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Objection

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Mr Carl Weaver

The name Helensville is not representative of the electorate - it is the name of 1 town within the electorate. It would be much better to retain the Rodney name as this is known by most to represent the geographical area.

Objection

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Dr Diana Chambers

Object to name HELENSVILLE. No name recognition as rep of whole area - small town, off beaten track - NOT part of main road connection - or massive planned enlargement of properties in WARKWORTH area

Objection

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Brian Henman

why call rodney helensville..helensville is a piddly arsed town on the west coast. rodney is mainly east coast with much larger communities and getting bigger. i live in algies bay, i dont want to be called living in the helensville district..jesus get a grip you people..just leave it as rodney..stop making change for changes sake..

Objection

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Lyn Wade, QSM

I would wish to see the name of Rodney retained as the more appropriate name for the redesigned electorate
1. To retain the historical connections.
2. Prevent confusion by the use of the name of a town for a district.
3. To ensure that the people of North Rodney do not become more disenfranchised.
My ancestors settled in the Warkworth area during the 1850's. It has always been an area with a strong feeling of community and history. Rodney County was formed in 1877, my great grandfather, Nathaniel Wilson being one of the councillors for Warkworth and elected as the inaugural chairman. Rodney is a historical area with a name linked to Cape Rodney at Leigh named by Capt.Cook in 1769.
Most of the ridings included in that historical Rodney are to be included in the new Helensville electorate. Helensville is the name of a small town on the west coast and it will be extremely confusing to call the Rodney area Helensville. It also is another kick in the gut for Rodney residents who have lost their identity to the Supercity, who will now lose their identity as a district as well.
In 2010 major changes occurred with the inclusion of Rodney in the new Auckland supercity against the recommendations of the Royal Commission and with no discussion with the residents of the Rodney area. Not very democratic. It was also decreed that our slowly growing town of Warkworth would become a small city of 20,000 plus with the plan to see the build of 7,500 new homes by 2040. This for a small rural town that had a population in the region of 3,000 residents at that time.

Objection

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Mr and Mrs Peter and Jan Thompson

The name Helensville is not appropriate for this electorate. The most suitable name is Rodney which historically covers this area & is not specific to any one town.

Objection

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Grahame Powell

The name Helensville is inappropriate.
1. It does not adequately describe the area of the electorate.
2. People in the north of the electorate do not wish to be known as Helensville as it does not describe well or include the rapidly growing areas of Warkworth + Wellsford. Warkworth is projected to have a future population of 25,000 very soon.
3. We do not want a name in the Maori language.

Counter-Objection

Relates to objections

N04-020

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Sel Miller

This counter-objection is in support of N04-020.

I certainly do not want Rodney to change its name to Helensville!
How ridiculous!

Objection

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Doreen Seagar

I live in Titirangi, a bush and Waitakere Ranges region. We have vastly different needs for representation than urban Kelston. I know this as I have lived in Kelston also. It's not just about numbers of population when drawing electoral boundaries, it's also about our environmental needs and connection to the land that needs considering.

Objection

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Jeanette Anderson

New Lynn is a very localised area of Central/West Auckland, the new proposed electorate will stretch over a vast proportion of the Waitakere Ranges and a much wider are than that of anything remotely New Lynn. A better application of a name will reduce voter confusion

