View objections and counter-objections

Objection

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Mr David Archer

I object to any boundary changes to the electorate of Epsom, except that it may be expanded, an electorate in which I am a resident, and have been for years, and there should be no changes to weaken the position of the current encumbent, you, the Electoral Commission has to be un-biased and not driven to create a different electorate that is based on any one political influence.

Objection

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Dr Mary Hedges

I object to the pocket of Greenlane moving from Maungakiekie electorate to Epsom.
This objection is based on the social loci of this area. CUrrently this corner of Greenlane shops within Maungakiekie Electorate, travels through it and even has direct access to the Maunga from which the elctorate gets its name, clealry supporting its connection to Maungakiekie.

Objection

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Shani Hatitio

This section of Greenlane has always been in the Maungakiekie electorate.
Maungakiekie Avenue (electorate’s namesake) is no longer in the electorate. Cornwall Park/Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill) is in the electorate by name only, as all streets surrounding the maunga are now in Epsom.

This area is also home to leasehold land owned by Cornwall Park Trust, as is Campbell Road which remains in Maungakiekie. It makes sense to keep the connection of this community to ensure effective representation for leaseholders and the Trust.

Residents shop in Ellerslie Village or Onehunga/Royal Oak, they don’t travel to Remuera Village, Newmarket or Parnell. Residents would also be much more likely to walk around One Tree Hill/Maungakiekie than they would any of the maunga in Epsom Electorate (it’s a major draw card in the area’s real estate advertising).

This section of Greenlane is zoned for St Mary’s, Michael Park and One Tree Hill College. Likewise, the Grammar Zone is a clear community of interest.

Ellerslie Racecourse will soon be home to 350 residences (Fletcher development) and a retirement village. It will be within walking distance to Ellerslie Village and train station. Likewise, there will be an additional 330 residences delivered by Simplicity.

Greenlane West is a natural boundary line given the nature of the arterial road (no parking on either side, several lanes, leading to the motorway in both directions). The Greenlane Train Station also attracts a large number of commuters from Maungakiekie, given anyone north of Greenlane Road would take a bus or use the Remuera Train Station.

The Greenlane section is mixed commercial and residential (especially around Great South Road) so it makes sense to keep the connection with similar communities further down Great South Road, which firmly identify as Maungakiekie. This would ensure the MP can be an effective representative for the business community.

• Shani Hatitio snapshot 1745654835 0 (png 266 KB)

Objection

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Mr Zachariah Hamilton

Boundary changes should respect established "communities of interest" and the tradition of competitive representation, rather than consolidating safe seats for minor parties at the expense of voter choice and accountability. Our current electorate is a genuine marginal seat, regularly flipping between Labour and National, which means our vote has a real impact on which party wins the seat. In contrast, Epsom (Seymour's electorate) is a safe ACT seat that has consistently returned the same MP since 2014, making individual votes less likely to influence the outcome. Moving these homes into a safe seat would effectively reduce electoral influence and diminish local democratic competition.
Additionally it makes no sense to add in this arbitrary and confusing border when the current split at Greenlane East/west is easy to understand and explain to the residences of the area.

• Zachariah Hamilton snapshot 1745710167 0 (png 591 KB)

Objection

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Mr Gautam Jindal

It seems unwise to take out Maungakiekie ave from the Maungakiekie electorate.
This area is also home to leasehold land owned by Cornwall Park Trust, as is Campbell Road which remains in Maungakiekie. It makes sense to keep the connection of this community to ensure effective representation for leaseholders and the Trust.

We have been working with Greg Fleming our MP towards various issues which will have to be started afresh if the boundary changes

Objection

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Dr Deepika Jindal

This section of Greenlane has always been in the Maungakiekie electorate.
Maungakiekie Avenue (electorate’s namesake) is no longer in the electorate. Cornwall Park/Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill) is in the electorate by name only, as all streets surrounding the maunga are now in Epsom.
This area is also home to leasehold land owned by Cornwall Park Trust, as is Campbell Road which remains in Maungakiekie. It makes sense to keep the connection of this community to ensure effective representation for leaseholders and the Trust.

