Eastern Busway connecting communities and driving growth

Eastern Busway will provide more transport choice for East Auckland. But it's also an opportunity for urban regeneration.

The newly formed Auckland Urban Development Office is leading the programme to connect communities and drive growth.

The opportunities are focused on land in easy walking distance to the new bus stations at Pakūranga, on Tī Rākau Drive (Te Taha Wai and Koata stations), and at Burswood (Pōhatu Station), so more people can live and work in areas close to public transport.

It's focusing on land that was acquired for the Eastern Busway that will no longer be needed for transport purposes after the busway construction is complete (called residual land). This may also be supplemented by some strategic property purchases, to enable high quality urban renewal.

Read more about it here: https://www.audo.co.nz/news/eastern-busway-is-connecting-communities-and-driving-growth/

My nominations are in!

Exciting milestone this morning as I handed in my paperwork to become a candidate in the upcoming elections. Handing in my paperwork in my local library is always a special moment and keeps it truly local.

I've worked hard as the Chairperson of the Local Board, providing leadership through significant challenges leading to rewarding successes. But there's more to do, so I'm standing again for Botany where I live. The Chairperson is elected by the Board when we're sworn in (late October).

And Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland deserves a more ambitious, disciplined, and diverse council. We need representatives who understand their communities, investing time to listen and respond to residents. So I'm once again standing for Auckland Council, as a candidate for Howick (which includes Pakūranga, Botany and Flat Bush).

There's a bit of paperwork involved. Nominations require a deposit of $200 per role, which is refunded if you get enough votes. You also need two locals to nominate you, confirming your connection to the place you want to represent. Each candidate can provide up to 150 words and a photo thay goes into the booklet sent out with voting papers.

Election day is Saturday 11 October, with voting papers delivered (in the mail) from 9 September.

You can find out more about the elections, including key dates at www.voteauckland.co.nz

Fixing funding of local boards

We need $216.5M to maintain our assets over the next 10 years, but we’ve only been allocated $114.1M.

At our workshop last week, the Howick Local Board received an update about our asset portfolio and it was pretty confronting. Over the next 9 years, we need $216.5M to maintain our existing assets (like playgrounds, libraries, and leisure centres). But Auckland Council has only allocated us $114.1M, leaving a 47% gap!

We've got enough funding to cover our priority renewals (those in the worst shape), but if we don't maintain all assets they will degrade, reducing their ability to serve the community. Deferring maintenance leads to higher costs in the future as parts break.

We're looking at all options to help close this gap, including changing how we deliver services to rely less on physical assets, optimising the assets we do have, and working with partners to deliver outcomes. But the scale of the challenge means none of this will be easy.

Council have two main funding sources for our assets:
🛠 operational expenses (like day-to-day maintenance, utilities) are covered by rates ($3B), fees ($1.9B) and other revenue ($1.3B).
🏗 capital expenses (like major renewals, new assets) are funded through operating revenue ($1.1B), subsidies ($0.9B), and debt ($1.7B) which is paid off over the lifetime of the asset (like you would a mortgage). To keep the interest manageable, council tries to keep the debt below 250% of revenue (270% absolute max).

New assets can also get funding from development contributions ($0.2B) which is a charge that properly developers pay to help fund assets in the area they're building. These funds cannot be used for anything other than the asset they were collected for.

The good news for Howick Local Board is that our venues for hire (valued at $4.5M) are generating enough revenue from hirage to cover their own day-to-day expenses. But as these buildings need more significant renewal, we need capital funding. And our libraries (valued at $32M), pool and leisure centres (valued at $15.6M) need upgrading so they can keep pace with our growing, changing population as well as shifts in technology and demands. And we know our playgrounds aren’t delivering what our communities need, with gaps especially in Flat Bush.

It’s important to note that Local Boards don't determine what our budget is, we only get (some) control over where our allocated budget goes. How much money each Local Board gets is decided by the Governing Body made up of the Mayor and 20 Councillors. Funding used to be based on what assets we had plus some discretionary funding, but this year we’ve moved to a different formula (known as fairer funding) which is based on population (80%), deprivation (15%), and land area (5%). For example, Howick has the largest population (160k), but lower deprivation (11%) and land area (69.7km2).

The Governing Body decides how much money they want Local Boards to have, then staff allocate it using this formula. Local Boards get less than 10minutes every year to present our feedback and beg for the resources we need to serve our communities. And not all the Councillors even bother to turn up to listen.

