Angry Franklin residents tell their MP, keep us out of Auckland, or you are gone

Hunua MP, Paul Hutchinson and Franklin Mayor, Mark Ball held a public meeting in the Pukekohe Town Hall last night to allow the Franklin community to comment on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance.

The usual attendance at a local political meeting in Pukekohe is about 20 or 30 interested members of the public. Estimates have last night’s audience somewhere between four -five hundred, highly engaged residents and ratepayers.

Franklin is a big area and some had travelled 50 or 60 kilometres to be there. They came from Glen Murray, the Awhitu Peninsula, Kaiaua, and other places most people in Auckland have never heard of. Some even came from rural Manukau City and said “we want to be part of Franklin, but not part of Auckland”.

The overriding sentiment expressed at the meeting was “we are not part of Auckland, we are not contributing to Auckland’s problems and we don’t want to be part of the “super-city solution”. Not one of the audience spoke in favour of the Royal Commission’s recommendations for Franklin. They were also scathing of the imposition of the name Hunua without any consideration for the heritage of the district. They considered the moving of the Auckland boundary to the northern bank of the Waikato river ill-considered and totally impractical. And they told their MP that it was his job to ensure this travesty was not imposed on them. They want Franklin to remain as an independent local Council – like the rest of rural New Zealand. They inferred that if their MP didn’t advocate will enough for them, the once safe National seat he holds will belong to another party after the next election.