Objection

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Dr Peter Cameron

My name is Peter Cameron. I have lived in [street name] since 2000.
My children have gone to school in local schools and I have considered myself part of the local community, contributing to neighbourhood watch and the Cornwall Park leaseholders association over years.
I should like to register my opposition to the proposed changes in electoral boundaries in the area for the following reasons.
1. The Maungakiekie MP, the Honourable Greg Fleming is very conversant with the issues faced by Maungakiekie residents in general and I want the honourable Mr. Fleming to continue to represent my interests, as I am sure many other local residents do.
Mr. Fleming has the background of having researched to the level of understanding local issues. For example he is conversant with local concern regarding the Cornwall Park Trust Board manoeuvring approximately 100 Cornwall park leaseholders from their properties. This is due to to unaffordable annual leaseholds demanded according to the present Cornwall Park Glasgow lease structure (eg $300k per year) which are well beyond economic sense and ability for leaseholders to pay. I want Mr. Fleming to continue to represent the local community on this issue, and others.
2. Sir John Logan Campbell donated much of the land in the area to be used as recreational land for the people of NZ and to derive income from local properties for the support of this venture. I think he would be incensed to be told that the representation of the people in the Maungakiekie area would revert to a member whose focus was diluted by national and regional concerns out of the Maungakiekie area.
3. This section of Greenlane has always been in the Maungakiekie electorate.
4. It is unacceptable that Maungakiekie Avenue (electorate’s namesake) is no longer in the electorate. Cornwall Park/Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill) is in the electorate by name only, as all streets surrounding the maunga are now in Epsom.
5. The proposed area for zone change is home to leasehold land owned by Cornwall Park Trust, as is Campbell Road which remains in Maungakiekie. It makes sense to keep the connection of this community to ensure effective representation for all leaseholders and, on the other hand, the Trust.
Please take these concerns into consideration.
Yours sinicerely,
Peter Cameron.

Counter-Objection

Relates to objections

N16001

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Mr Troy Elliott

Objection N16001 proposes to extend Tamaki electorates boundary to include a large portion of Ellerslie. Tamaki does have a small amount of Ellerslie, but the vast majority of the area is in the Maungakiekie electorate.

I have lived in Ellerslie and its surrounding area for alot of my life, from Celtic Crescent as a child to owning a historic house in the heart of Ellerslie Village and currently live on Ellerslie Panmure Highway with my family.

I have also been the past chair of the Ellerslie Residents Association and am still on this committee. I am submitting this as an individual with a large knowledge of the area.

My wife and I now live on Ellerslie Panmure Highway but very much see ourselves as part of Ellerslie as do many people in the Mt Wellington area, residents in Mt Wellington frequent the Ellerslie shops and attend many of the schools in the area.

Ellerslie has never been a part of the Tamaki Electorate and it does not have a relationship with 'The Bays' and many areas that cover the Tamaki Electorate.
People in Ellerslie attend schools in Mt Wellington (and vice versa). One Tree Hill College is seen as the school for Ellerslie, Mt Wellington and all the surrounding areas that are part of the current Maungakiekie Electorate.

Many businesses on Great South Road consider themselves Ellerslie as well as our residents live and play across the Maungakiekie Electorate, much more than they would frequent The Bays, Remuera etc.

Ellerslie is often seen as the glue between Onehunga and Mt Wellington as it is right in the heart of the current electorate and in fact there was an electoral office of a past MP in the village.

Ellerslie Fairy Festival and Santa Parade are the events that locals from Mt Wellington, Onehunga and One Tree Hill regularly attend.

For Ellerslie to move to Tamaki would remove Ellerslie as the hub of these other communities.

As a member of both the Ellerslie Community Patrol and Mt Wellington Community Patrol, there is regular overlap in the areas we patrol.
Sports Clubs also crossover in many areas too.

To the best of my knowledge Ellerslie has never been a part of the Tamaki Electorate and I can not see why this would be looked at now or in the future.

Counter-Objection

Relates to objections

N16001

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Kirstin Fleming

Objection N16001 proposes extending Tāmaki’s southern boundary to incorporate a larger portion of Ellerslie - specifically, the area east of SH1 and north of the Ellerslie-Panmure Highway. I respectfully submit a counter-objection to this proposal and strongly urge the Commission to retain Ellerslie within the Maungakiekie electorate.

