On Thursday 15 February, the Howick Local Board held our first business meeting for the new year. 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 two dedicated local residents;
🗣 Deputations on Disc Golf and Howick Pakuranga Baseball Club;
📄 Chairpersons report;
📊 Quarter Two Performance Report;
📑 Confidential Decision released into the public.
After the initial formalities of the welcome, declarations of interest and confirmation of minutes, we acknowledged two locals who have had a significant impact on our community. Firstly Willemien Thom (known to most of us as Willie), who recently retired as Personal Assistant and Office Manager for the Howick Local Board. We’re very grateful for the passion and dedication that she has shown over her 19 years at Auckland Council and wish her all the best in her retirement.
We also acknowledged Emeritus Professor Edith Marion Jones ONZM who was appointed as an Office of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Years Honours 2024 for services to education. A resident of Northpark, Professor Jones has contributed to education in New Zealand and internationally for four decades including 19 years at Auckland University of Technology.
Moving into deputations, we had Steve Harding present a proposal to introduce Disc Golf into Lloyd Elsmore Park. He talked about a similar course that had been created in Hendersen which had proved popular. We asked staff to investigate options for incorporating Disc Golf into our local parks.
Next we had Mike Bongiovanni and Paul Wansbone from Howick Pakuranga Baseball Club. They thanked staff for their work on improving the dugouts and backstops and spoke about their upcoming events (including hosting nationals and internationals). They also asked for improvements to the drainage which was preventing them from playing and creating other issues with mowing. We asked staff to investigate drainage issues as part of the Local Board work programme which we’re discussing soon.
I tabled my Chairpersons Report for the month, which noted all the meetings and events that we’d attended since the last meeting. We celebrated the end of the year, including the 70th Howick Santa Parade (which we help fund) and were celebrating Lunar New Year across the community. I noted the feedback from the community regarding the reduction in public litter bins and we’re continuing to work with staff to understand what actions are available. We’re looking forward to the pending opening of the Youth Space in Botany as well as our signature annual event Celebrating Cultures.
We received the Quarter Two performance report for the Howick Local Board, which showed that (as of 31 December) most of our funded work programme items were on track. Seven items were shown in amber status (“some risk or issues, being managed”) which were the Howick Domain facilities renewal (more significant than expected and due shortly); Te Kete Rukuruku (dual naming of parks which is on hold awaiting Board decision, due soon); and some lease renewals, including Howick Domain (awaiting outcome of the above).
We noted a confidential decision that we made in March 2023 regarding a Transit Orientated Development, that was now released into the public. Eke Panuku Development Auckland is working with Auckland Transport to maximise the return on investment on the Eastern Busway. We were asked to endorse their proposal to use utilise leftover land (known as residual land) for Stage 3 of the busway project. This stage goes through Burswood and the Board has previously opposed the route (HW/2022/23 on 21 February 2022) so not all members of the Board supported endorsing Eke Panuku’s proposal.
We noted our Workshop Records and Governance Forward Work Calendar, then I closed the meeting at 12:53pm.
Minutes of the meeting are available here:
https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2024/02/20240215_HW_MIN_11578_WEB.htm
along with related attachments like presentations here:
https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2024/02/20240215_HW_MAT_11578_WEB.htm
And a recording of the meeting is available here:
https://youtu.be/MrTfWR8Yd1Y?si=4MTdd_7dcQiee31s
and previous meetings can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNiuqKCzobSzQ05kCv2JI2iefmDp2_tEh
Our next normal Business Meeting is scheduled for Thursday 21 March 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).