Howick Local Board business meeting report for June 2024

On Thursday 27 June, the Howick Local Board held our business meeting for June. Here’s a summary of some of the key discussions and outcomes. At the end there are links to the official minutes and a recording of this (and previous) meetings.

🏆 Acknowledgements for Howick Little Theatre, Polish Heritage Trust Museum, Venerable Abbess Manshin MNZM, Ian Godfrey MNZM, and John Bray KSM.
🗣Deputations from Howick Historical Village, East Auckland Tourism, and Auckland Brit & Euro Classic Car Show, public forum from Bucklands and Eastern Beaches Ratepayers and Residents Association, and Bucklands Beach Yacht Club.
🗑 Notice of Motion on Rubbish Bin reinstatement
🔇 Confidential Item on Early Childhood Education
✅ Approval of our Work Programmes for the year, lease renewal, new playspaces for Pakuranga, and Community Grants
📑 Feedback on Draft Auckland Regional Land Transport Plan, Plan Change 96, Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2024

After the initial formalities of the welcome, declarations of interest and confirmation of minutes, we confirmed five acknowledgements.

We congratulated the Howick Little Theatre on their 70th anniversary. Formed on 29 June 1954 by Alma Woods, this year also marks the 50th anniversary of the group moving into the purpose-built facility in Lloyd Elsmore Park. We’re proud to support them in delivering plays and classes throughout the year.

We congratulated the Polish Heritage Trust Museum on their 20th anniversary. Opened in July 2004, the museum continues to offer educational resources about Poland, its history, arts and culture, the history of the 733 children and 102 adults who arrived as refugees from Europe in 1944.

We congratulated Flat Bush resident Venerable Abbess Manshin MNZM on her appointment as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024 for services to the community. As the leader and founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple in Auckland and Christchurch she has led numerous community events and activities.

We congratulated Farm Cove resident Ian Godfrey MNZM on his appointment as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024 for services to surf lifesaving and water safety education. His efforts have been recognised as significantly reducing drownings, especially for children under five.

We congratulated Mellons Bay resident John Bray KSM on being awarded The King’s Service Medal (KSM) in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024 for services to rugby league. He has contributed to the sport for over 75 years as a player and director.

We then had three deputations from groups that we’ve supported over the last year, starting with Howick Historical Village. General Manager Lexie Palmer spoke about the various initiatives that they have underway to bring in more visitors which was paying off with an estimated 31,000 for this financial year (well up on pre-COVID levels). The Howick Local Board provides an operational grant to help keep the living museum running and we were grateful for their transparency around the financial challenges they face.

Next we heard from East Auckland Tourism, with Chairperson Andrew Laing speaking about the work his not-for-profit organisation is doing to increase tourism and economic outcomes in the area. It was good to hear about the new East Auckland Tourism Board members and understand the strengths that they bring. We provide operational funding for this group, as Tātaki Auckland Unlimited has stepped away from local economic development (due to budget cuts).

And finally Brit & Euro Classic Car Show, one of the largest events in East Auckland. It’s always good to see how well they engage local volunteers and service clubs, ensuring the event continues to be “by the community, for the community”. It was a shame about the weather this year, but those who did attend still enjoyed themselves and the cars looked amazing. We support this event through our Event Partnership Fund.

We then had two public forum items on an item that was discussed later – firstly we had Bucklands and Eastern Beaches Ratepayers and Residents Association with Derek speaking in support of the Notice of Motion to reinstate rubbish bins along Bucklands Beach.

This was Followed by Nick from Bucklands Beach Yacht Club who also supported the Notice of Motion and asked for another bin to be reinstated near the Half Moon Bay marina.

We then discussed the Notice of Motion from Member Bruce Kendall – a notice of motion is a way for elected members to get something onto the meeting agenda that isn’t driven by staff. The motion requested that staff reinstate three bins and add signage to encourage people to take their litter home. As a result of the public forum items, Members Kendall and Spiller amended their motion to be five bins and signage. There was a discussion about the potential costs and I moved an amendment to seek advice (including costs) which was passed. Member Collings moved an amendment to clarify that the wording for the signage was only a suggestion, leaving staff to make a recommendation.

