December Newsletter

Thank you for your support this year and the hundreds of submissions, emails, phone calls, and Facebook messages – listening to you and responding to your queries and concerns is a key part of my role and one which is very important to me.

A last update before we farewell 2018.

Your views are important

 

There are two Auckland Council consultations open and relevant to our community that I encourage you to submit on. As always, I will be closely following the feedback from the Orakei Ward and supporting your views.

 

 

Palmers Garden Centre and Cafe

 

176-182 Shore Road in Remuera has been leased by Palmers Garden World Limited for the last 15 years. This lease was the result of an agreement between the Minister of Conservation and Auckland Council in 2005. The agreement says that the lease can be extended for a further 15 years, provided it is in the public's interest. Do you want it to stay? Please share your views.

Consultation is open until 12 December 2018.

 

Freedom Camping

 

Some of our visitors to Auckland over summer are ‘campers’ who use our parks and public spaces to overnight while they enjoy the city. Whilst we welcome people to explore the many beaches, parks and tourist spots in this way, we also need to ensure that their presence doesn’t prevent others from also enjoying these spots. The proposed bylaw out for consultation includes preventing freedom campers in such areas as the Michael Joseph Savage memorial and Selwyn Reserve in Mission Bay, while allowing self-contained campervans to park at Orakei Domain and Churchill Park. Consultation is open through to 18 February 2019 with the decision making scheduled for April.

 

 

Auckland Transport Consultation

 

There are also several Auckland Transport consultations open that will shape the way we travel from and around the Orakei area. Again, I encourage you to submit to ensure our communities views are represented.

 

Pedestrian Crossing Improvements

 

A number of pedestrian crossings, identified as higher risk in Auckland Transport crash data, are being investigated for safety updates.

 

·         8 Portland Road, Remuera. Proposed crossing. Submit here.

·         72 Shore Rd, Remuera. Proposed crossing. Submit here.

·         40 Kelvin Rd, Remuera. Proposed crossing. Submit here.

·         107 Kohimarama Rd, Kohimarama. Proposed crossing. Submit here.

·         237 Tamaki Drive, Kohimarama. Proposed crossing. Submit here.

·         217 Riddell Rd, Glendowie. Proposed crossing. Submit here.

 

Regional Public Transport Plan

 

The Regional Public Transport Plan is one of Auckland Transport’s strategic documents for 2018-2028. This plan outlines AT’s proposed public transport network improvements in the coming decade in order to accommodate significant infrastructure projects, such as the City Rail Link, the Eastern Busway, and light rail.

 

It also discusses the prioritisation of buses in some road corridors. Consultation is open until Friday 14 December. Those who are concerned re school bus routes will be particularly interested.

 

Upcoming – 30km/h zones

 

Auckland Transport are also consulting in February on their desire to reduce speed limits to 30km/h in the CBD and the town centres of Mission Bay and St Heliers. The ‘driver’ (pardon the pun) is the fact that a car hitting a pedestrian at 50km/h will be fatal 80% of the time, whereas a car hitting a pedestrian at 30km/h will be fatal 10% of the time.  Whilst I agree with efforts to make our streets safer, I am also very interested in your thoughts as to whether slowing traffic down is the best way to do this when vehicle congestion is such a problem, and we have approximately 33,000 plus cars and buses entering the city from the east. There is also the significant investment we have made on some of our streets separating pedestrians from cyclists, busses and cars. Should we then still slow everyone down when these improvements have been done to increase safety. At time of writing specific dates for consultation are not known so please keep an eye out on my Facebook page or website for further details.

 

Rubbish collections over the holiday period

 

Rubbish and recycling will be collected as normal on Monday 24 December and Monday 31 December.

No collection will take place on Christmas day – the regular Tuesday collection will instead take place on Wednesday 26 December. Similarly, no refuse collection will take place on Tuesday 1 January – it will instead take place on Wednesday 2 January.

From 26-28 December and 2-4 January, refuse and recycling collections will be a day later than usual. Friday collections will be picked up on Saturday.

 

 

Security tips for those going away

 

With many of us heading away for the summer months, I’ve checked in with Neighbourhood Support for some security tips.

