Vaughans Road - Te Oneroa Way roundabout
At our 18 July Local Board workshop, we received a long-awaited update from Auckland Transport regarding access matters between Okura and Long Bay, via Vaughans Road.
There have been months of misinformation flying around as people have been watching the Templeton Group developers build the roundabout at the end of Vaughans Road. I am aware that this has caused a lot of concern and raised some hopes for many local residents.
This matter is historical and goes back a lot longer than current AT staff are even aware of. Before Long Bay Village was developed (about 15 years ago) North Shore City Council discussed land purchases with Vaughans Road property owners in order to widen the road to safe standards (currently it is a poorly formed road that is too narrow to take two cars side by side in many parts). Further down the track, with growing concern from Vaughans Road residents at the development of Long Bay Village and lack of action on improving Vaughans Road, a commitment was made from AT that a link would not be made until necessary roading upgrades take place.
Fast track to now- and the developer has been allowed to build the roundabout, people have bought properties at the end of Vaughans Road on the advice from agents and development plans that the connection will be in place. This is an incredibly frustrating situation that AT have landed themselves in- they've dropped the ball completely.
As expected, the update was really disappointing. The presentation didn't cover what conversations they'd had with the developer, and it had zero reference to the commitment AT had with landowners of Vaughans Rd. It contradicted their intro statement that "Vaughans Rd was neither identified or funded for an upgrade...." - this is categorically untrue. The staff at the update said they would go away and find out more about this. AT plans to sever the connection so no through traffic between the two roads can take place, because of significant safety concerns on increased traffic on Vaughans and Okura River Roads. They've come up with several options that they discussed to severe Vaughans Rd which would allow for the roundabout to be in use for LB- Piripiri Pt access, but not for the majority of Vaughans Rd to access.
There are several issues here and briefly summarised as:
most of the options they provided were laughable and not even worth considering
some of the options provided safety issues (including the one that they favoured which could limit emergency vehicles easily accessing parts of Vaughans Rd
some of the options are somewhat unfair to new landowners toward the end of Vaughans Rd who purchased property on the understanding from agents that a thoroughfare would be made.
In the update they provided us, they shared several options- most of which are entirely inappropriate. Their preferred option has significant risks and safety issues related to it with emergency vehicles having poor access to part of Vaughans Road.
Next steps- AT are under pressure to get a feasible option on the table in the next couple of months. They're coming back to us again as they had no clear direction from us given there were several issues present they needed to consider. They will be communicating thoroughly with the community in due course as well as Residents' Associations and the Torbay Business Improvement District.
Local Board makes tough call on Kauri Kids ECE centres
At our July business meeting, the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board unanimously made the tough call not to fund the two Kauri Kids ECE programmes at East Coast Bays and Stanmore Bay, from its already reduced budget, now that the regional funding for the programme has been discontinued.
As part of its Annual Budget decision-making process, Auckland Council confirmed regional funding for the centres would be cut. The regional delivery would end, but the Governing Body gave the 'opportunity' for affected local boards to take over the running costs from their own reduced budgets.
The Local Board sincerely sympathise with the families, children and staff at Kauri Kids Stanmore Bay and East Coast Bays who have been affected by the months of uncertainty following the Governing Body's proposal and then decision to close Kauri Kids centres across Auckland. All eight members of our Local Board are parents, and three of us currently have children in Early Childhood Education (ECE).
The Local Board was extremely disappointed with the proposed exit period that the Governing Body and staff have set for exiting funding for Kauri Kids (three months), which we felt was very inappropriate. It did not give families enough time to explore other ECE providers. As such, we moved to extend the exit period further out to 23 December 2023. This will be funded from our own, stretched budget but we really felt that it was the only fair thing to do (even though a decent exit period should be funded regionally and not coming out of our local budget!).
Meeting with ECB Kauri Kids early this year.
