decision to vote for that option only came after more lengthy debate, three separate motions and amendments, and public appearances by two members of NAG and Rodney Community Voices, two of the groups pushing for better rural representation.
While Carmichael and Smith eventually won the day by a whisker, it was not before chair Brent Bailey pushed to stick with the board’s March decision and Warkworth member Ivan Wagstaff tried to abandon support for any changes and stick with the current boundaries.
NAG founder Bill Foster told the meeting that while rural advocates still favoured having one large rural area with four members at large, the latest North-South Rural option that members voted for was the best compromise available.
“We have to be practical,” he said.
The final decisions on whether the changes will take place rest with council’s governing body and, ultimately, the Local Government Commission, and there will be opportunities for the public to submit their views and be heard throughout the process.
