Candidate event organised by Korean Positive Ageing Charitable Trust

Last week Korean Positive Ageing Charitable Trust hosted a community meeting, providing locals an opportunity to hear from those standing in the upcoming election.

With a large number of candidates standing for councillor and local board, everyone was provided a fair opportunity to speak. Each candidate was given a minute to introduce themselves and their vision, and answer questions on embracing diversity and ensuring a fair share of rates.

Well done to YongRahn for organising such a great event.

Fewer lanes on Pakūranga Road to enable flyover

Rā Hihi – the flyover above Reeves Road - will open to vehicles in October, five months ahead of schedule. But to enable that to happen, major work is needed on Pakūranga Road to build the access to the structure.

The Eastern Busway project team is working round the clock to get the job done and improve travel times for east Aucklanders.

There will be fewer lanes on Pakūranga Road from Saturday 20 September to Friday 24 October. The road layouts on Pakūranga Road will change to allow the teams to build the new connection.

I've attached the maps showing the different stages over the next few weeks - they will vary. Please pay extra attention while travelling through this area. Efforts are being made to maintain as many lanes in the main direction of travel but there will be some impacts.

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Expect significant congestion and delays, and plan ahead to avoid travelling at peak times, and use alternative routes/modes. Visit AT.govt.nz/journeyplanner to plan your journey.

To find out more, visit www.easternbusway.nz

Voting underway!

I dropped off my voting papers at my local library this afternoon. It's full circle as Botany Library is the same place I dropped off my nomination forms.

Local government elections are still old school, relying on postal voting. I'd prefer we move to the same system we use for general (Parliamentary) elections but until then, postal it is.

For Auckland, voting closes at 12 noon Saturday 11 October 2025. If you haven't voted yet, please do! If you have voted, please encourage your whānau and friends to have their say.

You can return your vote by:
✉️ posting it in any NZ Post box before Tuesday 7 October 2025.
🟧 dropping it in one of the orange vote boxes before 12 noon on Saturday 11 October 2025. These are available in all council libraries and selected supermarkets, retailers and transport stations.

If you do not receive voting papers by 22 September, you can:
✅ cast a special vote at selected libraries (including Botany)
✅ visit the Electoral Office (167 Victoria Street West, Auckland Central) to drop off your vote or cast a special vote.
✅ visit a Vote-on-the-Go event, where you can enrol, vote and cast a special vote — all in one place.

Find out more: https://voteauckland.co.nz/en/information-for-voters/where-to-vote.html

Ko tēnei te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Ake Ake Ake!

Kia ora! Ko tēnei te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Ake Ake Ake!

It’s Māori Language Week and, to celebrate 50 years, the theme is Ake Ake Ake.

"Ake Ake Ake means 'forever and ever' or 'everlasting'. It represents the endurance of our language, the ability of our language and its speakers to adapt to their conditions, and the commitment of communities around Aotearoa for te reo Māori."

There's heaps of great resources available so take this opportunity to challenge yourself to learn some new words and phrases.

https://www.reomaori.co.nz/

New leaders for Flat Bush from October 2025

Flat Bush is a significant and growing community that deserves good representation. Until now, they've been represented by the Botany subdivision of the Howick Local Board which included 70,000 residents from Northpark to Clover Park.

As one of the representatives for Botany and Flat Bush, it was a privilege to serve this amazing community. Facing budget challenges, we’ve worked hard to address the gaps in services and facilities like Te Taiwhanga Taiohi Youth Space (opened April 2024), Barry Curtis destination playground (due later this year), and the Ormiston Pop Up Library (due January 2026). We’ve secured funding for the long-awaited Flat Bush facilities (Library\Community Centre, and Pool\Leisure Centre) while bringing the locals together with funding for Neighbourhood Support and community-led Celebrating Cultures.

But with such a large, diverse community it’s a big task for three representatives. I am proud to be involved in the decision-making that led to the creation of the Flat Bush subdivision. Backed by 86% of locals, the change means better representation for both Botany and Flat Bush.

