27 February. Please have your voice heard online at https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/annual-plan-2026-2027 or pop into a library for a submission form. Feedback closes 29 March.
Ratepayers in Rodney should not be required to fund the operating costs of the City Rail Link by paying a 7.9% average residential rates increase. This is the biggest regional rates increase in the Super City’s history. 
This is not an argument against the project itself, nor is it opposition to Auckland’s growth or ambition. The City Rail Link (CRL) will reshape how large parts of the city move. It promises faster journeys, higher train frequencies, and better access to the central business district. For many Aucklanders, it will be transformative.
But the real issue is fairness. Should a largely rural district with no passenger rail service be compelled to pay for the ongoing operating costs of a multi-billion-dollar inner-city rail tunnel?
Rodney is the northernmost ward of Auckland Council. It is vast, geographically dispersed, and predominantly rural. It includes coastal settlements, farming communities, lifestyle blocks and townships such as Kumeu, Helensville, Warkworth and Wellsford. 
There are no train stations in Rodney. No passenger trains runs through it. No commuters step onto platforms each morning to benefit directly from faster connections into the CBD. Yet Rodney households are being asked to help fund the CRL’s projected $235 million annual operating cost via a proposed 7.9 percent average residential rates increase.
For many Rodney families, that increase would come on top of substantial rate rises imposed last year. In some cases, households experienced hikes of 30 to 50 percent or more, without any matching improvement in local services. Roads remain unsealed and in poor condition in parts of the ward. Promised township upgrades have been delayed with public transport remaining limited or non-existent.
Families are coping with higher grocery bills, fuel prices, insurance premiums and mortgage repayments. Pensioners are cutting back on essentials just to meet their rates demands. Another increase — especially one tied to infrastructure they cannot use — is not merely difficult it is inequitable.
The CRL will deliver genuine benefits to many suburbs. Commuters from the far south, including Pukekohe, Takanini and Ōtāhuhu, will see increased train frequencies and more efficient journeys. Western line passengers will gain direct access through the city. New stations at Mt Eden, Karangahape Road and midtown Auckland will strengthen the CBD and support economic activity. The CRL will significantly upgrade the current Eastern Line by transforming it into a high-frequency modern service, and the Half Moon Bay ferry services to downtown and the CRL are already in place.
Arguably the Albany, Whangaparaoa and the North Shore areas also benefit by having both the Northern Express Way rapid bus service, and ferry services, transporting passengers with timed connections with the new CRL train timetables.
For those communities to the east, south, north and west, the benefits are immediate and measurable with a clear return on their rates contribution.
However, Rodney residents in the far north, by contrast, will see no comparable return.
Most communities in Rodney depend almost entirely on private vehicles. Public transport options are sparse. Rodney ratepayers already are forced to pay an additional targeted rate simply to maintain a basic and infrequent bus service — something other Auckland suburbs receive as standard.
Workers commuting from Warkworth face tolls on State Highway 1 just to travel into the city, and furthermore pay again on the return journey. The CRL will not remove those tolls. Nor will it ease congestion on State Highway 16 through Kumeu, where traffic bottlenecks will remain a daily frustration.
Opponents against Rodney being excluded argue that Auckland is “one city” and that everyone benefits indirectly from reduced congestion and broader economic growth. ie: they say Rodney must pay as we are part of the SuperCity. Ironically they tend to be the same proponents who consistently call for equity for their own communities. 
But indirect and theoretical gains cannot reasonably be equated with direct gains. A farmer navigating an unsealed rural road does not experience meaningful congestion relief from an underground rail tunnel in the CBD. A family in Glorit without access to public transport does not gain increased mobility from a new downtown station. A business in Wellsford isn’t going to have more customers thanks to the CRL.
Local government funding must rest on principles of equity and proportionality. When contributions are pooled regionwide, cross-subsidies are inevitable, however, there must be a reasonable connection between what residents pay and what they receive.
Rodney already contributes significantly to the wider region – for example subsidising the $50 a week public transport fare cap for a bulk of Aucklanders.
Opponents like to portray Rodney as being subsidised by urban Auckland, yet the reality is the ward does not receive back a proportionate share of investment relative to the rates it pays. That is, net overall Rodney subsidises the rest of Auckland more than the rest of Auckland subsidises Rodney – so it’s acting like an ATM for the SuperCity.*
Excluding Rodney from contributing to the CRL’s operating costs would not derail the project. Spread across the broader urban base athe additional cost per household to exclude Rodney would be thirteen cents per week. For households benefiting daily from rail services, that is incredibly good value!
This debate is not about resisting progress. It is about ensuring a unified Super city that spends rates fairly.
If ratepayers are required to contribute to a project, they should reasonably expect proportional access or benefit. That principle is fundamental to good governance.
Fairness should not be sacrificed in the name of unity. A truly united city recognises differences in geography, infrastructure and need — and allocates costs accordingly. Rodney ratepayers simply ask not to be penalised for infrastructure they will not meaningfully benefit from.
(* Noting Watercare investments (sewage & fresh water pipes) are paid from water charges and not from the rates.)
The 7.9 percent rate increase proposal is open for public feedback. Please have your voice heard online at https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/annual-plan-2026-2027 or pop into a library for a submission form. Feedback closes 29 March.
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