Counter-Objection

Relates to objections

N11-003

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Linda Cooper

To the Panel Members - I offer my submission in support of the proposed New Lynn electorate. Please accept My bullet points below.
Proposed configuration much closer to former Waitakere electorate with which people identified very strongly.
The Waitakere City Council New Lynn ward was part of the West. Also West Coast beaches and Waitakere Ranges residents identify with West Auckland not Helensville/Rodney area.
When Helensville boundary changed 6 years ago the West Auckland people south of Muriwai where aghast at being part of Helensville and not being Waitakere. I think they will welcome this change and restoration of community of interest.
I know for rural NZ the long distances to towns are a normal situation but in Auckland being more highly populated we are used to services and connections being closer. In this case for an Auckland electorate to have Helensville in the north of the current electorate a hour and a half drive from Whatipu in the south is quite anomalous in a large metropolitan city. (73km distance) This change would be more logical as New Lynn town is much closer and roads naturally lead there.
The Waitakere Ranges area has to sit within either Helensville (north), New Lynn (south-east) or Te Atatu / Kelson (east). Thankfully, Te Atatu and Kelston are not proposed to have boundary changes, hence any argument which would see these urban electorates expanded westwards into the ranges seem unlikely. So it's probably a battle between Helensville and New Lynn as to where the Waitakeres go...
As a semi-rural zone, the current part of New Lynn electorate which fringes the north side of the Manukau Harbour, as well as Titirangi, could be considered an expanded rural-west Auckland community.
The small seaside coastal communities around the Waitakeres share some similar characteristics and life-style aspects as New Lynn's current rural areas.
The people who live in Waitakere tend to commute to both Henderson and New Lynn for local shopping and community purposes. I therefore emphasie the commute to New Lynn as the nearest major shopping and community hub.
Scenic Drive is one of the key arterial routes which links directly from all the way from Swanson to Piha Rd (to Piha, Anawhata, Karekare) and through Titirangi into New Lynn, and then wider Auckland. There aren't really any key pieces of infrastructure which link into the Helensville electorate.
The Waitakeres are culturally "Westie", and hence should sit within a West Auckland electorate. Helensville on the other hand is very much a rural and semi-rural north/north west Auckland electorate.
Communities in and around Waiwera and further north towards Warkworth and Wellsford have very little in common with people living in the Waitakeres, and nor do they share key infrastructure.
Those in the Waitakeres share a DHB, Licensing Trusts (Portage and Waitakere), and Local Boards and Council representatives. This is not shared by the vast majority of the existing Helensville electorate.

Comments from a Piha local resident (west coast Auckland currently in Helensville electorate) -
We are on Rural Delivery
Our real address is [redacted] Beach Valley Rd, RD 2, New Lynn, Auckland 0772.
Also New Lynn is where many of us shop along with Glen Eden. Have no connection with Helensville. It's way up north west. Even Bethells and Muriwai would connect with Westgate and Henderson rather than go north. We head east and south to shop, doctors, hospital, police, shopping mall, movies etc.

Counter-Objection

Relates to objections

N11-001, N11-002

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Mr Josh Kirwan

I strongly oppose the name of the electorate being changed from New Lynn to Waitakere. For starters, 75% of the existing population within New Lynn will remain in the electorate, meaning the despite the large physical change supposedly warranting a re-naming of the electorate, there has been little population shift overall. Furthermore, the Electoral Commission would have to put in a lot of unnecessary work educating voters about the new electorate name, as there would be great confusion. Adding on to this point, residents in Avondale and Blockhouse Bay, who still comprise a significant portion of the electorate, have never been associated with "Waitakere" at either a political (central or local government) or community level, which seems unfair to such a significant community group. The suburb of New Lynn also remains central to the electorate on the new boundaries, for those living either west or east of it. Finally, the next boundary re-draw will likely result in the creation of a new north-west electorate, meaning the boundary in New Lynn will shift east again, rendering the name "Waitakere" difficult to justify and possibly rendering another re-naming.

Objection

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John Nutter

Any increase in the number of electorates will generate a similar increase in the number of MPs in the house.
There are already too many - all of whom cost too much for too little benefit.
Any committee with too many on it is inefficient - the bigger it is, the more inefficient.
A good example is our current parliament, another is the British House of Commons

Objection

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ACT New Zealand

I write on behalf of the ACT Party in response to the Commission’s proposed Electoral Boundaries released on 20 November.
In my earlier letter dated 7 October, I argued for the boundaries of the Epsom Electorate to remain the same. I won’t rehearse the reasons given in that letter, but continue to stand by them.
On behalf of ACT, I’d like to express strong support for the Commission’s proposal to retain the Electorate’s current boundaries. We will continue to argue for this decision if it is contested in the first round of submissions.
ACT does not currently wish to express a view on other boundary decisions for other electorates.

Counter-Objection

Relates to objections

N15-003

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Ian Campbell

I disagree with the Liberal Democrats NZ objection since Grafton, Auckland Hospital and Carlaw Park have better connections with Auckland Central. Accordingly, the current boundary should remain unchanged.

Objection

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Mr Gregory Gray

The northern boundary follows the Omaru Creek running through the Maybury Reserve. It cuts the Glen Innes, Pt England area in half.