Council puts the hard word on Gulf Harbour Country Club owners
July business meeting Chair's report
Purpose of the report
1. To receive the chairperson’s update on recent activities of the chairperson, itemised by outcomes in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan 2023.
Executive summary
2. Items noted in this report are intended to be key highlights, not a full overview of all activity.
Our People
3. On 27 June 2024, Deputy Chairperson Gary Brown and I had a kōrero with Delma O’Kane from Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust. It was a chance to connect and talk about how we can strengthen the local board’s relationship with Ngāti Manuhiri, particularly as we look ahead to developing our engagement plan and delivering initiatives in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan 2023. It was a great opportunity to share what we have both been up to lately and where there might be some opportunities to collaborate and partner together on issues that are of high importance to us all (i.e., environmental projects). We are looking forward to the next meeting in due course with the full local board.
Our Community
4. I attended and spoke at the Rothesay Bay Residents’ Association Annual General Meeting on 19 June 2024. They had a few queries regarding 2023 flood/storm related damage around the beachfront. The cul-de-sac at Masterton Road was severely damaged with undermining of the road infrastructure from underneath. On 1 July 2024 I was advised by Auckland Transport that the design has been finalised for a timber retaining wall at the end of the road and works would commence by the end of July. A notification letter will also be sent to nearby residents. Parks and Community Facilities also have some work planned in the area including: • path renewal for some damaged sections from Masterton Road to Hyde Road walkway • storm damage related works planned from Rothesay Bay to Churchill Reserve • A renewal project for Churchill Reserve and Crows Nest walkway.
5. North Harbour Stadium and Domain Precinct Working Group. The chairs and deputies of the Hibiscus and Bays and Upper Harbour Local Boards have been tasked with co-leading a locally led working group to develop the way forward for North Harbour Stadium (as per the Budget Committee and Governing Body Long-term Plan resolutions). On 3 July 2024 the working group met for the first time and were assisted by WSP contractors who facilitated a discussion to work through the vision and opportunities for the stadium.
6. I am pleased to see that work has begun on the neighbourhood park at 86 Harvest Avenue, Ōrewa. The project includes installation of junior, intermediate, senior and accessible play options, soft fall and wet pour surfacing, an overland flow dry bed swale and natural play components, new shrub and tree plantings, and additional seating and picnic sets. This project was developed alongside the community, gaining feedback from local families and young people on what they wanted to see in their local park. Works are due to be completed in early October.
Our Places and Our Economy
7. On 27 June 2024, Deputy Chairperson Gary Brown and I presented to an Auckland Transport Hearing Panel for the draft Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP). We focused on the local board’s three major transport advocacy projects being: • Glenvar and East Coast Roads realignment project • Vaughans and Okura River Roads improvement project; and • Whangaparāoa bus station.
8. Following early advocacy in late 2023 ahead of the drafting of the RLTP, we were pleased to see two projects named in the draft RLTP for the first time being: Whangaparāoa bus station, which is indicated for funding starting 2024/25; and Vaughans and Okura River Roads improvement project which is named in the document, but unprioritised as ‘other projects considered by RLTP for National Land Transport Funding (NLTF)’. Glenvar and East Coast Roads improvement project is listed in the draft RLTP again, for funding starting 2025/2026 but is not currently prioritised as high as it should be. Our presentation linked the high need and value of these projects with the draft RLTP’s investment policies and we hope that these three projects will be prioritised and delivered. We now await NLTF confirmation upon the publishing of the National Land Transport Plan in due course.
9. On 10 July 2024 I wrote a letter to New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) regarding a proposed northbound bus priority land on State Highway 1 between Wilks Road and Silverdale off-ramp. This was also signed by Deputy Chairperson Gary Brown and the chairpersons and deputies of Rodney and Upper Harbour Local Boards. The letter responds to an update NZTA gave us on 4 June 2024 about the proposed project. The letter advocated for the project to deliver the bus priority lane the length of SH1 between Albany and Silverdale, rather than beginning at Wilks Lane for budget constraint reasons. This would be not only to maximise public transport efficiencies and reliability, but also to minimise future impact to the network and wider community when the extension of the bus priority lane will undoubtedly need to take place in due course.