As a member of staff at One Tree Hill College, I see firsthand the strong ties between Ellerslie and the wider Maungakiekie community. The college - just a four-minute drive from Ellerslie - is the main secondary school zoned for the area and serves as a central hub for local families. Students from Ellerslie typically progress through the local education pathway and remain deeply engaged in school life, extracurricular activities, and community events based in Maungakiekie. These connections are active and meaningful, reinforcing a shared sense of belonging that should be carefully considered in any proposed boundary changes.

Counter-Objection

Relates to objections

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Ryan Maguire

See attachment

• Counter objection to N16001 (pdf 3 MB)

Objection

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Dr Mary Hedges

I object to the reinstating of the previous Panmure and Pt England areas back into the Maungakiekie electorate.
The reasoning is the same as that I used to support the change in the last boundary review where these areas were removed from Maungakiekie. The natural transit, shopping and service hub of these areas are frequented by both ends of their current electorate. If they need to move they have more in common with Pakuranga than Maungakiekie in terms of transport transit lines, retail, employment and services hubs.
Similarly the extension down into Otahuhu does not fit any normal locus of services or social hubs.
Both of these issues would be solved by not extending the electorate this far South but retaining the Northern reaches (a secondary proposal made under Epsom) but all are based on the natural social loci of the residents in these areas which enhances social cohesion and interaction.

Objection

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Mr Ryan Maguire

To the Electorate Boundary Review Committee,

In reviewing the significant boundary changes to the Maungakiekie electorate, I believe that some amendments should be made to better reflect the community makeup of the electorate. This submission will be separated into a preamble, and six sections, listed by numbers 1-6. I would like the opportunity to also present my objection to the Representation Commission in person.

Preamble:
It is important for the committee to consider the time that the census was taken for the Maungakiekie electorate. At the time that the Census was taken in March 2023, many intensified housing blocks and apartments had been demolished, but had yet to have been completed their renovations for many more new residents to move in. Examples of this include Jordan Avenue's apartments in Onehunga, new high-rise apartment-style buildings in Oranga on State Avenue, the new Resido buy-to-rent apartment complex next to Sylvia Park etc., but also many expected intensified housing developments such as the current Fabric housing development on Spring Street, which looks like it will have the same residential capacity as the Fabric apartment complex on Victoria Street in Onehunga. The point of raising this preamble is to say that the Census data collected in 2023 will not accurately reflect the true population size of Maungakiekie, as many residents who were not residing in the electorate at the time of the census will be returning, along with many new residents. This will significantly increase the population of the Maungakiekie electorate over the next few years, so much so that I believe that the size of the electorate will once again need to decrease (possibly to similar boundaries to the 2020 boundaries) because of this expected rapid growth in intensified housing developments.

1. Retain Greenlane within the Maungakiekie electorate
Since the inception of the Maungakiekie electorate when MMP came into force in 1996, the area of Greenlane proposed to move into the Epsom electorate (containing around 2,200 people) has never once left the Maungakiekie electorate. This firstly shows that the area has longstanding ties to the communities of Maungakiekie. The area contains many attributes that would better link it to the Maungakiekie electorate rather than the Epsom electorate, such as the adjacent Maungakiekie Avenue, Campbell Road (named after John Logan Campbell who gifted Cornwall Park to Auckland -- which is proposed to become the new boundary between Maungakiekie and Epsom), and the fact that the Cornwall Park Trust lease houses in this Greenlane section. This area therefore demonstrates its strong ties to the history and current status of Maungakiekie, and thus should be retained within the electorate. If these areas were removed from Maungakiekie, that would render the name more obsolete to the area that it represents: we would be called Maungakiekie more in name only than the residents that live around the electorate, with the north, western, and now proposed eastern corners of the mountain proposed to be contained within the Epsom electorate.

Furthermore, there is a corridor of industrial activity in the greater Penrose/Southdown/Otahuhu/Greenlane area that begins near the intersection of Green Lane East and Green Lane West and Great South Road. Maintaining this commercial corridor under one eletorate ensures that the MP can effectively advocate for the interests of the all of the businesses within this wider industrial area that is should be entirely contained within the Maungakiekie electorate.

