As we wrap up for the holidays, we wanted to take a moment to thank our community for their continued support throughout the year. It’s been wonderful to have the opportunity to attend so many community activities and events across the year.
It hasn’t been without its challenges – the extreme weather events of early 2023 continue to impact communities across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. We’ve faced some tough financial challenges with rising costs and a growing population so are very grateful for the massive response to our annual budget consultation. Thousands of locals told us what their priorities were for our limited funding which enabled us to make the tough choices while ensuring we could continue to meet the needs of the community. On top of this, we received input into our new Local Board Plan that sets out the strategic direction for the next few years. Thank you for taking the time to provide your input, it was invaluable to us. We heard the community tell us to focus on protecting the environment, celebrating arts and culture, and supporting youth.
Our environmental programmes have achieved great things this year - the support we provide Pest Free Howick enabled them to run the most successful moth plant competition ever removing 133,507 pods containing an estimated 93 million seeds! We’re delivering on our urban ngahere action plan to increase the tree canopy by enabling volunteers to plant 16,420 trees in the 12 months to June. And we continue to focus on reducing pollution and waste with dedicated educational programmes for local construction, industry, and schools.
We provided funding for the community to deliver events like the Birt & Euro Classic Car Show, 70th Howick Santa Parade, and the Pakuranga Rotary Community Carnival & River Festival. Volunteers are at the heart of many of the successful activities and organisations that make our community such a great place, so we recognised them with a special ceremony in June. Our Celebrating Cultures event in March was a huge success and we look forward to its return as an annual event in 2024.
We’re very proud of the ongoing success of the Howick Youth Council, who’ve delivered a wide range of self-directed programmes and activities throughout the year. We’re also pleased to have secured funding for the long-awaited dedicated Youth Space that is due to open early next year.
2024 will bring new and familiar challenges, as our new Local Board Plan takes effect in July along with continued pressure on our limited budget. We’ve already stepped up our advocacy for the Flat Bush Community Centre and Library as part of the early discussions around the Long Term Plan (LTP). After a short break, we look forward to continuing to deliver for the residents of the Howick Local Board area.
We wish you and your whānau a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.