We understand the deep bond children at our two centres have with their teachers, and how much the families value these Kauri Kids centres. Compounded with the increasing costs of ECE generally and the cost of living crisis, we acknowledge that this may be a very stressful time for the centre's families and teachers who will need to explore other ECE services and employment.
I worked hard on the resolutions to really illustrate our frustrations and to outline to the Governing Body and Chief Executive of Auckland Council, how poor this whole process has been. We were in confidential for this part of the business meeting which went for a total of four hours without break, so regretfully the resolutions aren't ordered very well - but the sentiment of what we needed to across is all there.
Confidential information to support local board decision-making on the local provision of ECE
Resolution number HB/2023/94 MOVED by Member A Poppelbaum, seconded by Member S Mills:
That the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board:
a) receive the updated financial information on the provision of early childhood education services
b) note that council staff remain available to respond to any local board queries
c) note the decision of the Governing Body on 8 June 2023 (GB/2023/100) to withdraw from the direct provision of Kauri Kids early childhood services as a regional service
d) confirm that the local board will not take over the direct delivery of early childhood education services at Stanmore Bay and East Coast Bays Kauri Kids centres
e) express disappointment with the Governing Body’s decision to exit the delivery of Kauri Kids early childhood education centres within three months, noting the difficulties for:
i. families to find alternative early childhood education providers that have space available for their children; ii. families to settle their children into the early childhood education centre before officially starting; and iii. kaiako / teachers of the centres to explore other employment opportunities.
f) note that the proposed three month exit from Kauri Kids early childhood education services is an insufficient period of time for families to find, and get children accepted on waitlists for another early childhood education centre (bearing in mind that many centres only accept one new child at a time and there is a standard period of two weeks required for families to settle the child into the new centre before they start) g) approve the continuation of the early childhood education services for the remainder of the calendar year (until 22 December 2023) using Locally Driven Initiative opex funding; and allocate the required additional Local Driven Initiative funds in the 2023/2024 financial year work programme, based on a pro-rata calculation and other local board decisions on early childhood education services, to be confirmed by staff
h) request that this currently confidential report become publicly available information as soon as possible when the withholding reasons s7(2)(b)(ii) and s7(2)(h) are no longer relevant under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (1987) i) request that these resolutions be circulated to the following local boards that have Kauri Kids early childhood education centres:
i. Devonport-Takapuna Local Board
ii. Kaipatiki Local Board
iii. Howick Local Board
iv. Manurewa Local Board
v. Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board.
j) request that these resolutions be circulated to the kaiako / teachers and staff of Stanmore Bay and East Coast Bays Kauri Kids centres
k) request that these resolutions be circulated to Phil Wilson, Acting Chief Executive and Claudia Wyss, Director Customer and Community Services
l) note that the Governing Body decision requires investment from existing, limited, local board funding, to continue the delivery of the services at Stanmore Bay and East Coast Bays Kauri Kids centres.
m) note that the six local boards who currently directly provide early childhood education services have had an extremely limited period of time (six weeks) to consider the options, with necessary financial information only being made available one week prior to this business meeting, despite it being requested in 2022
n) note the local board’s disappointment that it has been placed in an untenable position by the Governing Body in this regional issue and decision, compounded by a lack of information or proper, fair consultation conducted with parents and staff
o) note that in its decision-making, the local board considered it did not have a strong enough mandate to fund these services under the guidance of Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan 2020 or draft Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan 2023
p) note that 4.9 per cent of Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area respondents to the Annual Budget 2023/2024 made reference to the proposal to end the direct provision of early childhood education services, with the majority of those who referred to the service wanted to retain the service
q) acknowledge the amount of correspondence the local board has received from both families of children and staff at Kauri Kids centres who have sought the local board to provide certainty in exiting the service
r) note that upon investigation of five comparable early childhood education services in the vicinity of East Coast Bays Kauri Kids as one example (providing at least six month old – five year old childcare services) there is a mean waitlist time of 7.5 months for under two year olds and 4.5 months for over two year olds (noting that this waitlist data is just a crude measure and not indicative of the time it takes in reality for families to find a centre that is right for their child)
s) note that both Stanmore Bay and East Coast Bays Kauri Kids centres currently have children who are neurodiverse who benefit considerably from smaller early childhood education centres, and for whom a change of centre and teachers will be a significant change that will likely require longer transition periods before officially starting
t) acknowledge the excellent and long-term provision of early childhood education that the kaiako / teachers in both the Stanmore Bay and East Coast Bays Kauri Kids centres have provided to children, creating a safe and caring environment as acknowledged in their Education Review Office reports over the years
u) acknowledge that early childhood education is an important community service that plays a vital role in the education, safety and well-being of tamariki and as such the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board currently supports the provision of affordable early childhood education by:
i. providing subsidised community leases to seven early childhood education facilities in the local board area
ii. Ko te wai he taonga: Water is a treasure
iii. Zero Waste Early Childhood Education programmes. Restatement
v) agree that the decisions be released in the open minutes, but the report and its attachments remain confidential.
