Franklin Local Board Plan 2026  ·  What our community said

Waiuku, Glenbrook, Glenbrook Beach
& the Awhitu Peninsula

301 submissions from our corner of Franklin, read out in full. This is a plain look at what residents told the council: the numbers, and the words behind them, ahead of the Local Board workshop. Council received 1,400 pieces of feedback across the whole of Franklin; this page covers the 301 tagged to our subdivision.

301 submissions from this subdivision
240 included written comments
1,400 total pieces of feedback Council received across all of Franklin
Source: Franklin Local Board Plan 2026 consultation
Overall mood

Does the plan match what we need?

Every submission answered two big questions first: whether the plan overall fits the community, and whether its priorities are on the right track. Filter by suburb to see how the answers shift.

Q1: Does this plan match what our community needs and hopes for?
Q2: Are the proposed community priorities on the right track?

Franklin-wide (individuals, Council's own figures): 21% "Yes, definitely", 42% "Yes, a little", 19% "No, not really", 7% "No, not at all", 11% "Don't know". This subdivision runs slightly more mixed than the region as a whole.

Reading between the lines

What came up again and again

Counted across every written comment from Waiuku, Glenbrook, Glenbrook Beach and Awhitu, not just the "other feedback" box, but wherever people chose to add their own words. One theme stands well clear of the rest.

The single biggest theme

Toilets & a BBQ at Hamilton Estate

Auckland Council's own review of the full Franklin-wide consultation independently names this as a distinct local theme, so it isn't just a pattern we spotted in the raw data.

78

78 submissions from this subdivision raised public toilets, and 70 named Hamilton Estate Park/Reserve specifically. A formal submission from Maramahou Ministries Charitable Trust, which runs community programmes from the reserve, backed the same ask: toilets, a BBQ, a pizza oven, signage for Waiuku Toa Rugby League, artwork, a fruit and nut forest, and heated pools with a spa and sauna.

What residents asked for alongside the toilets, of the 70 Hamilton Estate submissions
The clearest signal in the data

Rubbish bins at the beach

Council asked whether bins should be removed from some Franklin beaches. Nothing else in this dataset produced such a one-sided response, and it holds up Franklin-wide, not just here.

75%

Roughly three in four Waiuku respondents oppose removing rubbish bins from local beaches (115 against, 26 in favour, 13 unsure). Glenbrook, Glenbrook Beach and Awhitu all lean the same way, by at least 2 to 1. Council's Franklin-wide figures show the same pattern: 68% opposed across all 931 individual respondents to this question.

Q4: Support for removing bins at some beaches, by suburb
Q6: Should sports clubs pay to fund their own field maintenance?
Waiuku prefers the status quo (Council-funded, via the local board) by roughly 3 to 1. Glenbrook leans the other way.
Franklin-wide, but strongly felt here

Karioitahi Beach management

14 written comments from this subdivision raised Karioitahi Beach directly, almost all about vehicles on the beach putting families at risk. Franklin-wide, 61% of individual submitters said management should be reconsidered.

61%

Most submitters, across Franklin, want the beach's management reconsidered, but there's a real split underneath that number. Supporters point to speeding vehicles, dune damage, and lost safe space for families and dog walkers. Those against any change say vehicle access is part of Karioitahi's identity, and that a small number of irresponsible drivers should be targeted rather than restricting access for everyone.

What people suggested, Franklin-wide
From Council's own review of submissions, not scored by volume, but the most commonly repeated ideas.
Waiuku only

Paying for a hard water fix

Waiuku residents were asked how willing they'd be to contribute to the cost of a hard water treatment system. The numbers look like resistance to paying, but the comments tell a more specific story.

Q10: Willingness to contribute to a hard water treatment system
"

Many "not willing to contribute" answers came with a comment attached, and the frustration usually wasn't about the cost itself. It was that residents feel they're already paying, in replaced appliances and damaged fittings, and that Watercare or Council should fix a problem they didn't create. Council's own review of submissions found the same reasoning: providing safe drinking water is seen as Watercare's job already covered by rates, and some respondents don't use the town supply at all, relying on tank or bore water instead. See the water quality comments in "In their words" below.

Getting around

Transport priorities

Two separate questions: which regional transport projects matter most (top 2 picks), and which local footpath or road projects should happen next (top 3 picks).

Q7: Regional advocacy priorities, top 2 picks (combined across all four suburbs)
A feasibility study into ferry services on the Manukau Harbour leads by a wide margin.
Q8: Local projects specific to this area
In their words

Browse what people actually wrote

Every comment below came from a real submission to the Franklin Local Board Plan 2026 consultation. Search or filter to find what matters to you: row numbers match the original council spreadsheet.