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Objection

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Mr Kris Banning

I want my elected official to be from my area that I pay rates to. I will never support being forced to vote in one zone (Kapiti) and my rates go to a completely separate zone (Porirua). This will mean that the elected official will not support the people who voted them in.

• Kris Banning snapshot 1744140804 0 (png 290 KB)

Objection

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Rodney Strong

While I understand the necessity for redrawing boundaries, and do not object to the process, there are some concerns about splitting Porirua into two electorates. By having Whitby, Paremata, and Pukerua Bay part of the Kapiti Electorate you are effectively treating Porirua as being in two different electorates. Which means those Whitby residents, for example, who decide to vote at North City Mall, one of the biggest voting places in the existing Mana electorate, will be treated as out of electorate votes, vastly increasing the amount of paperwork each voting place will need to hold. A more natural boundary would be to put the line at Pukerua Bay, or Paekakariki.

• Rodney Strong snapshot 1742862752 0 (png 216 KB)

Objection

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Zachary Wichlei

I object to the inclusion of Johnsonville in the proposed Kenepuru electorate. While I understand and accept the Representation Commission’s need to dissolve Ōhāriu due to population shifts and the requirements of the Electoral Act, the boundaries for Kenepuru do not reflect the reality of how communities like mine function.

I currently live in Johnsonville and work in Porirua, and while both are part of my daily life, they feel disjointed. Johnsonville is part of the Wellington City Council, while Porirua falls under the Porirua City Council. These two cities operate under separate local governments, have different policy settings and priorities, and do not form a cohesive urban community.

Public transport links between Johnsonville and Porirua are limited. The Johnsonville Line is a dedicated train line that runs only to Wellington’s city centre, with no rail connection to Porirua. Unlike the Hutt Valley or Kāpiti lines, no shared commuter rail network links these areas. Bus services between Johnsonville and Porirua are infrequent and typically require multi-transfer journeys.

Johnsonville is more closely connected to the inner northern suburbs of Wellington like Khandallah, Ngaio, Newlands, and Crofton Downs. We share schooling zones, community services, libraries, shopping centres, and transport infrastructure. We also participate in the same local events, engage with the same city planning processes, and vote in the same local body elections.

The Kenepuru electorate, as proposed, draws a boundary between Johnsonville and the broader Wellington urban community it naturally belongs to and instead places us into a region with which we share fewer ties.

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Objection

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[No name provided]

I live in the northern suburbs of Wellington, and my electorate was previously Ohariu, but it will be changed to Kenepuru, which will include areas of Porirua. There's concern that we might be sidelined and neglected due to this shift. Why not make the entire northern suburbs part of Wellington Central instead?

Objection

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Kathleen Francis

I don’t understand why half of what is considered Porirua City Council area would be split between 2 different electorates. How does that work once voting happens and the council area potentially has 2 differing, even opposing leaders. Plimmerton and Whitby are as much a part of Porirua as Aotea.

Objection

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Mrs Rachel Barnett

I object to merging Ōhāriu and Otaki with Mana to create the proposed Kenepuru electorate. The voter base in Mana is growing with extensive new residential developments, while surrounding cities are built out, so Mana will exceed ratios as building is completed.
Additionally, this change, combined with a changing demographic moving into the area, alters the socioeconomic demographic of the Mana electorate such that the Porirua and surrounding area community voice is unacceptably diluted.
The inclusion of Ōhāriu, in particular, exacerbates this dilution.
Changing boundaries isn't just about the numbers, it's also about the representation of the people behind the numbers. Communities are based within electorates. To pretend 'tweaking the numbers' does not affect the the representational needs of the people within redrawn boundaries is gerrymandering by stealth.

• Rachel Barnett snapshot 1743839100 0 (png 510 KB)