Next Saturday there's a community-led public meeting for candidates standing for this new position, a great opportunity for locals to come along and learn more about their options for voting.

• Saturday 20 September 10:30am to 12noon

• Ormiston Senior College, 275 Ormiston Road

For more information on the elections, including candidates, check out the Auckland Council www.voteauckland.co.nz

A+ for climate justice

Thank you Generation Zero for the A+ rating for my positions on climate justice.

You can find out more including seeing how I stand up against the other candidates at: https://localelections.nz/

I’m standing for my community

I'm standing for both the Howick Local Board and Auckland Council.

I love the the work on the local board - we're responsible for parks, libraries, and community centres. We fund local organisations and provide local advice and support through the to Auckland Council.

It's challenging but also very rewarding.

However we keep running into problems that can only be solved by Auckland Council so I'm standing to change how our city is run. Councillors determine the budgets for local boards (and every part of council) and make regional decisions that effect the whole city. We need councillors who will work with our local boards, putting aside politics to deliver more for residents.

If I'm elected to the Howick Local Board AND Auckland Council, then I'll automatically vacate the local board position and the next highest candidate for Botany is elected in my place.

Voters papers are arriving in letter boxes now so look out for the orange letters! They also contain a booklet with candidates statements and return envelope. Get them into the post before Tuesday 7 October or in one of the orange boxes at your local library or supermarket.

To find out more about your candidates, check out: https://voteauckland.co.nz/en/information-for-voters/candidates.html

Howick Local Board feedback on draft intensification

Government (aka Parliament) has instructed Auckland Council that we must provide for more housing intensification - by law we have no choice but to allocate capacity for 2 million new dwellings (read more about this here).

And they've set incredibly tight timeframes to make the decision on which plan to use. Auckland must choose either:

1. Plan Change 78 which couldn't downzone high risk locations, had to allow 3 houses up to 3 storeys on almost every property (MDRS), and was notified in 2022.
   OR

2. replacement plan change that has intensification more focused, reducing intensification in the highest risk areas, but draft maps have only just be released.

   Last week the Howick Local Board held an additional meeting to formalise our feedback into the process. We did our best in the short timeframe to make our community aware and 75 people turned up to our meeting (setting new record). We’re doing everything we can to ensure that our community’s voice is heard so we held a public forum with 13 people/groups speaking to us (another new record). Plus countless emails, phone calls, social media replies and more.
   
   We took nearly four hours to listen, consider, and formulate our feedback. Given the tight timeframes and complex issues, it wasn't easy and we're grateful to the public and staff for their input and support. In the end we:
   ❎ opposed both plan changes and requested more realistic timeframes to do this properly
   ✅ supported improvements to focus intensification, return single house zones, and better controls to avoid natural hazards.
   ❎ opposed Howick Village upzoning and asked for stronger protections for Stockade Hill
   ❎ opposed upzoning through Cockle Bay transport corridor on basis of poor infrastructure, huge impact, and marginal evidence
   ℹ️ provided alternatives for upzoning, closer to existing infrastructure and other intensification
   
   Next step is for the Governing Body (Mayor and Councillors) to consider the feedback of all 21 local boards, mana whenua, nearby councils, and government ministries. They will then make their decision in late September.
   
   You can find our full feedback in our minutes available here: https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/08/20250828_HW_MIN_13699_WEB.htm
   
   And a recording of our meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNiuqKCzobSzQ05kCv2JI2iefmDp2_tEh

Draft intensification plans released

The Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) is our city's zoning planning rule book. It's governed by the Resource Management Act (RMA) and allowed for approximately 900k new homes.

Under the previous government, the council was required to make widespread changes to the AUP to enable even greater levels of intensification. The resulting changes to the AUP were included in Proposed Plan Change 78: Intensification (PC78) notified in August 2022.

The very recently enacted Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act enables the council, if it chooses, to withdraw in part, PC78, provided the council notifies a replacement plan change that satisfies new requirements. The council had previously been unable to withdraw PC78 (in whole or in part).