We had two meetings in July - the 'extra' one was for the purpose of providing our feedback in time for the draft Regional Land Transport Plan.
Views on the Draft Auckland Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 (written by me following a presentaiton to a Hearing Panel)
That the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board:
a) whakarite / provide the following views on the Draft Auckland Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) 2024-2034:
i) support the direction of the draft Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034
ii) note the 1,185 submissions received from the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area, which was one of the highest by local board area.
iii) consider that where relevant, project prioritisation better reflects government transport project priorities, in order for the draft RLTP to be a more successful ‘bid document’ for the National Land Transport Fund (e.g., we know that Glenvar and East Coast Roads Improvement Project is a desired project to be delivered, but its current activity rank and overall rank is too low to meet those expectations of delivery).
iv) many of the 1,185 submissions from the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area used the draft RLTP to reconfirm and emphasise the importance of the retainment, and the reinstatement, of regular sailings of the Gulf Harbour Ferry, which is a key advocacy point in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan 2023. Glenvar and East Coast Roads Improvement Project
v) this ‘network optimisation’ project is in the draft RLTP capital programme for delivery between 2025/26-2027/28.
vi) request that this project, which has been drastically reduced in scale in this draft RLTP, be referred to as stage one, with stage two in the next draft RLTP and is prioritised higher for delivery given the significant scope change.
vii) request that this project be brought forward one year to start 2024/25 and is prioritised higher than its activity rank of 22 within ‘Table 6: Local Road Improvements’ for the following reasons:
A) this project is of priority to the government, noting that the Minister of Transport announced in the House and in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2024 that “the remaining Regional Fuel Tax revenue will be used to fund the Eastern Busway, Local Road Improvements (e.g., Glenvar Road and Lake Road) and Electric Trains and Stabling”.
B) this project is fully supported by the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board, Local Member of Parliament, and the community who provided a 2,000 strong petition to Auckland Transport in 2018.
C) the Regional Public Transport Plan 2023-2031 refers to East Coast and Glenvar Roads intersection being signalised by 2027.
D) this project meets the following draft RLTP investment priorities:
1) ‘Complete - finish what we have started before starting new large-scale investments’. This is a mature project with near complete detailed design. It attracted Regional Fuel Tax and Developer Contributions. It has featured strongly as a priority in previous RLTP’s but has suffered continual delivery delays due to funding constraints resulting from the impacts of COVID-19. There appears to be other ‘local road improvement’ projects ranked higher than Glenvar/East Coast Roads which have not yet had detailed design completed and therefore aren’t as ‘ready’ as this project.
2) ‘Speed of deliver – smaller scale’. The project scope has been reduced drastically to only include the realignment of the Glenvar and East Coast Roads intersection. The full, original, consulted on project is still required as stage two in a the next draft RLTP, however stage one of the intersection realignment should take place from 2024/25 with urgency.
3) ‘Expenditure efficiency’. This project has a high Benefit-Cost Ratio.
4) ‘Improved safety and timing/urgency’. The necessity to realign this intersection is necessary for safety reasons and to improve congestion. The New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Crash Analysis System data shows the high level and range of crashes (deaths, serious and minor) at and immediately surrounding this intersection area.
5) ‘Network resilience and economic productivity’. The closure of Glenvar Road recently due to Auckland Anniversary storm slips showed how vulnerable the transport connections out of Long Bay, Torbay and Waiake are, and with the higher density of the Long Bay subdivision than what was originally planned for and expected. Vaughans and Okura River Roads Improvement Project
viii) this is project is a category three project listed unprioritised and without funding in ‘other projects considered by RLTP for NLTF funding’. ix) request that this project be brought into the capital programme as a category two project, with funding within the first three years, for the following reasons:
A) this project was designed and consulted on in 2015 and was awaiting RLTP funding before it disappeared from work programmes and was forgotten about.
B) Auckland Transport, in the mid-2010’s, had provided reassurance to Vaughans Road residents that a throughfare to the Long Bay development would not be made until Vaughans Road was upgraded.
C) Templeton’s, the Long Bay developer, has completed their consent requirements by building a roundabout to connect Te Oneroa Way, Long Bay with Vaughans Road, Okura.
