Weekly Wrap Up: 1 December 2025
Each week I’m providing a quick summary of the meetings and events I’ve attended as a member of the Howick Local Board (HLB). This is my report for last week, starting Monday 1 December.
On Thursday we had our first business meeting of the new term. It was a big meeting with eight presentations from the public and twelve non-standard reports taking us just under five hours. I’ll do a more full summary but some key decisions included funding to deliver the Lloyd Elsmore Skatepark we’ve promised the community, major investment into the Howick Library for roof repairs, and providing our initial feedback into the annual plan for next year. I was appointed as the Board representative onto East Auckland Tourism, Business East Tamaki, and Pest Free Howick Ward, as well as being delegated the landowner, film and event approvals within the Botany subdivision.
On Friday I attended a Road Safety Forum, a great opportunity to expand my knowledge and understanding of the challenges and opportunities around road safety across Auckland. Great discussions about how safer roads can enable students to walk and cycle to school (and why we need to do more to make it possible), as well as loads of practical examples of how to make progress (without waiting for perfection). I made plenty of notes and will do a more detailed summary later in the week.
I headed back to Pakūranga for a tour of Te Tuhi before it closes for renovations. They were badly impacted by flooding earlier this year and while it’s been a painful process, it’s provided an opportunity to rebuild better. Jack Collings (HLB Pakūranga subdivision) and I got a sneak peak of the plans. It's been a challenging time for the staff and community, and I can’t wait for the reopening in early 2026.
And then I attended the Howick Youth Council Annual Review, along with Jack Collins and Deputy Kai Zeng. Having attended my first annual review back in 2017, it’s always a fantastic opportunity to see what these amazing rangatahi have been up to over the past year, and meet the new leadership team for next year. It was great to see this year’s team challenge themselves to rethink their projects to keep them fresh and relevant. Changes like splitting their youth summit into one for juniors and senior students allowed them to tailor the programme. And they finally finished the long-awaited ‘What is HYC’ video which provides a quick snapshot into what the group does for local youth. Check out https://youtu.be/otm7No19tnc?si=WvYIcoSVUOYspFjK
Over the weekend I attended a Family Christmas and an end of year celebration for a community organisation I volunteer with, making the best of the stunning weather.
This coming week:
📅 Tuesday Plan Change 120 Intensification public information meeting (https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/aucklands-future-housing-plan)
📅 Thursday Howick Local Board workshop (https://aucklandcouncil.resolve.red/portal/meeting/10192)