On 21 August 2025 the Policy and Planning Committee endorsed a draft replacement plan change to enable staff to consult on it with iwi authorities, government ministries and adjoining councils, and to request local board views on the draft replacement plan change and a corresponding withdrawal in part of PC78.

Due to the timeframes set by central government in the Act, the council will need to decide in September 2025 whether or not to withdraw from PC78 and, if so, to proceed with a replacement plan change.

What does this mean for East Auckland? Because of the short time frames, we have limited information available to us. Staff have prepared maps that show the new zoning that is proposed and I've taken the current AUP zones, PC78, and the replacement maps to compare them. These are subject to change, but hopefully this helps show the differences between the three plans. In PC78 intensification is spread across the area, while in the replacement plan, intensification is being focused around town centres and transit routes.

The choice before council is PC78 or the replacement. Local Boards are not the decision-makers but we do have an opportunity to provide input.

The Howick Local Board is meeting on Thursday 28 August 2025 at 1pm to consider our feedback. While there is no formal public consultation prior to notification, we've agreed to accept public input at this meeting so we can better convey what the community thinks. People or groups wanting to speak are encouraged to register via howicklocalboard@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

You can find more in our agenda published here:
https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/08/20250828_HW_AGN_13699_WEB.htm

Opportunity to take back (some) control of intensification

Parliament has just passed legislation that gives Auckland an opportunity to take back some control of housing intensification. But there are still challenges ahead and there are limitations on what can be done next.

In 2021, the National and Labour parties joined forces to increase housing intensification. This included requiring large cities across NZ to upzone for 30 years of growth. Included in these changes was the Medium Density Residential Standard (MDRS) which allows three homes of up to three storeys high to be built on most residential sites in urban Auckland without a resource consent. While councils may not have agreed with this change, Parliament makes the law - there were special requirements in the legislation that required councils to comply. It also denied councils the ability to downzone anything until the changes were made. In response, Auckland created Plan Change 78 (PC78) which was notified in 2022 with feedback and hearings.

When the storms hit on Auckland Anniversary 2023, Auckland Council asked the Government of the day for permission to halt intensification. The Minister agreed to an extension until March 2024 to allow council to investigate natural hazards and flooding. In October 2023 another Government was sworn in and the same conversations were had, and another extension was granted (until March 2025). Replacement legislation was introduced in December 2024, with another extension while it went through parliament. However the city centre was excluded from the extension and as a result, the city centre parts of PC78 were made operative in June 2025.

The legislation passed allows Auckland to withdraw PC78, subject to conditions. One of these is that withdrawal requires council to replace it with another plan change that provides the same or more housing capacity. In essence, Auckland will be able to determine where, but not if, we intensify. There is also a requirement to notify the new plan before 10 October (literally the day before election). And it's a one-time opportunity - withdraw PC78 now or continue and it becomes operative.

The decision to withdraw isn't automatic and will be made by the Governing Body (Mayor and Councillors), probably at the Policy and Planning Committee on Thursday 21 August. Given the extraordinary tight timeframes, we understand that there won't be public consultation before this decision.

While we've been waiting for Parliament, Auckland Council has been preparing. Workshops have been held with the Governing Body (Mayor and Councillors) to create a draft proposal that meets the Government's requirements (as best we could understand them before the bill passed). While Local Boards have been provided some updates, we're not responsible for the decisions or the direction of the plan and we've had no input (zoning sits with the Governing Body). The Howick Local Board is expecting to have an opportunity to provide feedback and we’ll be arranging an additional meeting on Thursday 28 August to fit into the timelines.

While I'm pleased that Auckland is getting some control back, it comes with significant conditions and an extraordinarily tight timeframe. I strongly support quality intensification in the right places (over unsustainable urban sprawl), but this rushed process is unlikely to lead to the best outcomes.

As more information become available, I’ll make sure we share what we can.