Auckland Transport proposal to axe the Gulf Harbour ferry service
It was a packed house on 19 July, with 350 Gulf Harbour residents coming together to discuss their concerns about Auckland Transport's draft proposal to cut the ferry service there.
The Draft Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP) is out for consultation. The RPTP outlines:
how public transport will be managed and improved over the next 8-years, with a detailed focus on the first 3-years;
the public transport services that will operate during this time period and how they will change;
the goals, policies, and actions that will shape public transport; and
how they will monitor the performance of the public transport system and check it’s meeting Aucklander’s expectations.
The draft RPTP is proposing to replace the Gulf Harbour ferry route with high-frequency bus services by the end of the decade when Ō Mahurangi / Penlink is open.
Unfortunately, the information provided by AT that they have based this proposal on is fraught with misinformation and fails to take into consideration important factors for a resilient and reliable transport service for these residents.
Make sure to go online and have your say. You can also check out the specific bus route plans from page 81. Feedback is due by 17 August: https://at.govt.nz/rptp
Thanks to the local residents and ferry users who organised this meeting along with Councillors John Watson and Wayne Walker.
Glimmer of hope for Glenvar Road realignment project
The Auckland Transport Draft Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP) (as mentioned above) is out for consultation at the moment.
At the end of the document it lists bus routes, and under 856 (Beach Road) it notes "Route via Rising Parade once East Coast and Glenvar Roads intersection signalised from 2027".
This is a small glimmer of hope - but an important one that the realignment project is being noted as completed by 2027. Fingers crossed.
Don't forget you can give your feedback by 17 August, here: https://at.govt.nz/rptp
We are waiting for the Regional Land Transport Plan to come out as that is the first time we will see all the projects (like this one) ranked and prioritised - if need be this is one of the points where we would crank up our advocacy.
Kainga Ora consulting on housing needs in our community: have your say!
Kāinga Ora is currently engaging with communities in the East Coast Bays and Hibiscus Coast area about the need for public and other types of housing across the area. Due to the scale of the engagement, Kāinga Ora enlisted Community Think, a community development collective to carry out the engagement.
Here you will find out how you can participate in a conversation in July 2023 about the housing needs and solutions for your community. Find out more about the engagement
Please share this with your friends and networks. Anyone in the area can participate no matter how much knowledge, experience or awareness they have. Everyone's views and ideas are valuable as Kāinga Ora build a picture of housing needs in the Hibiscus and Bays area.
KO has hosted some pop-in and online sessions already. You can still have your say by completing an online response by 31 July. The feedback they gather through this engagement process, along with feedback Kāinga Ora has already received about proposed developments in the area, will help to create a plan that will guide their actions in this area.
Food Scraps Targeted Rate Remission
The council set a food scraps targeted rate for the 2022/2023 year on a proportional basis for properties in the north and west of the city to coincide with the proportion of the financial year they were to receive the new food scraps service. Unfortunately, due to delays in the importation of bins caused by the flow-on effects of Covid on manufacturing and international shipping, the rollout of the service was delayed. Some ratepayers have therefore been charged for a service that was not delivered.
