Border checkpoints north of Auckland are back - and with them the confusion of those who call the border area home
With Northland dropping to Level 3 just before midnight Thursday, police are in the process of setting up five road checkpoints, cutting off free travel between Auckland and Northland.
As in the last couple of outbreaks, the serendipitous location of the Auckland-Northland regional border – along the narrow isthmus of 18km between a finger of the Kaipara Harbour and the Pacific Ocean - means only a handful of checkpoints are necessary.
However, placing them in the most effective spot to block all northward passages has created some ambiguity about where Auckland ends and Northland begins.
The checkpoint at the corner of State Highway One and Mangawhai Rd can be expected to see the most traffic, and represent the dividing line between the Aucklanders still adhering to strict lockdown and Northlanders, who have already been gifted the freedoms of barista-made coffee and takeaway pizza – along with the ability for many workplaces to get back in business.
This main checkpoint is located 3km south of the official Auckland-Northland border, meaning 3km worth of rural Aucklanders have been sorted into Level 3.
One point of confusion may be that roads that run along the alert level boundaries are available for use for people on both sides of the border.
This means Level 3 and Level 4 citizens can both take a Sunday drive along Mangawhai Road - although they cannot get out of the car and interact at a rest stop.
The Government advises property owners whose land has been bisected by the boundary that they are still allowed to access all parts of their property. However, if even a small part of the farm has ended up in Level 4, then Level 4 applies to the whole place.
It follows that if a farm that is mostly located in the Kaipara District to the north of the border - including its driveway and access to main roads - has the border cut off one of its corners, the whole property will be considered Level 4.
How this will play out for this hypothetical farmer leaving the property to go to the shop remains to be seen.
So the border may be a simple enough proposition to people who need to travel from one region to the other for essential reasons - but for those living there, it’s not always so cut and dry.
Aside from the State Highway One checkpoint, the other four are all located on lesser used rural roads. An additional two checkpoints are in place from the three already in operation before Northland’s shift to Level 3.
Police say they have engaged with iwi around the country, particularly with regard to the management of the northern and southern boundary checkpoints of Auckland.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the southern boundary checkpoints have been running smoothly, “with low traffic numbers and high compliance”.
Between midnight on August 31 and 3.30pm on September 1, a total of 3,059 vehicles were stopped at these five southern checkpoints - with only 4 percent being turned away for non-essential travel.
“A few motorists have been given warnings for undertaking non-essential travel and breaching the current restrictions in place,” said Coster. “Examples of non-essential travel included some motorists attempting to exit Auckland to get takeaways, or to pick up items purchased online.”
Speaking on Thursday afternoon at Parliament, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave a reminder that personal travel between levels is highly limited and “requires permission or exemption”.
There are a myriad of reasons for border exemptions, such as accessing health services or to attend court. You can cross the border to take a pet to the vet, but only if not doing so would be a breach of the Animal Welfare Act 1999.
All of these situations require document proof - unless there is an emergency situation in which it's necessary to cross to preserve the safety of yourself or another person.
“The same applies to business and work travel across the boundary which is also strictly limited,” Ardern added.
Coster said the northern checkpoints were planned well in advance, and work will begin on them in the early evening.
“Northland police will continue to be highly visible and operate checkpoints and random stops inside their district,” he said.