Transparency is vital to our democracy

Being an elected member for Auckland Council is a privilege. But it also comes with responsibilities and we're remunerated for our time. We're not volunteers and it's reasonable to expect that we turn up to do our job.

As part of providing transparency, Auckland Council publishes the attendance for elected members at business meetings and workshops. For Local Boards, these are published every quarter and available online for the whole term.

For some reason, Auckland Council reports and publishes this information differently for the Governing Body (Mayor and Councillor) with only the past 3 months showing. There also appears to be some gaps in the data, so I've asked for the information for the full term.

In the meantime, I've collated the Howick Local Board data for the last term (January 2023 to June 2025). Over this period we had a total of 36 business meetings and 92 workshops.

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Absences may be due to leave, illness, bereavement or attending other council business - we don't record the reasons for members being away, you'd need to ask them. We also don't record any difference between online or in-person attendance - I've asked staff if we can do this but I'm told it's not current practice.

You'll note I was absent for two workshops - for one (May 2023) I was on leave (for my partners significant birthday) and another I was at the Governing Body trying to advocate for our community. I also attended one workshop online as I was sick, and we've had two workshops entirely online due to technology issues. Otherwise I have been present in the room for every workshop and business meeting this term.

You can see more (including the source data, other local boards and councillors) on the Auckland Council website: https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/about-auckland-council/performance-transparency/Pages/attendance-governing-body-meetings.aspx

Consultation on Kerrykeel Drive, Flat Bush

Ormiston Primary School, along with residents, parents and the wider Flat Bush community, has raised concerns about pedestrian safety and high traffic speeds in the vicinity of the school.

In response, the Howick Local Board asked Auckland Transport to investigate improvements to make the roads safer and easier to navigate for everyone, especially for tamariki using Kerrykeel Drive.

The proposed changes are:
1️⃣At the Kerrykeel Drive/Arranmore Drive roundabout:
🚧two road-level zebra crossings on the eastern and western sides of the roundabout (replacing refuge islands)
🚧 new pedestrian refuge island crossing on Arranmore Drive

Eleven on-street parking spaces near the crossings will be reprioritised as “no stopping at all times” zones and marked with broken yellow lines to improve visibility near pedestrian crossings.

2️⃣On Kerrykeel Drive (near Springside Drive)
🚧 Upgrade the existing pedestrian refuge island crossing to a school patrolled road level zebra crossing.
🚧 installing high friction surfacing on the approaches to the zebra crossing to make it easier for drivers to stop more quickly and safely when approaching a pedestrian crossing
🚧 New cycle ramps and widened footpath on the northern side of the crossing to assist with cyclist movements

Public consultation is open until 6 August. You can find out more, including how to have your say, here: https://haveyoursay.at.govt.nz/kerrykeel-drive-arranmore-drive-roundabout

Consultation on Sunnyview Ave

In response to community concerns about the lack of crossing facilities on Sunnyview Avenue, the Howick Local Board asked Auckland Transport to investigate options to make it safer for children and families to get to Shelly Park Primary School.

The proposal is to:
🚧 install a new zebra crossing on Sunnyview Avenue, monitored by school patrols
🚧 install new pram crossings and street lighting on either side of the crossing
🚧 replace 5 kerbside parking spaces between the school bus stop and the new crossing with broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times).

Shelly Park Primary School and the community dental clinic will be more accessible. It will be easier for tamariki and whānau to walk, bike or scoot to school. Road markings and parking changes will make it easier to see pedestrians. This will make them safer.

If you have questions or feedback you can phone 09 355 3553 or email atengagement@at.govt.nz with the subject line ‘Shelly Park Primary School crossing’.

Before construction begins, Auckland Transport will contact residents directly affected by the works.

Consultation on Stage 2, The Parade Bucklands Beach

The Parade on Bucklands Beach is a popular destination for families and local residents. After years of complaints and concerns from local residents about unsafe driving, the Howick Local Board asked Auckland Transport to improve safety through speed calming.

