Covid-19: Neighbours split into different alert levels on Auckland-Waikato border road

Monday, 30 August 2021

One north Waikato road on the Auckland-Waikato border has been split into two.

A Government Covid-19 map separating Auckland from the rest of the North Island has created confusion in one north Waikato road, splitting neighbours into different alert levels.

The Auckland-Waikato border will be established at Mercer at 11.59pm on Tuesday, August 31.

While usually in north Waikato, areas between Mercer and the Bombays – including Tūākau and Pōkeno, and Port Waikato to the west – will be encompassed into Auckland’s border as the Government aims to block all non-essential travel in and out of the super-city.

But on Mercer’s Koheroa Rd, residents on the same road have been split into alert levels 3 and 4, according to the official Covid-19 alert level boundary map.

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As in early 2021, the Auckland border will stretch south to Mercer, preventing all non-essential travel into the super-city and separating the rest of the North Island into level 3.

That has raised a few eyebrows among neighbours, resident Stephen Brownlee said.

When Brownlee’s address is typed into the boundary map, it is listed as Covid-19 alert level 3 but the house directly across the road is listed as being in full lockdown, in alert level 4.

“He is straight across the road from me, so that is a bit of confusion isn’t it?” Brownlee said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that areas south of Auckland will switch to Covid-19 alert level 3 next week.

“It seems like they have drawn the line down the middle of the road, so people on the northern side of the road reckon they are in alert level 4 and people on the southern side reckon they are in alert level 3.”

Mandy Gillott lives across the road from Brownlee and she is in alert level 4.

Gillott told Stuff the different levels had been causing confusion for residents on the road since regional boundaries were put in place for Auckland’s lockdown in early 2021.

“As we are listed in level 4, we are able to go to Pōkeno for our shopping but my neighbour Hope next door is in level 3, so she can’t travel into level 4 and has to go to Huntly – which is quite far.”

Gillott thought all the residents should be placed in one level, within the Auckland boundary, so they could access closer services in Pōkeno.

Waikato district mayor Allan Sanson told Stuff he contacted the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on Monday morning to try to resolve the issue.

Separating opposite sides of the road into different alert levels did not make sense, he said.

He understood all residents in Koheroa Rd would be placed in level 4, despite the lines drawn on the map.

“There is a health order that will take effect and the entirety of the road will become level 4.”

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has been approached for comment on the confusion.

Where to separate the Auckland and Waikato regions has caused difficulty for policy-makers and residents alike since the virus hit in 2020.

Auckland’s Covid-19 border has stretched south to Mercer since early 2021 after north Waikato residents struggled to access their local supermarkets and medical services in South Auckland the year prior.

Port Waikato residents later lobbied to be included in Auckland’s lockdown, facing a 90-minute drive for necessities down a difficult, unsealed road.

Though Waikato district’s local government boundary stops at the Bombays, the Counties Manukau District Health Board and police services extend down to Mercer.

The roads around Mercer – including State Highway 1 – were empty on Monday as the country remained in alert level 4 for two more days.

In past lockdowns, police have turned around thousands of non-essential travellers at the southern border.