Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown is publicly criticising the Howick Local Board for proposing to increase its size from its current nine elected members to 11.
Brown is the Minister of Local Government, Transport, Energy, and for Auckland, but his comments are made in his capacity as the local MP.
They follow an unsuccessful attempt yesterday, September 26, by Howick ward councillor Maurice Williamson to have Auckland Council’s governing body vote to reduce the size of the Howick Local Board from nine to seven.
The council has carried out a review of its representation arrangements with proposed changes set to come into force before next year’s local body elections.
Submissions on potential changes have been made by the public and the city’s local boards.
The council’s initial proposal for its representation arrangements for the 2025 elections would see changes to how the Howick Local Board’s three subdivisions of Howick, Pakuranga and Botany are represented.
The Howick and Pakuranga subdivisions would keep their three current members, but Botany would drop from three to two.
A new Flat Bush subdivision would be created with three members, increasing the board’s membership to 11. The change was proposed due to the growing population in Flat Bush.
The board suggested reducing Botany’s representation from three members to two and creating a new three-member subdivision for Flat Bush.
Rapid population growth in Flat Bush means the current Botany subdivision is no longer compliant with the relevant legislation, board chairperson Damian Light says.
More than 80 per cent of residents in the board’s area who were consulted on the proposed changes support them, while just seven per cent did not.
If the board increased to 11 members it would be the largest in Auckland, but that’s in keeping with its community having the largest population, Light says.
The Auckland-wide ratio for local boards is 11,675 residents per member, with Howick currently at 17,522 residents per member, making it the highest in Auckland.
Before the council’s governing body voted on the recommendations yesterday, Williamson proposed an amendment to reduce the Howick Local Board from nine members to seven.
It’s the second time he’s put forward an amendment looking to reduce the board’s size, with a similar amendment voted down on June 27.
He said councillors would get slaughtered by the public if they brought in more elected representatives.
“We have got more elected members in the council [including all of the city’s local board members] than the whole country has, and to be saying we are going to have some more, it will be dynamite at the next election,” Williamson said.
Governance principal advisor Warwick McNaughton said the issue with the amendment was it would be non-compliant with the Local Government Act, which requires the population per member in a ward to not vary from the average by 10 percent.
Williamson’s amendment was lost by six votes to 15. Among those who voted in support was his fellow Howick ward councillor Sharon Stewart.
The final proposal was carried unanimously and will be publicly notified for appeals and objections.
Now, Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown is expressing his own view on the issue.
He says the board “should be focused on improving outcomes for people in east Auckland, rather than adding more members to its board”.
“East Auckland ratepayers will be left wondering whether the Howick Local Board has its priorities in order when rubbish bins are being removed from local parks while the board adds two new members, which will cost ratepayers over $100,000 per year based on the current remuneration for Howick Local Board members set by the remuneration authority.
“Ratepayers expect local government to get back to basics, not to create themselves more jobs.”
In response, Howick Local Board chairperson Damian Light says the decision to remove rubbish bins from local parks was made by the council’s governing body, not the board.
“We didn’t agree with it, it was forced upon us, so if he’s got concerns, I suggest he talk to his councillor [Maurice Williamson].”
Light says secondly, the board doesn’t have a choice in complying with the legislation around the population per member in a ward.
“The legislation says every six years we have to consider population growth, and where it has grown and has changed we need to consider whether or not the current arrangements and number of elected members is legal still.
“And it doesn’t currently, because of the massive growth in Flat Bush. So, 11 [members] seems like a lot, but it is within the maximum of 12, which is allowed under the Act.
“If the MP for Pakuranga has concerns about the legislation and how that works, he should probably have a conversation with the Minister of Local Government and for Auckland as it entirely sits in the Government’s hands.
“Auckland Council doesn’t get a choice whether we comply with legislation. We don’t write the legislation, we just have to do what it says, and in this case, we are doing everything we can do to comply with the legislation.”