In October 2024, construction was completed on Stage One of the improvements which (based on public consultation) included one raised crossing and three speed bumps.

Phase two will continue at five locations chosen based on pedestrian demand, traffic surveys, and safety analysis.

Site 1: Devon Road and 23 The Parade
🚧 install a new pram crossing with kerb buildouts on Devon Road
🚧 install new side islands and refuge island outside 23 The Parade

Site 2: 41 The Parade
🚧 install new side islands with pram crossings

Site 3: Wharf Road intersection
🚧 install additional zebra crossings along The Parade at existing raised intersection
🚧 install new lighting

Site 4: 55 The Parade
🚧 install new side islands with pram crossings
🚧 install small section of footpath to connect to Grangers Point

Site 5: Laings Road
🚧 install splitter island and formalise Give-Way control at carpark
extend broken yellow lines around the bends to ensure the required sight line is maintained

As with Stage One, public feedback is helpful for us to understand what you think will work and what needs to change. We made significant changes to Stage One based on public feedback, delivering a more cost effective and safer road for everyone.

Public consultation closes on Friday 8 August. You can find out more, including how to have your say, here: https://haveyoursay.at.govt.nz/the-parade-bucklands-beach-pedestrian-improvements-stage-2

Eastern Busway connecting communities and driving growth

Eastern Busway will provide more transport choice for East Auckland. But it's also an opportunity for urban regeneration.

The newly formed Auckland Urban Development Office is leading the programme to connect communities and drive growth.

The opportunities are focused on land in easy walking distance to the new bus stations at Pakūranga, on Tī Rākau Drive (Te Taha Wai and Koata stations), and at Burswood (Pōhatu Station), so more people can live and work in areas close to public transport.

It's focusing on land that was acquired for the Eastern Busway that will no longer be needed for transport purposes after the busway construction is complete (called residual land). This may also be supplemented by some strategic property purchases, to enable high quality urban renewal.

Read more about it here: https://www.audo.co.nz/news/eastern-busway-is-connecting-communities-and-driving-growth/

My nominations are in!

Exciting milestone this morning as I handed in my paperwork to become a candidate in the upcoming elections. Handing in my paperwork in my local library is always a special moment and keeps it truly local.

I've worked hard as the Chairperson of the Local Board, providing leadership through significant challenges leading to rewarding successes. But there's more to do, so I'm standing again for Botany where I live. The Chairperson is elected by the Board when we're sworn in (late October).

And Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland deserves a more ambitious, disciplined, and diverse council. We need representatives who understand their communities, investing time to listen and respond to residents. So I'm once again standing for Auckland Council, as a candidate for Howick (which includes Pakūranga, Botany and Flat Bush).

There's a bit of paperwork involved. Nominations require a deposit of $200 per role, which is refunded if you get enough votes. You also need two locals to nominate you, confirming your connection to the place you want to represent. Each candidate can provide up to 150 words and a photo thay goes into the booklet sent out with voting papers.

Election day is Saturday 11 October, with voting papers delivered (in the mail) from 9 September.

You can find out more about the elections, including key dates at www.voteauckland.co.nz

Fixing funding of local boards

We need $216.5M to maintain our assets over the next 10 years, but we’ve only been allocated $114.1M.

At our workshop last week, the Howick Local Board received an update about our asset portfolio and it was pretty confronting. Over the next 9 years, we need $216.5M to maintain our existing assets (like playgrounds, libraries, and leisure centres). But Auckland Council has only allocated us $114.1M, leaving a 47% gap!

We've got enough funding to cover our priority renewals (those in the worst shape), but if we don't maintain all assets they will degrade, reducing their ability to serve the community. Deferring maintenance leads to higher costs in the future as parts break.

We're looking at all options to help close this gap, including changing how we deliver services to rely less on physical assets, optimising the assets we do have, and working with partners to deliver outcomes. But the scale of the challenge means none of this will be easy.

