Key hints at boundaries backdown

John Key. Photo / Greg Bowker

Prime Minister John Key has given the strongest hint yet that the Government will back down on proposed Super City boundaries for Rodney and Franklin.

This follows a packed public meeting in Matakana on Saturday, at which a majority opposed splitting Rodney in two.

The National MP for Hunua, Dr Paul Hutchinson, has spoken in support of similar feelings in Franklin.

Mr Key told the Herald that if the majority of Rodney residents wanted to stay in the Super City, "the Government is not going to stand in their way". He said the situation with Franklin was slightly more complex, but it was "eminently possible that the Cabinet would consider moving the southern boundary to align [with] the Waikato River".

The Cabinet is expected to discuss the boundary issue today. Any changes would be made when the Super City legislation comes back to Parliament this week.

Splitting Franklin between Auckland and Waikato has been the subject of debate over the Super City set-up, but an eleventh hour Cabinet decision to take Auckland's coastal playground north of Waiwera out of Auckland was unexpected.

Mr Key said the Cabinet considered the recommendations of a select committee, "and it was our belief we were reflecting the bulk of the wishes of the affected areas".

"That said, these things are not cast in stone, and we are doing the best we can to make sure the Super City reflects the majority view of the people of Auckland."

National's MP for Rodney, Dr Lockwood Smith, who organised Saturday's Matakana meeting, could not be reached for comment.

But the Rodney councillor on the Auckland Regional Council, Christine Rose, said speaker after speaker expressed misgivings about merging Rodney north of Waiwera with the Kaipara District Council.

"It was heartening but realistic to see people recognise that the pressures are coming from Auckland and can be dealt with only by economies of scale and processes from within Auckland," she said.

Auckland regional councillors voted unanimously on Friday to demand the Government leave Auckland boundaries alone.

Last night, Franklin district mayor Mark Ball said it would be another "knee-jerk reaction" for the Cabinet to move the boundary south to the Waikato River and include Pokeno, Tuakau and possibly Mercer in the Super City.

"I'm absolutely perplexed how this thing is panning out," he said.

Rodney district mayor Penny Webster said the issue was being clouded by a lack of information.