September 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. Along with Members Parfitt and Walden, a range of community partners and Auckland Council staff, I was pleased to be at the opening of the new Browns Bay pātaka kai (food pantry). This has been a locally led project by Bays Work in Progress in conjunction with a wide variety of community organisations including Heart of the Bays, East Coast Bays Library, Browns Bay Presbyterian Church and the Browns Bay Chinese Association. The pātaka kai is located at the entrance to Browns Bay Presbyterian Church, 45 Anzac Road. A ‘caretaker’ has been employed to ensure it’s being looked after and kept clean. This project ties in very well with the community garden work that is taking place in the East Coast Bays Library courtyard.
4. I attended the North Shore Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) Annual General Meeting on 22 August 2024 (which includes both the Hibiscus Coasy and Browns Bay CAB services in our local board area). Some interesting statistics from CAB North Shore over the last year include:
· over 200 volunteers providing 4,425 hours of assistance;
· for every $1 of investment, $10.70 is achieved in the social return of outcome;
· 20 per cent of appointments were with local residents in the 30-39 year age bracket, this being the largest group; and
· the average time for an appointment with a volunteer is 22 minutes.
Thank you to all our CAB volunteers who undertake this crucial and specialised role, and for another successful year of supporting people in our community who are often in difficult periods of their lives.
Our Community
5. 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 develop the way forward for North Harbour Stadium (as per the Budget Committee and Governing Body Long Term Plan resolutions). Updates since my August 2024 report include:
o The Steering Group presented an update to the Governing Body (as per the Long Term Plan resolutions May 2024) on 29 August 2024. We provided an update on what we have been working on so far and our proposed two stage process. The Governing Body supported this, Councillors had very positive feedback, and we will provide another update (possibly a memo this time) in December 2024.
o As per the Governing Body resolutions on our 29 August 2024 update, the Auckland Council Chief Executive has provided us some project support from an existing staff member with capacity, for the first stage of the work. He will be starting the support work from 16 August 2024.
o We have been working closely with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited to progress discussions on the scope of a commercial process to identify a new operational manager (stage one of our programme of work) and we will be workshopping this soon with our Working Group on 27 September 2024.
6. I was invited to open ‘Art in the Plaza’, an exhibition involving five local Whangaparāoa artists in Coast Plaza. This was an initiative from artist Nancy Murray that the Plaza was very eager to support. Many of the artist displayed local landscape pieces and some had been part of our Hibiscus and Bays Art Awards previously. Part of the sale proceeds for each piece was donated to Love Soup.
7. Members Parfitt, Walden and I were part of a team in the annual Sir Peter Blake Marine Education and Recreation Centre (MERC) quiz night. Over $9,000 was raised with all proceeds going towards a customised marine science kit and marine science resources, enabling MERC's residential and offsite groups, schools, and the wider community to interact, learn, and engage with the marine world around us.
8. As the Local Board delegate to MERC I advise that their Board Chair Mike Brown is stepping down and hopefully a new or interim chair will be appointed at their AGM 17 September 2024. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mike for giving his time and expertise to the Board which has been invaluable (Mike is Associate Professor of Health, Physical Education and Outdoor Education at Auckland University of Technology).
Our Places and Our Economy
9. I was pleased to see the results of our local board’s transport project advocacy with our three major projects named in Auckland Transport’s Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP). The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) have now published their National Land Transport Plan which takes account of all projects and priorities listed in the RLTP in its own priority lists. The NLTP is crucial as it confirms the NZTA funding toward transport projects (via the National Land Transport Fund). There is still clarity to come on the start dates of Whangaparāoa Bus Interchange and Glenvar/East Coast Roads Improvement project. I have asked Auckland Transport to provide us with more clarity as soon as possible given these projects are of high interest to our local board and wider community.
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