One Auckland

This idea has emerged from the woodwork again. This time there is even a Royal Commission of Inquiry in the the idea.

For those of you outside the Auckand region this is probably a bit of a perplexing idea. Auckland is Auckland after all so why should there be more than one council?

Not so. Currently there are eight councils in the Auckland Region.
The rather toothless Auckland Regional Council (ARC),
Auckland City (that is what Dick Hubbard is currently mayor of)
Manukau City
North Shore City
Waitakere City
Rodney District
Franklin District and
Papakura District

That is greatly reduced from 20 years ago when there were over 20 different local bodies each with their own mayor. They were all mashed into just seven and the Auckland Regional Authority became the ARC. This a loss of local identity that the locals are still struggling with.

In some cases the difference is geographical. North Shore is only joined to the rest by a pair of bridges, ferry services and Rodney to the north and bisected by a motorway. Waiheke Island is only linked to Auckland City by its ferries.
In other cases it is the urban/rural divide. The three districts are increasingly urban but still have large rural areas. The rural land within the city boundaries has almost all gone, except when you are an island.

The needs are quite different. Auckland City has huge problems with aging storm water pipes, sewers and gridlock caused by daily commuters from the other areas. North Shore doesn't want to spend any money on trains that don't cross the harbour bridge and none do. Manukau has problems with unrelenting growth and a large low socio-economic population. Rodney has problems with an incomplete motorway and lack of urban facilities, Waitakere has Westies and the list goes on.

Should all these groups be crunched into three or just one or not crunched at all?
Cost savings have been used to promote positive opinions of the idea but we have been down that road before and never saw the promised savings.

What the rest of the country has to think about is:
Do you really want one third of the country governed by a single local body?

That is the size of the issue.