Objection

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Mr Jed Baker

Kia ora and thank you for the opportunity to make a submission on this proposed new Kenepuru electorate. As a current and life-long resident in the present Ōhariu seat, my objection is based on the following reasons:
a) The proposed boundaries include communities from two different cities (Porirua and Wellington) and partitions part of one suburb (Newlands) into a third city (Lower Hutt, through the Hutt South electorate). If they were merged into one city, this would not be such an issue. But these areas have distinct identities and long-standing communities of interest, including their own CBDs and shopping centres, for example. I recognise the proposal to add the current Wellington City Council area of Linden to the same electorate as its southern neighbours as a step in the right direction. But I believe the extension of the northern boundary through Kenepuru and the Porirua CBD up to Titahi Bay is too geographically broad and may cause conflicts of interest in terms of a future Member of Parliament's representation.
b) The proposed allocation of parts of Newlands into the Hutt South electorate includes two primary schools (Bellevue and Newlands), the Newlands Tamariki Playcentre, substantial residential developments in the Kenmore Street, Baylands Drive, Wakely Road, much of Newlands Road (including residents near the local bus depot), Bellevue and Woodridge areas. It is also involves community and recreation areas such as Brandon's Rock Reserve, Waihinahina Park (in memory of long-time resident Dennis Duggan), the Ngā Hau e Wha o Paparārangi papakainga, Pukehuia Park, Newlands Community Hall along with the Newlands War Memorial. (The Paparārangi range where Brandon's Rock is located is also believed to be the inspiration for the name of the adjacent Paparangi suburb.) While St Andrew's Roman Catholic Church, the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall, Newlands Mosque and Kurinji Kumaran Hindu Temple are placed in Kenepuru, the nearby St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Newlands Baptist Church, Plymouth Brethren and Newlands Christian Assemblies are located in Hutt South. Even allowing for population considerations, to have members of the same community who share the same facilities and who, in some cases, live only metres away from each other in different electorates seems unduly arbitrary as all of them have a long-standing and demonstrably shared community of interest.
c) A number of voters in the Lower Hutt area during the years of the Ohariu-Belmont electorate (1996-2008) reportedly did not appreciate their placement in that seat as it was believed this lessened both the presence of, and access to, their local Member of Parliament. I am concerned this could well apply in reverse under the current proposals.
d) The adoption of the same Kenepuru is appropriate and worthwhile given the location of this area close to the centre of the new electorate (where it is also the name of the local hospital). However it is a Porirua City name applied to a number of Wellington City suburbs. If one of the suggested solutions below is adopted, this may be neither desirable nor necessary.

• Jed Baker snapshot 1744520689 0 (png 199 KB)

Objection

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Janelle Crooks

I oppose the boundary of the kenepuru and kapiti electorate boundaries running right through the suburb of Whitby. Whitby residents frequent all establishments in porirua and kenepuru, including the public hospitals and libraries and pools. While kapiti is not far away it is not our neighborhood and has different challenges, services, needs and views than those of Whitby residents.

• Janelle Crooks snapshot 1744785830 0 (png 398 KB)
• Janelle Crooks snapshot 1744785830 1 (png 436 KB)

Objection

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Valda Haussmann

I live in Johnsonville Ohariu Electorate. The proposed plan would put 2 vastly different socio-economic regions together. One only has to look at the decile ratings of the schools which backs this up. I believe the merging of the communities into Kenepuru Electorate doesn't offer all of the current communities the attention that they deserve.

Objection

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Mrs Tania Woolf-Ben-Avraham

I object to the splitting up of the Ohariu electorate with areas going into Kenepuru, Kapiti, and Hutt South electorates.
The Ohariu electorate should be retained, not split up. Ohariu is a cohesive community that feeds into and through Johnsonville from the valley, hills and surrounds. It is geographically separate from other areas due to hills and being clustered around the transport spine that includes the Johnsonville rail line and the roads north towards Porirua. This geography and the roading and public transport routes in the area bind it together and separates it from other areas in Wellington.
Issues (for example the state of the Johnsonville Mall) are particular to the current Ohariu electorate area and are unlikely to be relevant to the proposed electorates--certainly not Hutt South, with which Newlands shares no community whatever, but not to Wellington Central either: why would a Wellington Central MP care about the state of the Johnsonville area--not in their electorate even though some of its new suburbs feed into that area? Would an MP looking out for Porirua care, for example, about the Johnsonville Mall? Not so much, I fear. Yet Ohariu MPs have, in the past had our back and have advocated for our community. There is a reason Ohariu historically has voted for electorate MPs of a different political stripe to the predominant party vote in the electorate (eg Peter Dunne, working with National yet a predominant Labour party vote), for many of us (I believe) not because of clever strategic voting but because we're a community and we vote for the electorate MP we believe will have our back and represent our cohesive community and hear our concerns and advocate for us, then we vote for the more general party whose policies we want nationally. It is because we are a community.
Don't rip our community to bits, certainly not just to massage some numbers. Sure, our number may be smaller than desired--but the numbers should serve the people, not people be manipulated to serve the numbers. Cohesive community MUST come before 'balancing the numbers'. I get that it's important one group of people don't have an outsize influence relative to others--but ultimately, surely, for representatives to be representative, the electorate--wherever possible--should be cohesive. And Ohariu as is, is cohesive where the proposed changes are not.
This proposed change takes our community, rips it up, and tosses it to the wind. It would compromise the cohesion of the area.

Note: This is the second submission I've made on proposed changes to the Ohariu electorate. The first specifically objected to Newlands being in Hutt South. I split it into two as:
1) The most important objection (1st submission) was to Newlands being put in Hutt South. That was a clear and rational error that ought to be corrected if Ohariu is split regardless of anything else.
2) This second submission is more emotional in nature and so, I fear, more easily dismissed, so I presented it separately. I hope, however, that it too will be considered favourably.
Please do not tear our community to pieces.

