North Harbour Stadium - saved and on the pathway to success!
In April I was honoured to step up into the role of Chair of the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board. I have been on the Board since 2019 and it’s already been a busy and exciting time getting stuck in as Chair.
In the first week on the job, I wasted no time and was in the Mayor’s office, alongside Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, to convince him why we needed to save North Harbour Stadium.
The Long Term Plan (LTP) is Auckland Council’s 10-year budget and discussions have taken place now on the way forward. I’m so pleased that through the LTP, we managed to save North Harbour Stadium for our community. Auckland Councillors have indicated their early support for this and the LTP will be officially voted and approved at the end of June.
This successful outcome is thanks to months of advocacy by a range of stakeholders, and many residents who gave feedback on the LTP – thank you to everyone who had their say.
The LTP consultation gave people three options to choose from for the future of the stadium. The local board sent a strong message in our advocacy - to retain the stadium as it is, and to change the management. One of the options, which we were deeply concerned about, was to ‘redevelop’ the stadium. This might have sounded nice, but it included the ability to demolish it and sell some precinct land. This was the preferred option of Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (the Council Controlled Organisation that owns and operates it) and the uncertainty of it is why we fought to ensure that this option did not proceed.
North Harbour Stadium was built on the foresight and years of hard fundraising work from local people, alongside North Harbour Rugby Union and North Shore City Council. When the North Harbour Stadium Trust negotiated a deal in 2014 for it to be controlled by the new ‘Supercity’, the hire costs spiked and priced out community events like school balls and conferences. It lost its connection with the community and big events and games were taken to other stadia. Under regional control, there’s been a failure to retain its community connection and develop its untapped potential as a sub-regional stadium.
The Chairs of the Upper Harbour Local Board and Hibiscus and Bays Local Board will be leading a working group to determine the process forward for a more viable and well-used stadium. I’m looking forward to navigating a pathway back to success for this fantastic asset we have on our doorstep.
Through the LTP, people also provided feedback on our Local Board Agreement for 2024/2025, which outlines the projects and services we aim to deliver.
We received 2,082 submissions and it was heartening to read that 77 per cent of individual submitters and 82 per cent of our local organisations supported all or most of our priorities.
As a coastal community, home to some of the most popular beaches in Auckland and the Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve, it was of little surprise that submitters sent us a very clear message – a high priority especially is protecting the Hauraki Gulf, fresh water and soil from contaminants and sedimentation.
I look forward to updating you soon on our work programme for next financial year that will address this and other priority areas.
May 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. I have requested that our Engagement Advisor prioritises organising meetings for me in the first instance with mana whenua the local board works closest with (Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara) to proactively connect and develop our relationship further. I will be seeking to understand how iwi would like to engage and connect with us on a more regular basis, how we can work towards the development of a relationship agreement, and how we can partner together to drive outcomes in our local board plan and for mana whenua in our area. Going forward, I would like to see ongoing regular opportunities for our local board to engage with iwi.
4. Member J Parfitt and I were invited to meet with chairperson of the Long Bay Residents Association who wanted to discuss a range of matters relevant to the subdivision. This included things like the Long Bay Regional Park playground nets (see ‘Our Community’ for update), and the length of time it’s taking Auckland Transport to provide updates on the eventual re-opening of Vaughans Road and Te Oneroa Way. We advised about the draft Regional Land Transport Plan and the importance of Long Bay Residents Association giving feedback, especially relating to the Glenvar and East Coast Roads Improvement project.
Our Environment
5. The Mayfair Crescent Stormwater Renewal Project that was planned for construction in 2025 will be brought forward to begin work shortly following stakeholder engagement. This project is required as the existing stormwater reticulation in Mayfair Crescent is in poor condition and under-capacity. Recently, Auckland Transport contacted Healthy Waters and advised them that they are planning rehabilitation works in the area. As a result, the planned stormwater network upgrade has had to be accelerated. Auckland Transport has agreed to construct part of the planned stormwater network upgrade, so that the upgraded pavement and footpath does not need to be dug up again in six months’ time. This approach is more efficient, costs less and avoids future construction disruption. The project is planned to start at the end of May (subject to traffic management plan approval) and take three to six weeks.
Our Community
6. In May the Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson organised a meeting with Mayor Wayne Brown, to provide me the opportunity to explain why our local board wanted to see the progression of options one and three of the North Harbour Stadium discussion in the Long-term Plan (option one being retaining the stadium as is and option three being to change the management). The mayor was pleased to have a sensible discussion about the issue and was very supportive. Three days later Upper Harbour Local Board Chairperson Anna Atkinson and I were provided the opportunity to further explain and advocate these options to the Budget Committee, which again was very well received. This was followed up again that week by strong advocacy from northern local boards in our Long-term Plan feedback to the Budget Committee. I was pleased to see the outcome of the final Budget Committee meeting that saw the committee resolving on retaining the stadium, with a working group to be established to navigate the pathway forward for new management of a well-used and successful stadium. I will provide progress updates on the working group that Hibiscus and Bays and Upper Harbour Local Board chairpersons will be co-leading.
7. I met with Harbour Volleyball chairperson, Arvid Ditchburn and game development manager, Rob Tarr. Arvid and Rob gave an overview of the substantial growth of the sport and player successes (a large number of our young people are receiving scholarships to attend American colleges). They are now in the difficult position of being limited to deliver the sport any more with the lack of facilities available to them. I provided them with links to further information on regional and local grants and connected them with council staff regarding specific questions they had regarding privately owned facilities.
8. I have been communicating with the Manly Sailing Club Commodore, Howard Bennett, who had some concerns about the width of the boat ramp for the International Moth World Championships they are hosting at the end of 2024. I have organised our Parks and Community Facilities team to connect with the club closer to the event date to see what their needs are (i.e., boat ramp sand clearing). I have also suggested some other options for consideration to improve beach access temporarily that they could investigate.
9. In 2022 there was a fire at the Long Bay Regional Park playground which destroyed the beloved climbing nets. The insurance payout has been sorted and a replacement option has been sourced and ordered for installation in 2024.
Our Places and Our Economy
10. In regard to the current closure of Vaughans Road to Te Oneroa Way, Auckland Transport have advised:
‘We have engaged a contractor to start looking at road widening options along Vaughans Road as well as any lower cost measures that could be implemented to make the road safer for the increased traffic flow. The plan is to still come back to the local board at the end of June to present the concepts and get them to provide feedback on the direction we should be heading in terms of the future of the connection.’
11. I welcome the news that more weekday sailings will be reinstated later this year for the Gulf Harbour Ferry route (which has faced severely reduced sailings for several months). This is an important advocacy area for our local board to both retain the ferry service and improve the timetable. I have requested further information from Auckland Transport as to why other ferry services around Auckland will have additional services reinstated well before Gulf Harbour, and the rationale for why Gulf Harbour ferry continues to be treated as lower priority.
Recommendation
That the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board:
a) whiwhi / receive the chairperson’s update on recent activities of the chairperson, itemised by outcomes in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan 2023.
May business meeting: items of interest
Items before the May business meeting of the local board can be found online.
Some items of interest include:
Feedback on 'Options for voting methods in local elections' - thanks to member Sam Mills for leading this feedback
Feedback on 'Local government elections 2025 – order of names on voting documents' - feedback led by me
Feedback on a confidential item (will be made public in due course- by member Gregg Walden and myself.
https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2024/05/20240528_HB_MIN_12338.PDF
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