WIPED OFF THE MAP?

Welcome to the Incredible Shrinking Suburb: Northcote - Valerie Schuler reports
Back in the North Shore's early days, Northcote was one of its main suburbs. Today it appears the area is gradually falling off the radar and long-term residents are not impressed.
Last month, North Shore City Council redefined suburb boundaries for the first time since the 1970s. Long-term Northcote resident Margaret Logie, 62, says the outcome is nothing but bad news for her beloved area.
``Our suburb is gradually shrinking,' says the Deuxberry Ave resident.
Since the new boundaries were drawn up, Northcote and Northcote Pt, which are separated by Onewa Rd, have been divided into two separate suburbs.
Little Shoal Bay has been been re-assigned to Birkenhead and many adjoining streets, including Seaview Ave, Fairfax Ave and Valley Rd have also been lost to the neighbouring suburb.
``Little Shoal Bay was the only swimming place Northcote had left and now they've taken that away too,' says Mrs Logie, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years. ``We don't know why they've done it.'
Queen St resident Anne Du Temple agrees. ``It's the smallest of the new suburbs. I'm concerned it will eventually just drop off the map altogether,' says the 71-year-old, who has lived in the area since 1939.
``We are slowly being decimated,' says Mrs Logie. ``Even the name Northcote is disappearing. There used to be wooden signs that said `Welcome to Northcote' when you came off the motorway. Now, all it says is how to get to Glenfield or Takapuna.'
The women say the council should have consulted residents before their suburb was chopped to pieces. ``There was no pre-warning and it was all done underhand,' says Mrs Du Temple.
But the council says the community was consulted and that nothing was done in secrecy.
``We worked closely with councillors and community board members to ensure that the views of their local communities were taken into consideration,' says council spokesman Kumar Kannan.
``We also consulted with a number of key organisations, including iwi, the Real Estate Institute and emergency services.'
Mrs Du Temple says there should have been a public meeting and that ordinary people should have been informed.
``If we'd had an inkling this was going to happen, everybody would have turned up in force.'
The council says it redefined the suburbs to make things less confusing for emergency services.
``We felt it was important to look at the city's suburbs to make it easier for the emergency services to locate specific addresses when calls are made for help,' says Mr Kannan, who is the spatial information services manager.
So why was Little Shoal Bay re-assigned to Birkenhead?
Mr Kumar said the council followed the Geographic Board's criteria.
``We had to take into account natural and physical features,' he says.
``Little Shoal Bay Reserve falls into Birkenhead so it made sense to include the beach area as well.'
The beach was never legally classified as Northcote. Before the official defining of suburb boundaries, people ``called themselves what they wanted,' Mr Kumar says.
Mrs Du Temple says she is prepared to fight her suburb's decimation. She is taking the matter to the Northcote Resident Association's annual meeting this week.
``The decision needs to be revisited. Otherwise it will be swept under the carpet,' she says.