• Tania Woolf Ben Avraham snapshot 1744951725 0 (png 217 KB)
• Tania Woolf Ben Avraham snapshot 1744951726 1 (png 208 KB)

Objection

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Winton Holmes

The stated reason for the proposed new electorate Keneperu being named this, is that it is an “established name near the centre of the electorate”. It is however a name associated with, and located on maps as, the area near and southwest of central Porirua city. The new electorate is to include suburbs, like Churton Park, Johnsonville and much of Newlands, much further away from Keneperu.

Objection

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Mr Ryan Maguire

To the Electorate Boundary Review Committee,

I believe that the proposed name of 'Kenepuru' would not be a name that fully reflects the areas that the electorate represents. Firstly I look into the reasons that another name is needed for the electorate, followed by a historical account of previous electorate configurations for the area.

Firstly, Kenepuru is a single suburb of the wider Porirua area, which I believe would not properly acknowledge the surrounding areas included in the electorate, particularly those with larger populations than Kenepuru, and towns and settlements further south from the Porirua area such as Tawa and Johnsonville.

I believe the name 'Porirua' should instead be used for the electorate for a few reasons. Firstly, Porirua is the most significant settlement and centre in the electorate. Secondly, the name Porirua also extends to the Porirua Stream and Porirua Harbour, which are also significant markers within the electorate boundaries. Furthermore, the name Porirua is more well-known to people, who will more easily be able to understand the area that the electorate represents. Finally, the name Porirua is distinct in that it ensures that the namesake centre of the electorate is separate from the central Wellington area. While I acknowledge that not all of the Porirua city would be contained within this new electorate, I believe that given the centre of the city is located in the electorate, and that the greater portion of Porirua is situated inside the electorate, that the name 'Porirua' is still a valid name that could be used for the electorate, and would be better than the name 'Kenepuru'.

Finally, it is important to consider previous iterations of electorate boundaries for what the area's electorate used to be called. The Porirua electorate existed in the area that mirrors the northern half of the electorate (image attached) between 1860 and 1870, and more recently between 1963 and 1996. Given this long-standing history of the name Porirua being an accurate fit for the area, I believe that this is a strong reason for reviving the name Porirua for an electorate in this area as opposed to Kenepuru. It should be noted that this image was sourced from Wikipedia, as I was unfortunately unable to find any other records or maps of what the Porirua electorate boundaries used to be configured.

Thank you.

• Porirua electorate 1993 (png 3 KB)

Objection

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Mx Trace Lopardo

Kia ora,

I am writing to object to the Newlands suburb of Wellington being moved into the Hutt South electorate region. I am a long time resident of Newlands, and the area is much more connected to Wellington City & Porirua than anywhere in the Hutt. Having representation for an area (Newlands) that is within Wellington City Council boundaries, that also has to pass through Wellington or Porirua to reach the Hutt area, does not make sense for the residents of this area.

Newlands is within Wellington City Council's area, and has a much different view and culture than the Hutt, with representation and objectives being very different to the culture of the Lower Hutt & Lower Wainuiomata regions. Newlands is full of people who live and work in Wellington City , Porirua, and the surrounding suburbs. I strongly urge the commission to reconsider this change.

The area that is being proposed to be moved into the Hutt South electorate requires residents to commute through two other proposed electorates (Kenepuru, Wellington Central) to reach the area with the majority of the population (Lower Hutt), and likely the future MP's electorate office. This is an unfair electorate boundary that doesn't consider the geography and topography of the region.

The boundary layout does not consider the large hills between Hutt South and the Northern suburbs of Wellington, and I do not believe it is fair representation for the residents in this area. I advise the committee to consult and reconsider this proposed change. Thank you.

• Trace Lopardo snapshot 1742873628 0 (png 150 KB)

Objection

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Lorena Brunsell

Based on these proposed changes my address would be in the Hutt South electorate which doesn't sit well with me geographically as we are Black Rock Road, Newlands and decisions in the Hutt don't affect us and decisions wont include us until we get the Grenada to Petone road in place. I understand the reasoning to move boundaries so each electorate has roughly the same numbers in each but all of Northern Suburbs which includes all of Newlands should be in the Kenepuru electorate, altogether. As things that happen in the Northern Suburbs/Kenepuru electorate affect us rather than things that happen in the Hutt.

• Lorena Brunsell snapshot 1742896647 0 (png 446 KB)

Objection

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Miss Sophie Rimmer

I believe that Newlands should not be a part of Hutt South as they are a part of the Wellington City Council not the Hutt City Council.

• Sophie Rimmer snapshot 1742898551 0 (png 396 KB)
• Sophie Rimmer snapshot 1742898551 1 (png 497 KB)