Media Release

23 February 2010

West Aucklanders sound alarm on Waitakeres

West Aucklanders rang alarm bells about the future of the Waitakere Ranges at today’s Auckland Governance Select Committee hearing public submissions on the third super city bill, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford.

Phil Twyford said the Waitakere Ranges Protection Society and West Auckland lawyer Greg Presland challenged the Government's line that the Bill poses no risk to the Waitakere Ranges, and several other submissions have expressed concern.

“Dispute continues over a provision which repeals section 77 of the Local Government Amendment Act 1992 where it relates to the ownership of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park by the Auckland Regional Council. The Government claims this is simply a technical tidy up of an unnecessary provision and that Waitakere parkland is fully protected, but evidence and legal argument from the Waitakere Ranges Protection Society today challenged this view.

"The society argued that the loss of s77 will weaken protection of the Waitakeres, allowing boundary changes and administrative re-organisation that could see the end of local control of parkland that has been built up by generations of Aucklanders," Phil Twyford said. “They argued that the Bill should replace the words ARC with Auckland Council.

"Aucklanders don’t want to see the Waitakere Ranges lost to Auckland control, especially with the current moves by Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee to press for mining in national parks.

“Aucklanders know that National MPs like Paula Bennett voted against the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act, and are understandably anxious about any possibility it will be undermined.

“Ms Bennett is the MP for Waitakere. She needs to reassure Aucklanders by getting her Cabinet colleagues to drop the proposed law change and keep the Ranges parkland in local control forever.”

Associate Local Government Minister John Carter claimed at the hearing that another controversial clause in the Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill was a drafting error that would be rectified, Phil Twyford said.

“This clause repeals s 18 of the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act which requires the ARC's growth and development strategy to be subject to the Heritage Area Act. The strategy is to be replaced with a spatial plan but the Bill does not require it to respect the Heritage Area. A number of submitters have argued this would allow the Auckland Council to move the urban limits into the heritage area opening up the foot hills for more development.”

Contact: Phil Twyford 027444 9161