Weekly Wrap Up: 22 June 2026

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 22 June.

On Thursday we had our HLB meeting (https://aucklandcouncil.resolve.red/portal/meeting/12500) where we made some important decisions for our community:
💰Community Grants: $44k approved for a wide range of community-led activities from sports events, cooking classes, and art exhibitions.
✅Approval of work programmes: includes increased funding for East Auckland Tourism, Huntington Park Neighbours Day, tackling illegal dumping, and Flat Bush Library.
🚧Approval of transport programme: projects include Gracechurch Road, Murphys Park Dr, Te Irirangi Dr/ Botany Rd/ Ti Rakau Dr intersections, and Botany Road.
🛝Approval of new playground for Burswood: Eastern Busway is upgrading the playground at Burswood Reserve as part of their compensation for the impact.
🏘️Plan Change 120 housing intensification: due to the short-timeframe and desire to allow more time for public input, we deferred this until Thursday 2 July.

On Friday I attended a training session for local boards, along with Chair Bruce Kendall, Deputy Kai Zeng and members from other central-east local boards. Some really useful insights and always great to have an opportunity to share concerns and opportunities with/from other local board members.

On Saturday I attended our public consultation event at the Flat Bush Library on our draft Local Board Plan. This 3-year strategy will guide our investment priorities so it’s vital we get public feedback. Submissions are open until 23 July – find out more, including how to have your say at https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/local-board-plans-2026/howick-local-board-plan-2026/

Meetings/activities planned for this week:
📅 Thu 2 July: Howick Local Board meeting continued for Plan Change 120 feedback (https://aucklandcouncil.resolve.red/portal/meeting/12500)
📅 Thu 2 July: Howick Local Board workshop (https://aucklandcouncil.resolve.red/portal/meeting/12284)
📅 Sat 4 July: 20th Estuary Art and Ecology Awards (including whakatuwhera / opening ceremony)
📅 Sat 4 July: Matariki Celebration at Te Tahawai Marae