Auckland Council group OPEX from Long Term Plan 2024-2034

While the 21 local boards have a huge impact on their communities, they represent a small part of a large complex organisation. To put this into context:
🛠 Auckland Council operating budget for this year is $5,133M – all local boards are $491M (5%) and Howick is $37M (0.7%, 3rd highest).
🏗 Auckland Council’s capital budget for this year is $4,274M while all local boards are $212M (5%) and Howick is $10M (0.2%, 6th highest)

The cause of these issues go back before the creation of Auckland Council, with legacy councils building assets that they couldn’t afford to maintain. But even since the amalgamation, decisions have compounded the issues – like not fully funding depreciation until now so debt has ballooned. And in 2020, Auckland Council passed an emergency budget which slashed the capital spending. For Howick Local Board, the capital funding for 2021 went from a planned $20M to $1.5M. While it’s slowly increased over time, it’s never come back to the previous levels and never enough to compensate for the deferred maintenance.

Some budget pressure can be helpful - it makes us challenge decisions and focus on prioritising what’s important. The Howick Local Board has achieved significant savings over the past few years AND managed to deliver more value for our communities. But the growing gap is leaving our assets in a poor state and forcing us to make short-term decisions to balance our budgets.

This is a challenge across Auckland so there's a regionwide portfolio review underway to provide quality advice to local boards. We're expecting staff to come back to us in November and December with more information for the newly elected Board, with the intention of putting in place a plan by July 2026. This will be a major challenge for the new Howick Local Board to tackle.

Fixing the underlying issues will take longer but is essential for a thriving city. In my opinion:
💰 our budgeting process needs more focus on the outcomes – what do we need, not just what we’ve always done
👥 local boards need more opportunities for genuine involvement in regional decisions – we know our communities, help us serve them better
🏘 council needs to be more agile and responsive – we’re too slow and cumbersome, weighed down by complex structures
📑 staff need to provide more quality advice to elected members so we’re making the right decisions – 15 years to develop asset management plans is too slow
🏛 government needs to provide councils more funding sources so they’re not relying on debt and rates – portion of GST would be a good start

Because our workshop are open to the public, the materials are published online: https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/07/20250724_HLBWC_ATT_13171_WEB.htm

Consultation on Howick Sailing Club

The Howick Sailing Club has asked the Howick Local Board to consider granting them an extension to their lease at Howick Beach to allow them to create a larger storage shed (next to their existing building).

This is what they've said about the application:

"The club is in the early stages of a proposed infrastructure project to help assure the future of the club. We have several different issues that we’re trying to resolve;
The location of the club rooms over the water affords us an amazing view at our beautiful location. However it exposes the storage of club and club member assets under the club rooms to the potential effects of any sea level rise.

We are currently having to store club RHIBs and the tractor at club members properties. This option is not viable long term. We need the space at the beach area to store these.

We are finding that fewer members have the available space at their properties to store their sailors boats. This project will provide some space for sailors to have their boats at the club like the majority of other yacht clubs around the city. The vast majority of our sailors are kids. Being able to store boats at the beach would enable them to be more active and less reliant on parental spare time to transport boats backwards and forwards.

Our proposed lease application is for a building that joins onto the current Learn To Sail/Waterwise kiosk. It would occupy a space that is not currently used other than by a walkway which would be slightly re-routed. The embankment is steep and the sloped scoria wall is not an inviting place to sit and relax. On the roof of the new building we would provide a level platform upon which the public could relax and enjoy the environment."

This will result in an additional building footprint of 148m2 for leasing purposes (or a total of 164m2 when including the cantilevered portion of the viewing deck that extends over the existing carparking area). The project also involves the realignment of an existing path with stairs, removal of a rubbish bin and a section of rock retaining wall beside the carpark as shown in the plans.

Because this might have an impact on other users of the beach area, it's important that the public has an opportunity to have their say. Therefore Auckland Council has publicly notified the request and is seeking feedback until 5pm Friday 15 August.

A notice was also placed in this weeks Times newspaper. An earlier notice incorrectly said the area was 16m2 so it's been re-notified.

You can find out more about the request, including how to have your say here: https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/public-notices/Pages/community-lease-4r-granger-road-howick-howick-sailing-club.aspx

Progressing Flat Bush Library and Community Hub and Aquatic and Leisure Centre projects!