D) in August 2023, Auckland Transport severed the connection at the newly built roundabout because they could not allow for through traffic given the poor state of Vaughans Road and the significant safety issues that exist. Hibiscus and Bays Local Board 02 July 2024 Minutes Page 6
E) consider that this matter now presents a substantial reputational issue for Auckland Transport.
x) this project meets the following draft RLTP investment priorities:
A) ‘Complete – finish what we have started before starting new largescale investments’. The upgrade of this road was a live Auckland Transport project in 2015 to align with the requirements of the Long Bay Structure Plan (one of the four required routes in and out of the subdivision) and related Environment Court 2008 ruling. It cannot remain closed for any long period of time but requires a road upgrade to open for increased traffic volume.
B) ‘Improved safety and timing/urgency’. Vaughans and Okura River Roads are semi-rural roads that are not up to urban road standards. They are in poor condition, riddled with potholes, no lighting or footpaths. Vaughans Road is not wide enough for two cars. Whangaparāoa Bus Station
xi) this ‘rapid transit access’ project is in the draft RLTP capital programme for delivery between 2024/25-2028/29.
xii) request that the overall ranking for this project, within ‘Capital Programme: Public Transport Infrastructure Improvements’ is higher than its activity rank of 39.
xiii) request that indicated delivery of this project is expedited to align closer to the opening date (December 2026) of O Mahurangi Penlink.
xiv) this project meets the following draft RLTP investment priorities:
A) ‘Timing and urgency’. Without a bus interchange there is nowhere for buses to turn around in the suburb of Stanmore Bay.
B) ‘Faster, more reliable public transport’. Without a bus station, O Mahurangi Penlink will not fulfil its potential to reduce emissions and dependency on private vehicle travel from one of the longest commutes in Auckland. Having the Northern Express starting from the middle of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula provides public transport options to one of the top five most vulnerable road corridors in North Auckland.
C) ‘Speed of delivery’. NZTA Waka Kotahi have committed to preparing the site free of charge while they have equipment on site for O Mahurangi Penlink if they can see a funding commitment for the project as a whole is made.
Approval of the 2024/2025 Holiday Parks Local Board Work Programme
Council puts the hard word on Gulf Harbour Country Club owners
I was pleased to receive a copy of a strong letter today from Auckland Council CE Phil Wilson to
Long River Investments who own Gulf Harbour Country Club.
The letter seeks reimbursement to Council of $200,000+ costs for post-fire demolition and disposal of the club’s ruins after the fire 2 months ago.
He also importantly referenced the encumbrance on the property which says the land must be used solely as a golf course and country club. Whilst no application has been made to remove or amend the encumbrance, the community believe this is the intention of the owners and Phil Wilson made Council's position quite clear: "In general terms are strongly of the view that council should vigorously resist any changes that would diminish the current arrangements".
Keep Whangaparāoa's Green Spaces (KWGS) are the community group who are working tirelessly to protect this precious green, open space.
Gulf Harbour ferry trips resume from 9 September
Sailings will be restored to the Gulf Harbour ferry service in early September - returning to their normal 2023 timetable. Sailings from Gulf Harbour will increase from 6 weekday sailings a day to 13 weekday sailings a day.
Ferry replacement bus services departing the City Centre at 17:30 and 18:30 on weekdays will no longer operate (as they will be no longer needed). Route 988 bus services will return to their normal route and timetable and no trips will go to Hibiscus Coast Station.
Projects underway in Orewa
1. Orewa library - This project involves the deconstruction of about two-thirds of the library, which will be rebuilt with a new first-floor area as well. It should be completed by June 2025. Library services have been relocated to the Orewa Community centre while the library is being refurbished.
2. New neighbourhood park at 86 Harvest Ave, Orewa - The project includes installation of junior, intermediate, senior and accessible play options, soft fall and wet pour surfacing, an overland flow dry bed swale and natural play components, new shrub and tree plantings, and additional seating and picnic sets. This project was developed alongside the community, gaining feedback from local families and young people on what they wanted to see in their local park. Works are due to be completed in early October.
3. Orewa beach reserve toilet block - The scope of work is to remove the existing toilet block and replace it with a brand new pre-fabricated Exeloo toilet block and changing room facility, connecting to existing services. It should be completed by the end of July. Existing portaloo amenities are still available adjacent to the toilet block.
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