Council have two main funding sources for our assets:
🛠 operational expenses (like day-to-day maintenance, utilities) are covered by rates ($3B), fees ($1.9B) and other revenue ($1.3B).
🏗 capital expenses (like major renewals, new assets) are funded through operating revenue ($1.1B), subsidies ($0.9B), and debt ($1.7B) which is paid off over the lifetime of the asset (like you would a mortgage). To keep the interest manageable, council tries to keep the debt below 250% of revenue (270% absolute max).

New assets can also get funding from development contributions ($0.2B) which is a charge that properly developers pay to help fund assets in the area they're building. These funds cannot be used for anything other than the asset they were collected for.

The good news for Howick Local Board is that our venues for hire (valued at $4.5M) are generating enough revenue from hirage to cover their own day-to-day expenses. But as these buildings need more significant renewal, we need capital funding. And our libraries (valued at $32M), pool and leisure centres (valued at $15.6M) need upgrading so they can keep pace with our growing, changing population as well as shifts in technology and demands. And we know our playgrounds aren’t delivering what our communities need, with gaps especially in Flat Bush.

It’s important to note that Local Boards don't determine what our budget is, we only get (some) control over where our allocated budget goes. How much money each Local Board gets is decided by the Governing Body made up of the Mayor and 20 Councillors. Funding used to be based on what assets we had plus some discretionary funding, but this year we’ve moved to a different formula (known as fairer funding) which is based on population (80%), deprivation (15%), and land area (5%). For example, Howick has the largest population (160k), but lower deprivation (11%) and land area (69.7km2).

The Governing Body decides how much money they want Local Boards to have, then staff allocate it using this formula. Local Boards get less than 10minutes every year to present our feedback and beg for the resources we need to serve our communities. And not all the Councillors even bother to turn up to listen.

Auckland Council group OPEX from Long Term Plan 2024-2034

While the 21 local boards have a huge impact on their communities, they represent a small part of a large complex organisation. To put this into context:
🛠 Auckland Council operating budget for this year is $5,133M – all local boards are $491M (5%) and Howick is $37M (0.7%, 3rd highest).
🏗 Auckland Council’s capital budget for this year is $4,274M while all local boards are $212M (5%) and Howick is $10M (0.2%, 6th highest)

The cause of these issues go back before the creation of Auckland Council, with legacy councils building assets that they couldn’t afford to maintain. But even since the amalgamation, decisions have compounded the issues – like not fully funding depreciation until now so debt has ballooned. And in 2020, Auckland Council passed an emergency budget which slashed the capital spending. For Howick Local Board, the capital funding for 2021 went from a planned $20M to $1.5M. While it’s slowly increased over time, it’s never come back to the previous levels and never enough to compensate for the deferred maintenance.

Some budget pressure can be helpful - it makes us challenge decisions and focus on prioritising what’s important. The Howick Local Board has achieved significant savings over the past few years AND managed to deliver more value for our communities. But the growing gap is leaving our assets in a poor state and forcing us to make short-term decisions to balance our budgets.

This is a challenge across Auckland so there's a regionwide portfolio review underway to provide quality advice to local boards. We're expecting staff to come back to us in November and December with more information for the newly elected Board, with the intention of putting in place a plan by July 2026. This will be a major challenge for the new Howick Local Board to tackle.

Fixing the underlying issues will take longer but is essential for a thriving city. In my opinion:
💰 our budgeting process needs more focus on the outcomes – what do we need, not just what we’ve always done
👥 local boards need more opportunities for genuine involvement in regional decisions – we know our communities, help us serve them better
🏘 council needs to be more agile and responsive – we’re too slow and cumbersome, weighed down by complex structures
📑 staff need to provide more quality advice to elected members so we’re making the right decisions – 15 years to develop asset management plans is too slow
🏛 government needs to provide councils more funding sources so they’re not relying on debt and rates – portion of GST would be a good start

Because our workshop are open to the public, the materials are published online: https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/07/20250724_HLBWC_ATT_13171_WEB.htm

Consultation on Howick Sailing Club

The Howick Sailing Club has asked the Howick Local Board to consider granting them an extension to their lease at Howick Beach to allow them to create a larger storage shed (next to their existing building).

