September 2022: Local Board Member Report

With local elections in October, September marked the last business meeting for the 2019-2022 term of the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board.

Local Board Transport Capital Fund

Every Local Board in Auckland receives a Local Board Transport Capital Fund (LBTCF). It is a small parcel of money provided via Auckland Transport for Local Boards to progress small transport-related projects in their area. During the 2019 Council term, this fund has been heavily weighted to providing for projects in the Hibiscus Coast subdivision of our Local Board area.

At our September business meeting,

That the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board: a) approve the continuation of the following projects:

i) Orewa Boulevard Stage Three project

ii) Programmed delivery of Phase Two of the Wayfinding Programme

iii) Hibiscus Coast highway pedestrian crossing

iv) Progress design for Aitken Reserve lighting project

b) approve the deferral of the investigation, design and construction of the following projects until the financial year 2023/24

i) East Coast Bays school safety improvements

ii) Browns Bay pedestrian crossings

iii) Torbay Bollards project.

Valedictory reflection: end-of-term address from two members

We bid farewell to Janet Fitzgerald who is retiring from local politics. Janet has given years of service to local government and has been a tireless advocate for Penlink from the very beginning. We also said a farewell to Gary Holmes, who will be standing in the Franklin district this time as he has moved down there. It'll be the first time in 30 years that the East Coast Bays won't see "Homes, Gary" on their local election voting papers!

Janet and Gary have been wonderful friends and mentors to me over the last three years and I can not thank them enough.

North-West Zero Waste Hub in Glenfield

In September Julia Parfitt and I visited the North-West Zero Waste Hub run by Localised in Wairau Valley. This was a great opportunity to see what incredible work is already underway nearby - as we are proud to have lobbied for, and got funding earmarked for a new Community Recycling Centre to service our area.

This place we visited on Porana Rd is one of two zero-waste hubs that Localised operate with support from Auckland’s CRC operators, and many community-led organisations. They provide warehousing and distribution of material recovered from Auckland's Inorganic Collection Service.

About 20 tonnes of scrap metal and reusable goods come through the centre each month. The vast majority (86%) is scrap metal, 4.4% is reusable goods and 9.5% is e-waste which is sent up the road for recycling at Abilities.

A number of registered community organisations, up-cyclers, and re-users collect recovered items and materials. They hope to soon also offer a variety of zero waste activity, including reuse, repair and upcycling.

They also degas fridges/freezers/aircon units as they transition through the centre. In just 2 months they have degassed 495 items. 14kg of refrigerant gasses have been diverted from the atmosphere

The Inorganic Collection Service is great, but with infrequent booking opportunities there is such a high need for a CRC to service our community so reusable, recoverable goods are not being sent to landfill as the more convenient option.

I'm so excited to see through this next phase and get our CRC delivered.