COMMUNITY VOICES: North | Auckland Opinion | Local Voices from Auckland, New Zealand

Meet the eyes and ears of your neighbourhood in the first Auckland-wide election campaign.

Barbara Cuthbert has a resume packed with community-oriented accomplishments. The 58-year-old has chaired Devonport Community Board, been a trustee for North Shore Heritage Trust and is spokesperson for Cycle Action Auckland. Her background is in planning and consultation, and she keeps well abreast of where our city is heading.

Barbara is passionate about Auckland's future. She cares how the waterfront looks, feels and functions and she is particularly concerned about roads and transport.

"We've been told change is essential to make Auckland more efficient, wealthier and attractive; easy transport around Auckland is vital to this. "A litmus test for the super-city's first two terms will be if more Aucklanders are able to choose to leave their cars at home and free up roads for buses and freight."

Katie George, 25, is a jewellery buyer living in Sunnynook and commuting into downtown Auckland.

"To be honest, I haven't taken too much notice of the local council and it's not something I know too much about. Right now, I wouldn't know who to vote for and I haven't even made up my mind about which one I would choose for mayor."

Born and raised on the North Shore, Katie's concerned about transport - she carpools with her husband but may need to bus if he changes job. She's also interested in what will happen to council services such as parks, rubbish and recycle collections, and footpath maintenance. Most of all, she's concerned to hear there may be more charges for people using public libraries.

"I know the elections are coming up and that it is part of the change to a super-city so I'm looking forward to finding out more."

Grant Harris is senior pastor of Windsor Park Baptist Church, overseeing a staff of 35 and preaching at three services every Sunday. The 39-year-old is married with four children and has lived in Mairangi Bay for two years. Before that the former bank manager lived in New Plymouth; he's on the Murrays Bay Intermediate School board.

He believes these elections will be an important historical marker. "I'm sure that most people have good hopes for Auckland overall but, realistically, most people operate on a more micro-level, with an interest more strongly related to the community they live within.  I believe that many people in East Coast Bays are interested in making sure we don't lose the ability to have a strong voice and the ability to influence the shape and direction of our area within a larger, amalgamated council."

Merv Huxford, 60, is a professional trustee of family trusts and charities. He's lived in Orewa for 30 years; three of his five children have settled in the area with their families.

A long-standing Rotarian, Merv has been district governor and held other Pacific and Australia roles in the organisation. "Perhaps that's why I've taken more of an interest in national politics and even Australian politics until now. During this
election, I'm looking forward to finding out about the local issues that are of concern."

Merv hopes there will be enough information in his local media to make informed choices. He'll be tapping into his large client base and frequent meetings with local people to hear what people are thinking about.

"In my view, there's not enough debate of a high standard in politics here and that's what I'll be looking for."

Christo Peters, 36, lives in Birkenhead and considers himself attuned to the world around him. He recalls his family being up in arms about the last council amalgamation in 1989, but considers things turned out alright.

"I'm curious to see what will happen now the same thing is being tried on a bigger scale."

He's also keeping an eye on developments to see if the little guy gets left out.

The father of two is president of Birkenhead Tennis Club and sports coordinator at Auckland Girls Grammar. Away from the field, he organises funding for events. Previously, he held the same role at Rangitoto College.

Paddy Stafford-Bush is a volunteer director for a number of boards and trusts. The 60-year-old Bayswater grandmother is also a company director and was on Devonport Community Board from 1990 until 2001, when she resigned as chairperson.

Paddy is concerned about how the new mayor and councillors will represent much broader and diverse communities than Auckland's had before.

"As the mayor is elected at large, I'm interested in how such a position can deal with people's wants and needs across so wide a region, as well as business needs and lobby groups like sports organisations.

"The mayor will need to encourage grassroots across a very diverse base."

Paddy will be watching newspapers for updates as well as checking websites for perspectives on what the candidates are saying and doing.

She's also curious about how ward councillors will manage community development, getting the necessary facilities funded for all the communities within their catchments.

What it's all about

October's local body elections represent a historic moment for our region. For the first time voters from Te Arai Pt to Pukekohe, from Piha to the Pohutukawa Coast will choose one Mayor and council. They will also choose the members of 21 local boards.

The Aucklander's readers will know we have not been impressed with the way Prime Minister John Key and his handpicked Local Government Minister, Rodney Hide, have gone about this process.

However, we have drawn a line under that argument. It's time to make the best of a very badly botched job. We urge every qualified Aucklander to vote in the polls. And here's how we will put the "local" into these local body elections:

Each of our four editions - North, West, Central, South - has mustered a panel of six "Voices of the Community".

They comprise grassroots leaders like school principals or board chairs; perhaps a community board member who is not standing for re-election; officials of major sports clubs, elderly and social support groups, and everyday Aucklanders.

Each edition's panel reflects the residents of the wards in its area.

Each participant has affirmed they are not aligned to, or supporting a predetermined candidate or bloc.

Their role will be to watch the election issues in their local area and in the regional council and mayoral election.

We will go to them several times during the campaign for a snapshot of what's happening in their area, and how they perceive the trends in the regional campaign - as observers, not as political pundits or forecasters.

We will return to them for their reactions after the vote. You'll read their thoughts in coming issues of The Aucklander and on this website.