This is what they've said about the application:

"The club is in the early stages of a proposed infrastructure project to help assure the future of the club. We have several different issues that we’re trying to resolve;
The location of the club rooms over the water affords us an amazing view at our beautiful location. However it exposes the storage of club and club member assets under the club rooms to the potential effects of any sea level rise.

We are currently having to store club RHIBs and the tractor at club members properties. This option is not viable long term. We need the space at the beach area to store these.

We are finding that fewer members have the available space at their properties to store their sailors boats. This project will provide some space for sailors to have their boats at the club like the majority of other yacht clubs around the city. The vast majority of our sailors are kids. Being able to store boats at the beach would enable them to be more active and less reliant on parental spare time to transport boats backwards and forwards.

Our proposed lease application is for a building that joins onto the current Learn To Sail/Waterwise kiosk. It would occupy a space that is not currently used other than by a walkway which would be slightly re-routed. The embankment is steep and the sloped scoria wall is not an inviting place to sit and relax. On the roof of the new building we would provide a level platform upon which the public could relax and enjoy the environment."

This will result in an additional building footprint of 148m2 for leasing purposes (or a total of 164m2 when including the cantilevered portion of the viewing deck that extends over the existing carparking area). The project also involves the realignment of an existing path with stairs, removal of a rubbish bin and a section of rock retaining wall beside the carpark as shown in the plans.

Because this might have an impact on other users of the beach area, it's important that the public has an opportunity to have their say. Therefore Auckland Council has publicly notified the request and is seeking feedback until 5pm Friday 15 August.

A notice was also placed in this weeks Times newspaper. An earlier notice incorrectly said the area was 16m2 so it's been re-notified.

You can find out more about the request, including how to have your say here: https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/public-notices/Pages/community-lease-4r-granger-road-howick-howick-sailing-club.aspx

Progressing Flat Bush Library and Community Hub and Aquatic and Leisure Centre projects!

Flat Bush has grown quickly but the community infrastructure has not keep up. Two key facilities that have been promised for nearly two decades but never delivered are the Community Centre and Library, and the Pool and Leisure Centre. These have been priorities for the Howick Local Board but funding challenges within Auckland Council mean that we haven't made much progress. This is about to change.

At our recent meeting on Thursday 17 July, the Howick Local Board formally asked staff to advance to a focused planning phase, building on previous work and community engagement.

Much has changed since the last review was completed in 2019 and before we invest the $83M allocated for these facilities we want to ensure we're building what the community needs. We're also taking the opportunity to review where these will be built and exploring opportunities for partnerships.

The Community Centre and Library are planned for Block K next to the Ormiston Town Centre, while the Pool and Leisure Centre is planned for Barry Curtis Park (it was originally planned for Block B). We now have the option of combining Blocks K and G for both facilities which might be a better outcome - the review will help understand this option.

Don't worry the review won't take years - it's expected to be completed within the next few months, back in time for early 2026 when our new Board (including dedicated Flat Bush representatives) are in place.

For those interested the full report is available on our public agenda item 15: https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/07/20250717_HW_AGN_11594_WEB.htm

More improvements for Highland Park Library!

As part of the Howick Local Board multi-year renewal project of the much-loved Highland Park Library, more improvements are coming soon.

Firstly, the layout for the public toilets will be changed to turn one toilet into two. We'll also bring them both up to modern accessible standards.

Two new canopies will offer much-needed shade to the external courtyard. During summer, it’s bustling with kids’ activities and other events. By installing shade, the same area can also be used more often, increasing library space just in time for Summer.

A few trees in the courtyard are being removed as they create a mess and slip risks. To compensate, additional trees will be planted near the library entrance.

Works start on Monday 21 July with the toilets planned to be completed by mid-September and the external area by late-October.