Flat Bush has grown quickly but the community infrastructure has not keep up. Two key facilities that have been promised for nearly two decades but never delivered are the Community Centre and Library, and the Pool and Leisure Centre. These have been priorities for the Howick Local Board but funding challenges within Auckland Council mean that we haven't made much progress. This is about to change.

At our recent meeting on Thursday 17 July, the Howick Local Board formally asked staff to advance to a focused planning phase, building on previous work and community engagement.

Much has changed since the last review was completed in 2019 and before we invest the $83M allocated for these facilities we want to ensure we're building what the community needs. We're also taking the opportunity to review where these will be built and exploring opportunities for partnerships.

The Community Centre and Library are planned for Block K next to the Ormiston Town Centre, while the Pool and Leisure Centre is planned for Barry Curtis Park (it was originally planned for Block B). We now have the option of combining Blocks K and G for both facilities which might be a better outcome - the review will help understand this option.

Don't worry the review won't take years - it's expected to be completed within the next few months, back in time for early 2026 when our new Board (including dedicated Flat Bush representatives) are in place.

For those interested the full report is available on our public agenda item 15: https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/07/20250717_HW_AGN_11594_WEB.htm

More improvements for Highland Park Library!

As part of the Howick Local Board multi-year renewal project of the much-loved Highland Park Library, more improvements are coming soon.

Firstly, the layout for the public toilets will be changed to turn one toilet into two. We'll also bring them both up to modern accessible standards.

Two new canopies will offer much-needed shade to the external courtyard. During summer, it’s bustling with kids’ activities and other events. By installing shade, the same area can also be used more often, increasing library space just in time for Summer.

A few trees in the courtyard are being removed as they create a mess and slip risks. To compensate, additional trees will be planted near the library entrance.

Works start on Monday 21 July with the toilets planned to be completed by mid-September and the external area by late-October.

Mahi toi (artwork) unveiled at Half Moon Bay

"Ko ngā whetū ki te rangi, ko ngā kirikiri ki te one taipapa, ko ngā mana whakaheke o Ngāi Tai."

(As the stars in the sky, and the grains of sand on our many foreshores, so are the myriad of chiefs in the pantheon of Ngāi Tai.)

Beautiful mahi tai (artwork) unveiled at dawn this morning at the Half Moon Bay Ferry Terminal. Designed by local iwi Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, it includes this whakataukī that is reflected in the artwork itself. It looks especially beautiful in the dark as the light shines through the stars.

This surrounds the new electric ferry charging infrastructure that will enable environmentally friendly, cost efficient, more reliable and quieter connections into the city. With construction on the landslide infrastructure now completed, the next step is the infrastructure in the city centre and commissioning of the new ferries.

There are unrelated works still happening at Half Moon Bay with upgrades underway for the Waiheke vehicle ferry.

Pre-Election Report released

“By 2034 we are projected to see an additional 200,000 Aucklanders joining our diverse community. That is slightly more than Hamilton being added, in only nine years. This rapid growth brings increased demand for services and infrastructure, such as transport, water services, parks and community facilities,” says Auckland Council chief executive Phil Wilson.

“To accommodate this growth, we must confront the challenges our region faces, while ensuring long-term financial sustainability. These include addressing Auckland’s relatively low productivity and lifting the region’s economic growth to support development.”

As part of the build up towards the elections, Auckland Council has released it's pre-election report.

There are six key issues for the incoming council to tackle:
📈addressing productivity and growth challenges
🏗infrastructure investment to support population growth
🏢protecting and enhancing our assets
🌏climate resilience and environmental sustainability
👥community services
💰funding for Aucklanders' needs.

Essential reading for anyone considering standing for council and helpful for voters as they elect their representatives to tacke these challenges (and more).

https://voteauckland.co.nz/en/information-for-voters/pre-election-report-2025.html

Dog attacks on the increase

Auckland is experiencing a significant increase in dog attacks, aggressive dog behaviour and roaming dog complaints.

From July 2023 to June 2024, Auckland Council received:
⚠️15,146 reports of roaming dogs
⚠️1,253 reports of dog attacks on people
⚠️1,593 reports of attacks on other animals.

Suburbs in the south of Auckland (in particular Manurewa, Ōtara and Papakura) saw the highest number of roaming dog reports, with significant numbers also seen in Henderson and Massey.

