Cabinet today made decisions on the boundaries for the new Auckland Council, following consideration of the recommendations in the report of the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee.

"We have agreed to maintain the southern boundary as recommended by the select committee," Local Government Minister Rodney Hide said.

"We have agreed to change the northern boundary to include the whole of Rodney District in the new Auckland Council, as recommended by the Royal Commission. 

"We believe this change reflects the views of the majority of Rodney District people, as well as the strongly held view of the Auckland Regional Council.  Since the announcement of the select committee's recommendation to split the Rodney District between the Auckland Council and Kaipara we have heard from a large number of locals, and the majority view has been very clear - don't split Rodney.  We've listened, and we've acted."

Mr Hide said a lot of thought had gone into the southern boundary, as there were arguments put forward for extending it right down to the Waikato River. 

"The current Franklin District will be split under our chosen option, just south of Pukekohe, with the rest going into the Waikato.  This makes sense because it means the entire Waikato river catchment will be within the Waikato Region.  It avoids a lot of bureaucratic complexity and confusion that would have resulted from the boundary proposed by the Royal Commission, and also avoids complicating arrangements for co-management of the Waikato River, which are subject to the Waikato-Tainui Treaty of Waitangi settlement process.

"Changes to local government boundaries are always contentious and every proposal is likely to have vocal opponents as well as vocal supporters.  I am confident that the decisions we have made today are in the best interests of the Auckland region and also in line with the views of the majority of people in the region."