The self-employed mechanic started the petition ten days ago and it has already passed the 1500 signatures needed to trigger an investigation by the Local Government Commission into the possibility of the town seceding from the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
On Sunday at 9pm, Mr Rankin checked his computer and found exactly 1500 ratepayers had put their names to the petition.
It was "a great way to finish Father’s Day", he said.
He would keep the petition online for another week in the hope of gathering more signatures.
Mr Rankin was motivated to start the petition because he believed the council wasted money, infrastructure and roading projects took too much time and local contractors were not hired to do the work.
The latest census showed Wanaka and the Upper Clutha had a population of more than 13,000 people.
