Super City: With size comes diverse priorities

Howick street scene, showing large fronted homes often built with asian immigrants in mind. Photo / NZ Herald

Howick is a ward so large - with a population size close to that of Hamilton - its local board has been split into three subdivisions for the Auckland Council.

Burning issues for Pakuranga residents in the north of the ward to Howick and Botany to its south and east are also as different as chalk, cheese and fried won tons.

Nine positions are up for grabs in the three subdivisions, which 24 candidates will be pitching for.

Transport seems to be a key issue in Pakuranga, and resident Susie George said many in the area were concerned about how the Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative would affect them.

The scheme is aimed to ease congestion for Howick, Pakuranga and Botany through improved networks and public transport, but many residents are worried about the problems that would come with it.

"Sure it's meant to make it faster to get to the city, but it also means hell of a lot more vehicles will be passing through our town," Ms Thorpe said.

"Do we have anyone who can tell us what's being done to keep noise and pollution down?" she asked.

Pakuranga subdivision candidate David Collings, a member of the initiative's political steering group for the past eight years and sitting Manukau City councillor, acknowledged transport is a big issue for the election, and has promised to make it a priority if he wins.

Crime and safety seems to be a big worry in Botany, where several high profile crimes in recent times led to a 15,000-strong anti-crime march there in 2008.

"Crime is a major issue for the community, and a top priority for us will be to fight for more resources to be put into crime prevention and community safety," said Neelam Choudhary, a Residents & Ratepayers candidate for the subdivision.

Ms Choudhary made headlines last year as the Labour Party activist who alleged Minister Richard Worth sent her dozens of text messages, including sexually explicit ones, which resulted in his resignation from Parliament.

Wayne Huang, the deputy chairman of the Botany board, said a unique feature of the subdivision was the "extremely high number" of new migrants, and a key to the area's future growth was for the skills and networks to be fully used.

Campaigning under the C&R ticket for the Botany subdivision, Mr Huang said he will establish an ethnic advisory committee on the local board if he is successful.

The Howick subdivision is most popular, with 10 candidates fighting for three available seats including council hopefuls Mike Padfield and Sharon Stewart.

Independent candidate Peter Wilson said strong business acumen is needed to ensure Howick doesn't get "lost in chaos" of the new Super City.

"Howick business needs to develop further to attract more people to visit and spend money in the local area," he said.

He said because the ward was subdivided into three boards, strong co-ordination between the three boards was critical for the greater Howick area to benefit.

CANDIDATES

BOTANY SUBDIVSION - 3 SEATS:

* Trevor Armstrong, Independent
* Roy Bootle, Residents & Ratepayers
* Neelam Choudary, Residents & Ratepayers
* Wayne Huang, C&R
* Ram Parkash, Residents & Ratepayers
* Lucy Schwaner, C&R
* Michael Williams, C&R

HOWICK SUBDIVISION - 3 SEATS:

* Jim Donald, Team Howickian
* Jenny Foster, Team Howickian
* Lyn Murphy, C&R
* Ian Rodger, Team Howickian
* John Spiller,C&R
* Hamish Stevens,C&R
* Sharon Stewart, Independent
* Adele White, Independent
* Peter Wilson,Independent

PAKURANGA SUBDIVISION - 3 SEATS

* Dale Bickerstaff, Pakuranga Independent
* Sue Christie, Residents and Ratepayers
* David Collings, Independent
* Barry James Keon, Residents and Ratepayers
* Rex McIntosh, Residents and Ratepayers
* Mike Padfield, Community Voice=
* Barry Parkin, Citizens & Ratepayers - Howick
* Steve Udy, Citizens & Ratepayers - Howick
* Shirley Warren, Citizens & Ratepayers - Howick

* From the New Zealand Herald feature, 'Super City - Election Guide'