Next we moved into a confidential session to allow us to discuss Early Childhood Education Services. Because the report, discussion and resolution contains commercially sensitive information, we can’t yet reveal the details of this section.

When we returned to the public session, we noted that there was no update from our Ward Councillors (who were themselves meeting at the same time) and then I tabled my Chairpersons Report.

We then discussed and debated our work programme for the coming financial year (July 2024 to June 2025). After our public consultation earlier in the year, staff provided us advice on how we could deliver our objectives in our strategic Howick Local Board Plan 2023.

We considered Movies in the Park which didn’t happen last year due to budget constraints. The proposal to have one this coming year failed to get sufficient support. We then considered Celebrating Cultures, which had a low turnout in March 2024 due to poor weather. I proposed that we continued to run it, as our only event in the Botany/Flat Bush area, providing an opportunity for our diverse communities to celebrate together. In the end, the majority of the Board (6-2) voted to not run the event in 2025, taking the time to reconsider how we can more effectively deliver the outcomes we wanted.

The rest of our draft work programme passed with the full support of the Board, with the additional funding from the Movies and Celebrating Cultures moved into our Community Grants fund. We also provided feedback to council to speed up the delivery of the Flat Bush Community Centre and Library, which was being pushed back to start in 2029. We’re actively exploring asset optimisation and partnership opportunities, and asked staff to investigate a targeted rate to accelerate the delivery.

Next we approved our Environmental Work Programme, which continues our pest removal, stream restoration, educational and pollution prevention programmes. We’ve added some additional funding to target stream restoration in the Botany and Pakuranga Creeks. We also approved our Plans and Places, and Business Associations Work Programmes.

The lease for Bucklands Beach Football Club was up for renewal. Auckland Council has adopted a guideline that suggests that groups should pay something towards the administration of the lease, with the recommendation of $1,300 per year. Members Collings and Kendall suggested we stay with $1 if required (often referred to as a peppercorn rental) but the majority of the Board agreed to increase it slowly over time at $500, $900 then $1,300 per year.

As part of the Eastern Busway Project, Auckland Transport has asked permission to build a new playground at Tī Rākau Park and the Pakūranga Community Grounds (next to Te Tuhi). After some discussion, the Board voted to approve the application (although this wasn’t unanimous).

Auckland Council had logged a request to rezone land under Plan Change 96: Open Space and Other Rezoning Matters. There were two parcels of land next to Barry Curtis Park in Flat Bush which were zoned as Open Space – Sport and Active Recreation Zone but were proposed to be rezoned as Residential – Terrace Housing and Apartment Building Zone. The proposal had received strong opposition from local residents and as a result the Board agreed to oppose the rezoning.

Next we approved our final grant round for the financial year, with $22,909.81 provided to local community groups.

We provided our feedback on the Draft Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) 2024-2034, supporting local residents who wanted improvements that make public transport faster, more accessible, and more reliable.

We provided feedback on the draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2024, again supporting local residents, this time opposing the move to fortnightly rubbish collections. We supported the increased focus on product stewardship, advocacy for more tools to deal with litter and illegal dumping of rubbish, and more resource recovery centres (including one locally).

We deferred our feedback on the funding options for Auckland Citizens Advice Bureaux, encouraging engagement with the local Citizens CAB’s before arriving at the final decision.

We noted our Workshop Records and Governance Forward Work Calendar, and the meeting closed at 5:21pm.

Minutes of the meeting are available here:
https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2024/06/20240627_HW_MIN_12507_WEB.htm

along with related attachments like presentations here:
https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2024/06/20240627_HW_ATT_12507_WEB.htm

And a recording of the meeting is available here (in two parts)
https://youtu.be/UoYnS7BYgMI?si=02n_pyLUNcue8ju6
https://youtu.be/V7c8J_DtnrE?si=KFaDRMlX9Olnq8uL

and previous meetings can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNiuqKCzobSzQ05kCv2JI2iefmDp2_tEh

Our next normal Business Meeting is scheduled for Thursday 18 July at 12noon at the Pakuranga Library building in Aylesbury Street.

These are open to the public to attend and observe, although you need to request a slot if you would like to speak (so we can make sure we provide time).