Many of these issues stem from irresponsible owners not caring for their dogs and letting them roam freely in public spaces - a small number of irresponsible people are making our public spaces unsafe for everyone and giving dog owners a bad name.

Animal Management is undertaking a range of initiatives including more enforcement officers, more shelter capacity to impound dangerous dogs, and initiatives to increase the level of desexed dogs.

But they can't do it alone and we can all contribute to a safer community so Auckland Council has put together a one-stop-shop for everything dog related. Whether you're need advice on dog safety for kids, exploring off-leash dog parks near you, or learning about dog bite prevention, check out https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/dogs/

Community clean up in Salford Park

As part of the celebrations for Matariki, the Ōtara Waterways and Lakes Trust organised a community planting day at Salford Park, Flat Bush.

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Despite the rain, 28 locals turned up to volunteer including local students and residents. Always great to part of the community efforts to clean up our local waterways.

Howick Local Board attendance at meetings April to June 2025.

As part of providing transparency, Auckland Council publishes the attendance for elected members at business meetings and workshops.

Here is the Howick Local Board result for April to June 2025.

Absences may be due to leave, illness, bereavement or attending other council business.

You can see more (including previous reports, other local boards and councillors) on the Auckland Council website: https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/about-auckland-council/performance-transparency/Pages/attendance-governing-body-meetings.aspx

Road safety dashboard provides transparency

In the past 5 years, 15 people were killed on roads within the Howick Local Board. 162 received serious injuries (requiring medical or hospital care) and 947 received minor injures.

That's too high - in fact New Zealand has the 4th highest rate of road deaths of high-income countries. Accounting for population, NZ has nearly twice as many deaths as Australia and nearly four times the UK.

To help us better understand when and where these crashes are happening, Auckland Transport has created an interactive Local Board Crash Data Dashboard, with data sourced and authorised by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi's crash analysis system (CAS).

There are some limitations on the data - not every crash is reported. Analysis by Auckland Transport showed more people are admitted to hospital overnight for injuries resulting from crashes than reported in CAS. And there is a delay in the data becoming available. But it's the best data we have and it's used across NZ.

And it's now available for everyone in a user friendly dashboard.

You can filter by year, local board, and type of injury. The data is presented using visual heat map, so you can see the areas where there are more crashes. If you zoom in, you can see the details on each incident.

You can find out more about the dashboard here: https://at.govt.nz/about-us/reports-publications/where-crashes-are-happening-in-auckland

Howick Local Board business meeting summary for June 2025

On Thursday 19 June, the Howick Local Board held our fifth regular business meeting of the year. Here’s a summary of some of the key discussions and outcomes. At the end there are links to the official minutes and recordings of our meetings.

🗣 Deputations regarding parkour, litter intelligence, East Auckland Tourism.
📑 Feedback on tsunami resilience project, waste legislation changes
✅ Approval of quick response grants, reallocation of underspend funds, temporary library for Flat Bush, work programmes for next year, road names
📊 Reviewed lease and landowner approval for Howick Sailing Club

After the initial formalities of the welcome, we noted the declarations of interest and confirmed the previous minutes.

We had a number of acknowledgements:

• Dame Ranjna Patel DNZM on her appointment as DNZM for services to ethnic communities, health, and family violence prevention. A resident of Sunnyhills, she is a multi-award-winning leader and advocate for community wellbeing, whose initiatives have made a lasting impact across New Zealand.

• Professor George Clifton on his appointment as CNZM for services to structural engineering. Howick resident Professor Clifton is an internationally recognised authority on the structural and fire response of multi-storey steel framed buildings and their construction.

• Laurinne Laing on her appointment as MNZM for services to sports and people with intellectual disabilities. A resident of Mellons Bay, Mrs Laing has volunteered for the Special Olympics Howick-Pakuranga club for 35 years, volunteering 30 to 40 hours per week for sports coordination, fundraising, volunteer and athlete recruitment, as well as guidance to athletes and their families.

• Julia Castles on being awarded a Kings Service Medal for services to language education and migrant communities. A resident of Mellons Bay, Mrs Castles has worked for more than 42 years to provide English language tuition and settlement support to refugees and migrants in South Auckland.

• Penelope-Jane Frost on being awarded a Kings Service Medal for services to children and social work. A resident of Bucklands Beach, Mrs Frost has been Auckland Regional Manager for the Stand Children’s Services – Tū Maia Whānau since 2002, having been involved with Stand Children’s Services in various roles since 1978.

