OPINION: Farmers in the Rodney district, nearly an hour north of Auckland, are reaching breaking point having to deal with the ‘super-city’ council, who some farmers regard as out of touch with the realities of rural life and overly officious.
“The rules and costs imposed on us for the most basic developments are prohibitive,” one Wellsford farmer told the canine crusader. “They’re unnecessary and arbitrary rules, all the extra costs sheet back to the landowners and it’s just not worth trying to develop anything.”
There were plenty of warnings that bringing a rural district under the super-city umbrella wouldn’t work.
In 2009, then-Rodney Mayor Penny Webster was unhappy with the boundary and representation changes.
She said Rodney would be poorly represented on the proposed council, with only one or two councillors. Time to secede?