March 2025: Chairperson's Report
- alexispoppelbaum
- Apr 1
- 7 min read
March board 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 18 February I sat in on a panel event for the community, hosted by Hibiscus Coast Youth Hauora Network that was focused on youth mental health. It was good to hear the range of groups participating in the network and talking about the services and support they provide in this space.
4. I attended an International Women’s Day event on 5 March hosted at Auckland Transport hosted by Auckland Government Women’s Network which is a great and supportive network to join.
5. Elected members G Brown, J Parfitt, V Short and G Walden and I attended the local board’s Annual Plan consultation ‘have your say’ event at Whangaparāoa Library on Friday 14 March. There were several people eager to discuss an array of issues not necessarily related to the Annual Plan. To me, this reinforced the need for and importance of the local board continuing to host informal catch up events so that we are available to talk with and assist local residents. Thank you to our Engagement Advisor for all her hard work in organising and setting up these events for us.
6. I was invited to speak at the New Zealand Chinese Cultural Day celebrations at Browns Bay Beach Reserve on 16 March. This event has been hosted by Auckland Chinese Families Network for a number of years at Campbells Bay School, but they have outgrown the space. The opportunity to host it in a more public space was a great way to share and celebrate Chinese culture more widely with the community, beyond the 300+ families involved. Thank you to Ben Yu and all the organisers and also to the Browns Bay Business Improvement District Manager for supporting them with guidance about hosting an event on the beach reserve.
Our Community
7. North Harbour Stadium and Domain Precinct Working Group: The Chairs and Deputies of the Hibiscus & Bays and Upper Harbour Local Boards (‘Steering Group’) have been tasked with co-leading a locally led working group to change the operational management of the stadium and to develop the future pathway forward for North Harbour Stadium (as per the Budget Committee and Governing Body Long Term Plan resolutions). Updates since my February 2025 report include:
Stage One update: On 28 February 2025 the Expression of Interest process to identify a new operator of North Harbour Stadium closed and not submissions from parties are being reviewed by an evaluation panel made up of local board, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) and local and independent representatives. If a preferred proposal is found, a recommendation will be made to the TAU Board in April to approve entering into negotiations with the preferred operator, with a view to contracts being in place for mid-2025.
Stage Two update: This work will look into the long-term future governance, management, ownership, operations and funding for the stadium and precinct. This project is being scoped to better understand what it will entail, and our local board and the Upper Harbour Local Board are currently consulting on local contributions to this work in our Annual Plan 2025/2026 which is out for feedback until 28 March 2025.
8. On Saturday 22 February I attended Whangaparāoa Library’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Day with members J Parfitt, G Walden, J Law, S Mills. Former Rodney Mayor John Law, Councillors W Walker and J Watson and I spoke about the history of library services in the area, the development of the building and the wonderful services and support our librarians provide our community.
Our Environment
9. Members J Parfitt, G Walden, V Short and I attended a Ko Te Wai He Taonga celebration at Sherwood Primary School. Their second lot of rainwater barrels they received are supporting their rapidly expanding gardens, which in turn support their Garden to Table programme.
Our Places and Our Economy
10. On 26 February members G Brown, J Parfitt, V Short and Upper Harbour Local Board Chair A Atkinson and I attended a presentation from New Zealand Road Safety Products. Their roundabout in Waiuku was a trial with Auckland Transport and is yet to be reviewed officially by Auckland Transport. This review may be important information for us and other local boards to take into account when we are planning our future Local Board Capital Fund given the products appear to be durable, cheaper and quicker to install, and easier to part-replace when required.
11. Deputy Chair G Brown and I met with Waitemata Local Area Commander Stefan Sagar and Acting Rodney Local Area Commander Mike Rickards on 13 March. They noted that the volume of crime is down across both subdivisions and the Gang Acts 2024 is proving to be an enormously helpful tool for them. We spoke about homelessness issues across different suburbs and support they are happy to provide to some of our residents’ associations and business associations who are asking for assistance to reduce crime.