• Howick and Pakūranga Toy Library on 30 years of community service. Based at the Howick Presbyterian Church, the toy library works on a membership system with over 200 families involved.

We received a deputation from NZ Parkour presenting opportunities to include parkour facilities in our local area. They had some compelling information about cost effective ways to deliver the first purpose-built parkour in Auckland, and we asked staff to provide advice on options to achieve this.

We then received a deputation from Sam Judd of Sustainable Coastlines talking us through a pilot project that they’d completed to capture the litter and rubbish in Flat Bush. The formal report was due shortly and we agreed to arrange a more detailed discussion once it was published.

We had a quick public forum item from BirdCare Aotearoa, with Dr Rashi Parker providing an update on recent developments including rescues and returns completed in the Howick Local Board area.

Then our third and final deputation from East Auckland Tourism, with Chair Andrew Laing presenting their annual update. It was great to see the range of projects and activities they had delivered over the past year including the launch of their new tourism map.

Every month we allocate a slot for our Ward Councillors to provide an update. Unfortunately, due to scheduling clashes, they are usually unable to attend. To accommodate this, they agreed to provide a written report when there are board-specific updates to share. No report was received for this meeting.

I presented my Chairpersons Report for the month, detailing what we had been focused on since the last meeting. We’d be working hard on our upcoming work programmes, which we’d approve later in the meeting.

We reviewed and approved the responses to the Howick Local Board Quick Response Grants, with forty applications requesting $112k. Unfortunately, some of the groups had not provided the required accountability reporting and were ineligible. We approved 33 applications totalling $64k, with the others declined due to lack of accountability reporting, or low reach.

Next we considered a report from staff regarding reallocation of underspend funds from other projects, including what was left from the grants fund. We allocated it to Pest Free Howick, reducing the burden on our budget for the following year.

In exciting news for Flat Bush, we approved a proposal to open a temporary library service at the Ormiston Town Centre! After nearly 20 years of promises of a community centre and library, we’ve managed to secure $83M over the next 9 years to build these much-needed facilities. However, in the meantime we’ve secured space for 5 years to provide library services sooner. This required a significant investment of $489k in the first half-year and $870k for every subsequent year – we’d spent the last few months working through our stretched budget to squeeze every dollar we could to make this happen.

Next we approved our Community Services and Environmental work programmes for the following year. These provide staff the budget and direction to deliver projects and activities from July 2025 through to June 2026. With only $57k extra in funding and the temporary library requiring significant investment, we were limited in our ability to add new projects. However, we managed to add a few new initiatives to monitor water quality, tackle illegal dumping in Flat Bush, and support community-led environmental action.

We were asked to consider a request to provide a lease and landowner approval for Howick Sailing Club who want to extend their storage building at Howick Beach. However, there was some confusion with the content of the report compared to a workshop, so the Board voted to defer the item to allow time to workshop it again.

We approved road names in Flat Bush, with the extension of Argento Avenue and new road Takarore Crescent.

Auckland Emergency Management has developed recommendations to increase tsunami resilience and asked the public for their feedback. We were asked for our feedback before it goes to the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Committee in September. While there was only four responses from local residents, there was strong support across Auckland (80% supporting all or most of the recommendations). We supported the recommendations, although we noted that the modelling did not seem to consider low lying land.

We noted our urgent decision providing feedback on proposed waste legislation changes. Urgent decisions are used to make decisions outside of the normal Board meetings – not ideal, especially for feedback, but due to government timeframes we had no choice. We supported the move towards product stewardship and greater enforcement of “mismanaged waste”.

We noted our workshop records and forward governance work calendar before closing the meeting at 3:43pm.

Minutes of the meeting are available here:
https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/06/20250619_HW_MIN_11593_WEB.htm
along with related attachments like presentations here:
https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/06/20250619_HW_MAT_11593_WEB.htm

A recording of the meeting is available here, along with previous meetings: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNiuqKCzobSzQ05kCv2JI2iefmDp2_tEh

Our next normal Business Meeting is scheduled for Thursday 17 July at 12noon at the Pakūranga 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).

Speed calming for Bradbury Road

⚠️Bradbury Road speed calming construction begins soon

Local residents and the Howick Local Board asked Auckland Transport to look into making Bradbury Road safer.

There’s a history of drivers travelling above the speed limit, particularly during morning and afternoon peaks, as Bradbury Road is commonly used as a shortcut to access other main roads in the area.