Moreover, the Green Lane East and Green Lane West boundary serves as a natural boundary line than the proposed boundary, given that the road is between four and six lanes, with no parking on either side. Given this clear boundary, it would make sense to retain it.

Finally, this area is within the school zones for Sant Mary's, Michael's Park and One Tree Hill College, which are all located within the Maungakiekie electorate. Removing this area of Greenlane from the Maungakiekie electorate will serve to split the school zones.

2. Compensate Epsom's population by providing it with Tamaki's Remuera panhandle
I acknowledge that if Greenlane were retained within Maungakiekie's boundaries that Epsom would need to be recompensated with at least 2,200 to ensure it stays within the quota tolerance. Therefore, in exchange for Maungakiekie keeping Greenlane, I proposed that instead Epsom takes the area of Remuera within the Tamaki electorate along Peach Parade, Ladies Mile, Abbotts Way, and up Koraha Street, which contains around 3,294 residents, along with the houses on the southern side of Peach Parade (shown on the map in the file "Peach Parade change"). This would be a better fit for Epsom to expand, as it reunites the suburb of Remuera into the electorate where its town centre already existed. I believe it would be in the committee's interest to reunite Remuera as a community of interest along these boundaries instead of the area of Greenlane surrounding Cornwall Park.

3. Expand Tamaki further down into the Point England/Panmure area
Given that Tamaki would lose population and likely fall under the quota tolerance with its loss of Remuera, I believe Tamaki would do well to reclaim what was historically in its electorate from the 1996 to 2005 elections, which includes a suburban area called 'Tamaki'. I recommend that the northeastern boundary of the Maungakiekie electorate should follow Morrin Road south, then go up Jellicoe Road to the north, and then follow Pilkington Road south, and finally follow Lagoon Drive southeast until the border with the Pakuranga electorate. This boundary closely resembles the previous boundary between the Maungakiekie and Tamaki electorates between 1996 and 2005, with the exception that the boundary then instead ran down Jellicoe Road (map attached; see https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz/layer/99645-general-electoral-district-2002/). This is important as the committee has certified this as a valid boundary before, recognising that Panmure has a closer community connection to Glen Innes and Point England than communities in Maungakiekie.

This change would keep both Maungakiekie and Tamaki within the quota tolerance levels required of electorates. But more importantly, the Panmure, Point England and Glen Innes communities are more closely connected to each other than to Mount Wellington (due to its separation by the Panmure Lagoon and other industrial areas), or any other communities within Maungakiekie. One example of this tight-knit community connection is with the circulation of the 'Mai Tamaki' magazine, which is explicitly circulated to residents in Glen Innes, Point England and Panmure.

Furthermore, residents of these areas are more likely to use services within the Tamaki electorate rather than Maungakiekie, such as Pak'n'save Glen Innes over Pak'n'save Royal Oak or Sylvia Park given the proximity of these facilities to the area. At a local representation level, placing Panmure in the Tamaki electorate aligns it with the Tamaki subdivision of the Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board. This avoids confusion for residents of the area, and aligns it better with already existing local boundaries.

Finally, it's important for the Panmure community to finally have an home electorate after three (and soon to be four) different electoral boundary shifts since 1996 (Tamaki 1996-2008; Maungakiekie 2008-2020; Panmure-Otahuhu 2020-2026). Panmure deserves stable and consistent representation from an electorate it knows will represent it in the long-term, and with similar communities to itself.

4. Adjust Peach Parade boundary to ensure neighbours are located in the same electorate, not isolated from each other.
While this has already been briefly mentioned, I believe that it is important that residents living on the south side of Peach Parade are situated in the same electorate as their north side Peach Parade and Ladies Mile neighbours. For many years, this isolated section of houses has existed in the Maungakiekie electorate by virture of bordering the Ellerslie Racecourse. I believe that in the past the Electorate Boundary Review Committee has failed to consider the distance between this area of the electorate, and the closest house to that section of the electorate being 300 metres away, with no footpath on the western side of Ladies Mile to connect it. I think that it is long overdue that this area of Peach Parade be placed within the same electorate as their neighbours in that area of Remuera because it is a clear community of interest to keep these neighbours together, and would avoid any confusion as to why, as residents who reside the closest to the area of Remuera than any other area of Maungakiekie, reside in the Maungakiekie electorate, when they will feel more closely aligned to the Remuera community than the Ellerslie community.

