February 2021: Local Board Member Report

Council’s ‘recovery budget’: what it means for you and the East Coast Bays

Auckland Council is asking people for feedback on its Long-Term Plan (LTP) 2021-2031. It sets out the activities, services and investments they’re going to plan for the next decade and how they will be paid for.

I’ve broken the budget down into key areas for your attention. It’s dubbed the ‘recovery budget’ and focuses on investments in much-needed infrastructure and environmental protection. There are some changes proposed to rates and this will be a key area of interest to many.

Finding the money

They’re proposing a $31B capital investment programme to deal with ageing infrastructure and meeting the needs for population growth. This means:

§ Borrowing will be increased and the debt to revenue ratio will grow from 270% to 290% for the next 3 years with the aim of bringing it back down after that.

§ Selling off some surplus assets (AKA asset recycling) to free up another $70M over 3 years.

§ Continuing with savings activity ($90M).

§ And the biggie – as consulted on last year, they’re planning to continue with 3.5% rates increase but this will rise to a one-off 5% in 2021/22. You can calculate your proposed rates for 2021/22 here but for reference, a $1M home would result in a rate increase of $36.

Water-quality targeted rate extension and increase

This targeted rate (a ring-fenced fund) was introduced back in 2018 to provide investment in new stormwater infrastructure and initiatives to reduce wastewater, sediment and other pollutants contaminating our waterways and marine environment. Locally, this targeted rate has funded things like:

• Outlet screening and water quality sampling at Long Bay and Rothesay Bay.

• Network investigations in Waiake, Browns Bay sub-catchments, and Mairangi Bay.

• Private drainage investigations (issues identified now resolved) in 108 private properties in Browns Bay.

• Awaruku stream remediation (still underway).

• Taiaotea stream (Browns Bay) restoration coordinator – communications development and delivery of catchment management plans to improve water quality and create ecological corridors.

Council is proposing to:

1. Extend the targeted rate for a further 3 years than previously planned (until 2031); and

2. Increase the targeted rate annually in line with projected increases in average general rates. This will enable construction to start on water quality projects in our area to start 6 years earlier (2022/23).

Under these proposals, the water quality targeted rate for a $1M home would increase by $3.30 to $69.

The extension and increase of the targeted rate will mean the following can be funded in our area:

• Gross pollutant traps (these reduce the volume of litter entering waterways from the stormwater network)

• Network investigation (isolating and eliminating sources of wastewater contamination in the stormwater network)

• Urban stream restoration (e.g. Okura, Weiti Stream)

Climate action

You might remember that in 2019 the Council declared a climate emergency. They’ve since adopted a Climate Plan which will tackle greenhouse gas emissions. They’re proposing an additional investment of $150M which would go toward actions such as these:

• All new buses to be electric or hydrogen powered from 2021, and 50% of the total bus fleet this way by 2030.

• Planting 11.000 more street trees, establishing a nursery to grow 200,000 seedlings a year, and planting an additional 200ha of native forest.

• Increasing the resource recovery network.

• Increasing efficiency of facilities, including solar panel installation.

Community facilities

Council has traditionally provided community services through building community assets and delivering services through those. There are now a significant number of these, and they are ageing and require significant renewal investment. The needs of our communities are shifting and how we provide community services needs to adapt. Council is proposing a focused investment approach where services will be tailored to the greatest needs and utilizing alternative ways of delivering services, through partnerships, digital channels and multi-use facilities.

Over time, this would mean divesting ageing facilities that aren’t fit for purpose and reinvesting in facilities that would better serve the needs of communities.

Hibiscus and Bays Local Board – what we’ll be focusing on

We’ll be continuing to support local community groups, environmental groups, and improving our economic wellbeing by actively working with our Business Improvement Districts, Business Associations and event organisers. Check out our key areas of spending here.

Our key advocacy items are going to be:

• Council to allocate sufficient funding to ensure that the Regional Land Transport Plan can continue to fund the Local Board Transport Capital Fund, the Community Safety Fund and the Glenvar / East Coast roads improvements project.

• Funding and delivery of the next phase of the Ōrewa Beach Esplanade Enhancement Project.

• Equitable regional funding for local arts, culture, and community centres.

Have your say today. It’s open for feedback until 22 March. There are some useful resources that walk you through each topic area.

Lobbying for a Recycling Centre on the North Shore

In February, I presented to the Mayor and Councillors at the Environment and Climate Change Committee, advocating for a large central recycling facility to service North Shore residents.

Auckland Council is planning to expand the current 12 community recycling centres and parks to 23 facilities by 2031. For us, the closest centres are small and at least a half-hour drive away minimum.

I’ve been working with neighbouring Local Boards like Upper Harbour and advocating for a recycling centre or park to service our large North Shore community. We think a central facility on the Shore could achieve a significant reduction of waste to landfill and would recover high-value materials too. We also have established community organisations willing to run it, location options, and we know we have eager residents who would make the most of a facility like this.

We’ll continue to keep the pressure on so that our community has good access to facilities that will contribute to less waste entering landfills. I’m now working on analysing the stats around the different types of waste creation in our area and across the region to build our case.

Watch my and Anna Atkinson’s presentations, as well as questions that came our way (the Mayor’s response was interesting).

We’re still working hard analysing available waste data to support the case, so watch this space for more updates.

presenting to the ECC Committee at Auckland Town Hall.

Boardwalk in Browns Bay – the eye-watering costs to renew

The wooden boardwalk along Browns Bay beach is getting renewed. It’s long overdue and maintenance to keep up with the failing, rotting boards is regular and expensive, and a health and safety issue. When it was originally done, a poor wood was chosen (a class 2 durability timber which lasts about 7-15 years) which has reached its lifespan. Some of the substructure can be reused however work needs to be done to ensure good air circulation underneath to extend the life of the new wood to go in (a class 1 durability timber).

We were told post-tender, that they did a closed tender to just 3 invited local businesses. Whilst local businesses are of preference in any tender evaluation, to do a closed tender inviting only 3 businesses to compete for the contract (especially in this financial climate) is absolute insanity.

The result was tender bids being over our available budget by more than $90,000. The costs are eye-watering. The second proposed option staff presented to us was to boardwalk the majority of it like-for-like but to concrete the last section from the Plaza to Anzac Road. This option still puts us over budget by more than $6,000.

I appreciate the need to be frugal with spending at the moment, but I also don’t want to end up with a substandard project that will be there for the next 15 years or more. We have approved construction to start for the renewal of the majority of the boardwalk while we await further information on the last section towards Anzac Road. We are going to seek feedback from the Business Association and locals on their thoughts on this.

Even if we do go for the concrete option, I won’t support a plain option that looks poor. If we go concrete, I want something that is visually appealing and has some artistic element to it.

What are your thoughts? You can see the maps, costs and options here.