To improve safety for drivers and the community, speed cushions will be installed at five locations along Bradbury Road together with side islands. See the image for an example of what this will look like.

Speed cushions are cheaper than a normal speed bump, don't impact larger vehicles like buses or smaller ones like bikes, and allow for stormwater to flow. They're not pedestrian crossing points - studies showed there was low demand for crossings along the road.

🚧Installing speed cushions and side islands outside number 31, 73, 101, 131 and 159 Bradbury Road.
🚧Repainting the existing bus stops on Bradbury Road.
🚧 Painting new road markings and installing new signage to support the changes. No stopping at all times (broken yellow) lines will be painted at the bus stops except for 131 Bradbury Road (which already has them).

Works are planned to start on Monday 11 July and continue through to 31 July (as required). Construction will happen overnight to reduce the impact on traffic and is weather dependent.

Bradbury Road will be closed overnight during the works. If you live along this road, traffic controllers on site will help you access your property. Detours will be in place to redirect traffic around the work sites.

On-street parking will be limited. You may need to either park on your property or on a side road and walk to your property.

Works will create noise and vibration; the contractor will do their best to keep noise levels down.

You can find more about the project here: https://haveyoursay.at.govt.nz/bradbury-road-speed-calming

"We do not want you to forget the country of your birth"

"We do not want you to forget the country of your birth, nor that your children lose their heritage and cultural roots, but instead further add to the fabric of Aotearoa New Zealand."

One of the most enjoyable duties as a local board member is being involved in Citizenship Ceremonys. Each event is a massive celebration of the journey that our newest citizens have taken to arrive at this point, and it's a privilege to be a part of it.

On Tuesday, fellow Howick Local Board members Adele White JP and John Spiller, Manurewa Local Board member Andrew Lesa JP, and I took the citizenship oaths for 319 new New Zealanders from 25 different countries of origin.

Delivered in all three official languages, it was a fantastic experience and a pleasure to be a part of.

Watercare is financially independent

As of today, 1 July 2025, Watercare is financially separated from Auckland Council. This enables Watercare to leverage their own assets (which have a much longer lifespan) to raise the $13.8 billion they need to address the challenges we're facing. It reduces the risk for council and enables Watercare to raise a lot more without massive increases in water or property rates.

While water and wastewater prices increase by 7.2%, this is much lower than the 25.8% alternative if the separation didn't occur. Pricing is now regulated by the Commerce Commission, which will monitor and report on performance regularly.

Over the next year, Watercare plans to invest approximately $1 billion in new and upgraded infrastructure. The programme also includes a six-fold increase in the replacement of existing water and wastewater pipes. These renewals are a key step toward improving service reliability, reducing leaks, and minimising wastewater overflows.

This is a great outcome for Auckland!

Read more here: https://www.watercare.co.nz/home/about-us/latest-news-and-media/we-start-new-era-as-financially-independent-water-company

Dog bylaw changes coming

Last week Auckland Council confirmed the latest dog management bylaws and policies including updated on leash, on/off leash areas at nine regional parks, and limits on the number of dogs that can be walked at once.

From 1 January 2026:
🐕 Qualified dog walkers can walk up to 12 dogs at once, on or off-leash, as long as they are kept under control. To walk up to 12 dogs, qualified dog walkers must register with the council and follow the conditions attached to their registration.

🐕 Other dog owners can walk a maximum of four dogs at once, with two off-leash, as long as they are kept under control.

On leash, off leash and dog-free areas have been updated in nine regional parks:
Auckland Botanic Gardens
Hunua Ranges Regional Park
Long Bay Regional Park
Mahurangi Regional Park
Pākiri Regional Park
Shakespear Regional Park
Tāpapakanga Regional Park
Waitawa Regional Park
Whakanewha Regional Park

The Governing Body agreed to some additional work being done before finalising changes to dog rules at Te Ārai Regional Park.

This is broadly in line with the feedback from the Howick Local Board which was a license for professional dog walkers as a sensible compromise that will provide for greater control of dogs without making commercial operations impossible.

Read more here: https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2025/06/bylaw-pup-dates-auckland-council-adopts-new-regional-dog-rules/

I'm standing for our community

I'm pleased to announce that I intend to stand for the Howick Local Board and Auckland Council in the elections this October. 