5. Place Mt Richmond into the Otahuhu electorate
I believe that given the separation of Mount Richmond by the industrial area in Maungakiekie, and its proximity and frequent use by residents surrounding the mountain who reside in the Otahuhu electorate, that the mountain should be contained within the Otahuhu electorate so that the residents can advocate for action for the mountain without the argument that the mountain actually sits in the Maungakiekie electorate, and therefore the residents have to go to the MP for Maungakiekie to advocate for issues and concerns regarding the mountain. While this is a small change, I believe that it is a significant one for the residents who live and frequently interact with Mt Richmond, who are proposed to not live in the same electorate as it.

6. Smaller changes to the current proposed electorate boundary
Here are some other boundary changes that the committee might like to tidy up to ensure that the boundary is as smooth and clear to understand by residents as possible:
- Intersection between Tangaroa Street and Riverside Avenue should be amended to ensure the area facing Tangaroa Street is in the Tamaki electorate given its geographic separation from Maungakiekie by the Boundary East Reserve. (assuming the current proposed boundaries become the final boundaries)

- #7 and #7A Wairakei Street are the only houses on Wairakei Street in Maungakiekie. The rest of Wairakei Street is in Epsom. It could be argued that these two houses should instead be placed in the Epsom electorate, like the rest of Wairakei Street. (assuming the current proposed boundaries become the final boundaries)

- Waitapu Road, Greenlane being split in half: It could be argued that the rest of Waitapu Road should go into the Epsom electorate if half of it already is (communities of interest). (assuming the current proposed boundaries become the final boundaries)

- Motorway panhandle between Walpole Street and Mitchelson Street: This panhandle is an irregular shape, containing no houses. I believe that this should be changed to a straight line for a smooth boundary (see Motorway Panhandle map for better idea of where the boundary should be drawn, depicted by a red line). (assuming the current proposed boundaries become the final boundaries)

• Maungakiekie Electorate Boundary 1996 2005 election (jpg 54 KB)
• Motorway Panhandle change (jpg 55 KB)
• Mount Richmond change (jpg 43 KB)
• Peach Parade change (jpg 76 KB)
• Ryan Maguire snapshot 1745742867 0 (png 210 KB)
• Ryan Maguire snapshot 1745742867 1 (png 154 KB)
• Ryan Maguire snapshot 1745742867 2 (png 240 KB)
• Ryan Maguire snapshot 1745742868 3 (png 265 KB)
• Ryan Maguire snapshot 1745742868 4 (png 159 KB)
• Ryan Maguire snapshot 1745742868 5 (png 147 KB)
• Tamaki Panhandle (jpg 38 KB)

Objection

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Mr Ryan Maguire

To the Electoral Boundary Review Committee,

In reviewing the new boundary of the Pakuranga electorate, I believe that the boundary bordering the Mangemangeroa Reserve should be revised.

The Mangemangeroa Reserve, along with the greater portion of the Somerville suburb sits within the Botany electorate. However, under the proposed new boundaries, the estuary adjacent to the reserve sits as an arbitrary panhandle contained within the Pakuranga electorate.

Given the reserve's proximity and connection to the estuary, and that the reserve's ecosystem would be frequently interacting with the estuary, I believe that these two areas should be part of the same electorate. This would be important for the Somerville community's input into advocacy for the reserve as it places the entire ecosystem into the same electorate, and thus placing the area into one MP's responsibility rather than two.

Thank you.

• Mangemangeroa Reserve new boundary (jpg 27 KB)
• Ryan Maguire snapshot 1745655347 0 (png 201 KB)

Objection

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Jackson Fowler

I object to the name Pakuranga

Objection

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Samitha Jayamaha

There needs to be an electorate for Papatotoe (NZ largest suburb). Where is the democracy? There is merit in adding Otahuhu (suburb) to the Maungakiekie electorate as Otahuhu was an old Auckland City suburb. Part of Maungakiekie should be added to Epsom (which will be way below the threshold) to offset the addition of Otahuhu. Puhinui North, Puhinui South and papatotoe south should be added to the electorate instead and the electorate should be renamed as Papatoetoe.