The remission will be added to the first instalment rates notices of the affected ratepayers as a credit item offsetting their rates. The remission expense will be recorded against the rates revenue for the 2022/2023 financial year. We note that legal advice is that if ratepayers request a cash equivalent refund of the credited amount, we will not have grounds to refuse that request. We do not expect many to do so.
Therefore, you might see a credit on your next rates notice, labelled as 'remittance'. We want to make sure we charge you fairly and acknowledge due to a delay in receiving your food scraps bins you haven’t been able to use the service.
Local Board moving to Browns Bay
Following Covid19 lockdowns, the Local Board moved to its Orewa offices for all workshop and business meetings. Previously we had an arrangement whereby we would alternate every month between our Browns Bay and Orewa offices to ensure that the community had fair and reasonable access to attend our meetings in person.
The Orewa Council offices have been sold (as part of Council office rationalisation) and staff are in the process of moving out. We had our final business meetings there this month.
Hibiscus and Bays Local Board members and our incredible staff, at our last business meeting in our Orewa offices.
While the East Coast Bays Library was being refurbished in 2021 we vacated our office on Bute Road, Browns Bay completely so that the library could operate from there instead, which was fine as we could meet in Orewa instead. Unfortunately in between all this time, there has been pushback to not allow the Local Board to continue its bimonthly meetings at the Browns Bay offices (I'm not going to get into it here, but the excuses were ridiculous as to why we couldn't, and we are going back there now despite previous 'concerns'!). We haven't met there for a couple of years which has meant our East Coast Bays community has had poor access to its decision-makers and a limited ability to get involved in the democratic process.
Now we are stuck in the reverse situation - we are in Browns Bay but have no allocated meeting spot in the Hibiscus Coast subdivision. We have requested that the refurbishment of Orewa Library (which includes community meeting rooms) include a room that could be used by the Local Board bimonthly. We need options for the interim though, and have asked Corporate Property to investigate.
Our first workshop meeting back in Browns Bay will be from 10am, Tuesday 8 August 2023.
Local Board Plan consultation in Browns Bay 1 Aug
We are currently seeking your feedback on the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan (LBP). LBPs are strategic three-year plans based on community feedback. Local Boards can now make more decisions about services and facilities in their area. However, the cost of living and providing these services has gone up, along with the costs of borrowing money and doing business. The impact of Auckland’s recent storm events has also affected how much money is available. We are responding to these challenges in our LBP by doing things differently and prioritising spending.
We are hosting a drop-in session that we would love to see you at (one at Whangaparaoa Library took place on 25 July):
01 August, 11.30am-12.30pm, Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Office, 2 Glen Road, Browns Bay
Mairangi Bay pump station replacement project: Montrose Terrace carpark remains open
The installation of the 160m pipeline on Montrose Terrace marks the start of the final phase of the $21.8m pump station Mairangi Bay Pump Station that’s under construction by Watercare on Sidmouth Street.
To keep Mairangi Bay moving, Watercare has reduced Sidmouth Street and Montrose Terrace to one lane, allowing for the carparks on Montrose Terrace (behind the Beach Road shops) and pedestrian footpaths to remain open.
To enter the car park, turn into Sidmouth Street, and follow the one-way traffic system onto Montrose Terrace all the way around until you see a sign for the car parks.
To exit the carpark, turn left onto Montrose Terrace.
The wastewater pump station is on track to go into service in September. The wastewater pump station will significantly reduce wet weather overflows into Mairangi Bay.
The new pump station will be able to handle flows of up to 625 litres per second, compared to the existing pump station’s 340 litres per second. It also features an underground storage tank that can hold 230,000 litres.
July in photos
Browns Bay Family Doctors celebrating 30 years in their current offices (established long before that though); Dan Jones Bluff in Browns Bay - helicopter and 90ft crane deployed to trim a cliff-edge tree.
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