Two super-city meetings next week

ENHANCED: Sir Bob Harvey, a former mayor of Waitakere, says the Auckland super-city model worked for Waitakere. PHOTOS/FILE

With less than a month until submissions on the super-city proposal close, more meetings on the issue are being held next week.

Two high profile Aucklanders will speak about local body amalgamation, in particular the Auckland super-city and local boards, at a meeting in Masterton next Monday.

The meeting, sponsored by Sustainable Wairarapa, is to be held in the Masterton Town Hall at 7.30pm and special invitations to speak were issued to Sir Bob Harvey and Greg Moyle.

Sir Bob is a former mayor of Waitakere who now chairs Waterfront Auckland.

Mr Moyle serves on the Waitemata Local Board and was on Auckland City Council.

They both maintain amalgamation in Auckland has transformed the region for the better.

The two men support local boards which, they say, give communities a strong voice, help protect local identity, and give people access to decision-makers.

Driving the meeting will be the contention Wairarapa would do better to be part of a larger-rating base to protect its environment and meet the challenges of climate change.

Sir Bob is credited with leading Waitakere into being NZ's first eco-city.

He said, as mayor of Waitakere, he had "created a wonderful stand-alone eco-enviro city".

"I thought it would be trashed by the steam roller of the Auckland super-city. It hasn't - in fact, it's been enhanced."

Also declaring an intention to attend the Masterton meeting is Auckland local government activist Penny Bright, who is adamantly opposed to Wairarapa being incorporated into a Wellington super-city and who claims that the Auckland amalgamation has been a disaster.

The Local Government Commission (LGC) will also take part in a separate meeting on the super-city proposal at the Carterton Events Centre next Wednesday.

The meeting will be hosted by Masterton Toastmasters and begins at 7.30pm.

The LGC was invited to a information and awareness meeting on January 21 but was unable to attend.

Next week's meeting will follow a similar format to the last meeting and aims to explain how the super-city proposal was chosen, encourage submissions and answer questions.

Meeting chairman Anders Crofoot said people would have questions to put to them.

"As people are learning more about what the proposal means for Wairarapa, they are asking questions. This forum will answer those questions and those that aren't could form part of your submission.

"We are asking everyone to send those questions in a few days before the meeting so that the LGC can prepare its presentation around the questions that the people of the Wairarapa have."

Questions can be submitted to anders@castlepoint.co.nz by 9am on February 16.

Mr Crofoot will collate the questions and will also include questions left over from the January meeting, where time constraints allowed only one question to be answered.