12. I note that Member J Law has sought information from Auckland Transport to better understand why the cancellation rate of ferry services in Gulf Harbour is up significantly since December 2024, and why end of day bus service replacements for cancelled services are not taking people back to the ferry terminal in Gulf Harbour where their vehicles are parked. I welcome further updates from Auckland Transport on how they are planning to rectify this situation as soon as possible.
Other Matters
13. I am pleased that a letter co-signed by all 21 local board Chairs was well-received by the Mayor Wayne Brown. In a letter from the Chief Financial Officer on 17 March, the unexpectedly high cost-pressures local boards were facing from their facilities and services will be borne as a regional cost for 2025/2026. This will be a one off and cost pressures will need to be planned for in 2026/2027 by each local board. It however at least provides local boards the time and opportunity to plan accordingly as opposed to the late advice of the significant cost pressures we were delivered as the Annual Plan 2025/2026 went out for consultation. For the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board this means that we will not have $800,000 of cost pressures on our budget in 2025/2026 and will be planning on spending the $1.3 million budget uplift from Fairer Funding to further deliver on our Local Board Plan 2023. We will be planning for our expected cost pressures in 2026/2027.
14. The Local Government Commission (LGC) has made its final determinations on the representation arrangements for the election of Auckland Council to be held on 11 October 2025. The outcome is that LGC is upholding Council's final proposal and therefore no boundary changes for our Local Board or the wider Albany Ward will be taking place. Last month the LGC heard and considered appeals to Auckland Council's determination before making its final ruling. This is where the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board had tried to argue taking some suburbs from the East Coast Bays, without any public consultation. Our local board’s response to this proposition that had not public input or evidence of ‘communities of interest’ was strong and well received by the commissioners.
March board business meeting key reports to note
Mairangi Bay Reserves Management Plan review - notification of draft material for public feedback
The Local Board approved the draft consultation material and appointed Deputy Chair G Brown and I to sit alongside an independent Commissioner to undertake the hearing process. This plan proposes a future move of a redeveloped surf club to the northern side of Montrose Terrace Reserve.
Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club - Landowner Approval for temporary storage at Sidmouth Street Reserve and Montrose Terrace, Mairangi Bay
The Local Board approved a Landowner Approval for the surf club to have temporary storage space on the old Watercare site on Sidmouth Street for the majority of their containers, including leaving two on Montrose Reserve still where they are (necessary to remain for emergency surf lifesaving activities).
Orewa seawall update
Construction has restarted on site this month and the contractors have resumed work on the section of seawall between Kohu Street and Kinloch Reserve. Work was paused between Christmas and March to minimise disruption to the local community and residents during the busy summer period at the beach.
Before Christmas, good progress was made in a short space of time and two 30-metre sections of seawall were completed. Two stonemason crews are constructing the wall - each is working on a separate section.
Over the coming months, the seawall between Kohu Street and Kinloch Reserve will be completed, including a pedestrian ramp and stairs. Work will then begin on constructing the walkway along this section. You can expect to see multiple crews on site through this next phase. Construction will continue south to Marine View over the next 10 months.
The project should be completed before the end of this year, but this is dependent on favourable weather and tides.
Quarterly updates about the project are produced and if you want to receive them please email: orewaseawall@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
For further information about the project, visit the dedicated webpage.
Local Board Transport Capital Fund
In February the local board allocated new funding of $866,241 from its local board transport capital fund (LBTCF) for the 2025/2026 year for new projects for investigation and delivery, and to top up any existing projects which require additional funding. We were notified of this new funding at the end of last year when the Regional Land Transport Fund was finalised.
We've approved:
Auckland Transport to complete the Whangaparāoa Road Manly Crossing project in the current programme with additional required funding of $275,000 for Option 2a) plus a refuge island on Walbrook Road.
allocate $591,241 towards Vaughans Road Safety Improvements
request Auckland Transport report back on what additional elements to the Vaughans Road safety upgrade have been made possible with this funding. d) tono / request Auckland Transport to add The Esplanade Campbells Bay footpath to the Walking Programme for prioritisation. e) whakaae / approve that any cost savings from its currently active projects and/or any new additional funding that becomes available be applied to its active projects, if they require additional funding to complete within the current three-year local board programme.
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