I'm proud of the work we've done on the Howick Local Board over the past three years.  I've enjoyed the privilege of being the Chairperson, leading the Board through some significant challenges and rewarding successes. 

Faced with budget cuts and growing population, we've made robust financial decisions, leading to less reliance on rates and enabling us to do more with less. We asked the public what they wanted us to focus on and then we delivered. We're more transparent and accountable with increased communication, visibility, and opening our workshops to the public.

It's been a privilege to serve as one of the Members for Botany (including Flat Bush) over the past three years. We've worked hard to address the gaps, especially where the infrastructure hasn't kept pace with the population growth. By working with community partners we've done more and built a strong foundation for the future. 

We opened Te Taiwhanga Taiohi East Auckland Youth Space, delivered safety improvements focused around schools, and have made real progress on the long awaited Community Centre and Library. The recently announced temporary library will provide space for our communities to connect and grow, as we work on the permanent facilities. 

And Flat Bush residents will now get the representation they deserve with three Members on the Howick Local Board.

But the work isn't finished and I intend to stand again for the Howick Local Board as a candidate for Botany where I live, in the heart of East Auckland.

 It’s been a privilege to serve the diverse communities of Howick, Pakūranga, Botany, and Flat Bush. I've seen local government at its best, empowering communities and embracing the incredible diversity of the people who call this city home.

I love this mahi (work), its localism at its finest. Acknowledging the importance of local communities and their involvement in decisions that affect them. Supporting local businesses, strengthening community bonds, and fostering a sense of place and belonging. Local Boards can achieve all of this and more but they've been held back by poor policy and execution across council.

After 15 years we're still struggling with the basics like financial transparency and effective communication. It's symptomatic of a council that isn't living up to the promise of the super city. While it's been great to see Auckland push back to Government on unfunded mandates and unreasonable consultation timeframes, too often local boards suffer the same under council.

At a local level we see the impact of an organisation not structured to respond to local needs with outdated leases, poor enforcement, and even small issues requiring endless follow up.

At a regional level we're facing significant challenges of housing intensification, climate change, and an uncertain economic outlook.

The last few years have proven to me yet again that the systemic issues at council are holding this city and its people back. 

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland deserves a more ambitious, disciplined, and diverse council. We need representatives who understand their communities and invest the time to listen to their residents, not just at election time.  

I know our city has the potential to be incredible as I've seen glimpses of it. With the right people around the council table, we can achieve it. That's why I'm standing again for one of the two Councillors for the Howick Ward (which includes Howick, Pakūranga, Botany and Flat Bush).

I have proven that I will work tirelessly for my community. I want to use my skills and experience to help our city. I’m grateful for the support I received when I stood in 2018, 2019, and 2022. It would be an honour and a privilege to serve as East Auckland's representative on council.

I will continue to be highly visible, results driven, and truly independent. I will utilise my passion for community, my experience in governance, and my knowledge of council to deliver for every resident of East Auckland.

Community night sky viewing for Matariki

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Wonderful way to celebrate Matariki with community astronomy viewing thanks to Highland Park Community House and the Auckland Astronomical Society.

As a member of the society, I enjoyed taking along my telescope and sharing the night sky with local residents.

Progress on Mill Road good news for locals

Recently the Howick Local Board received an update from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi about the Mill Road Project. This has been selected by the Government as part of their Roads of National Significance (RONS).

The project will deliver a 21.5km four-lane corrior parallel to SH1, providing more efficient and resilient transport options between Flat Bush, Manukau, Manurewa, Papakura, and Drury.

The Howick Local Board has supported this project on the basis it would address the safety issues that many local residents face every day. With it's origins back in 2009, its good to see that this project starting to make progress. We're very focused on the northern end of the project which will be delivered in Stage 1, including a signalised intersection for Murphys and Redoubt Road.

They project has also confirmed that the intersections of Murphys/Thomas Roads, and Murphys Road/Murphys Park Drive are no longer in scope, leaving them to Auckland Transport to address. We're pleased to get this clarification and are actively working with AT to make progress as quickly as possible.

Stage 1 is working through design and consenting, with construction planned to commence in mid-2026 starting with Alfriston Roundabout and some of Redoubt Road. Estimated completion for Stage 1 is 2032.

More information about the project can be found here:
https://nzta.govt.nz/projects/south-auckland-projects/mill-road/

You can see the presentation we received in our open workshop here: https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2025/06/20250612_HLBWC_ATT_13166_WEB.htm