 

·         Use timers on radios and lights

·         Cancel newspaper and mail deliveries – consider adding a ‘No Junk Mail’ sticker (available at Citizen’s Advice Bureaux)

·         Lock away garden tools and ladders that could be used by a would-be thief to gain access to your home

·         Do not leave a message that you are away and be careful what you post on social media

 

 

Water Quality

 

This summer is the second swimming season that we have had the enhanced Safeswim website which gives the public an up to date forecast of the water quality at any given beach. Auckland’s struggle with water quality is well documented. Combined stormwater and sewerage in older parts of Auckland, many of which are in the Orakei Ward, cause overflows into the harbour when it rains. We also have problems with dry weather sewerage overflows which are usually caused by blockages in the pipes due to things like fats, oils and wet wipes being tipped down the sink or flushed down the toilet. All of this conspires to reduce the quality of our water and create a health risk to swimmers. Last summer about 10% of readings taken at Orakei’s beaches along Tamaki Drive showed that the water failed to meet national water quality guidelines with a further 5% unsafe for children and the elderly.

Having been given a mandate by you to support the water targeted rate I have been working hard to confirm projects in our ward to address this problem. These include, suburban Orakei’s stormwater separation and outlet upgrades at Okahu Bay along with dredging of the Portland Road creek prior to the road raising. Further to this, we will be conducting detailed investigations of the networks in the Judges Bay, Mission Bay and St Heliers areas to identify and eliminate sources of contamination.

While this is taking place, please check Safeswim for water quality information before swimming.

 

 

Pool Safety

 

The leading cause of pre-school children drowning in pools are unsupervised access to pools through faulty gates and barriers, ladders left against the pool and gates propped open, and small portable pools remaining full of water without supervision.

As we move into summer I ask our community to please check their pools are safe. I was devastated to read that an average of three pre-schoolers die in home pool drownings in Auckland every year and hope we can all play our role in preventing this.

 

Boating Safety

 

If you are visiting one of our stunning  islands in the gulf please make sure you check, clean, and seal your gear so we can keep them pest free.

The Harbourmaster has lists of regulations and maps of restricted areas for anyone navigating Auckland’s waters this summer.

Please remember to take and wear lifejackets when boating this summer. A speed restriction of 5 knots applies within 200m of the shore or 50m of another boat or person in the water.

 

Blue Christmas Services

 

There are many in our community for whom Christmas can be a difficult time – particularly those experiencing grief or loss. Blue Christmas services are peaceful and reflective services run through many of our local churches to support those in need through this season. I lost my own father at Christmastime so know how ‘difficult’ this time of year can be. My thoughts go to those who find this time challenging.

 

 

Church rates

 

The legal interpretation of the way churches were rated was not the same prior to Auckland becoming the supercity. Following approaches from several members of the community concerned by the level of rates being levied on property that had previously been identified as non-rateable, I requested that this matter be brought before Councillors for decision making. Council staff had made new rates allocations for the 2018/2019 year without any political input; something I believed was inappropriate.

The Finance and Performance Committee on 20 November decided to hold the rating of religious properties at the 2017/2018 levy for the full 2018/2019 year. Those of whose rates decreased will keep that decrease, but those who received an increased bill will not pay that increase.  I would also especially thank those church representatives who came and spoke at the meeting to assist the mayor and councillors in understanding the issues.

Further proposed changes to the way religious properties are rated, will be consulted upon as part of the Annual Plan between February 17 and March 17 next year. It will be open and transparent and you will have a chance to have your say.

 

Thank you

 

Finally as I look back on 2018, it has been a long, and at times fraught year, but we have achieved some positive change for our region and the Orakei Ward.

 

Re our open space, we have bought a new park in Orakei, - one of 13 new parks for the region. We provided investment for local and sports parks, including Michaels Avenue Reserve and at Colin Maiden. A special highlight was the $750,000 to enable the renewal of the artificial turfs at College Rifles, a key venue for rugby in Orakei and a key part of our sports network. Over the next 10 years we have increased our investment in Parks and Community facilities to $3.7 billion for the region - an increase of 54% from the previous budget.

On top of this I have championed the value for money workstream which is all about getting independent assessors to peer review how we do things, check we are operating efficiently and getting the best value for the ratepayer dollar spent. To date this programme has realised $208m in benefits with more to come as improvements are identified and made. The 2018-2028 Long Term also includes efficiency savings of $61m over the first three years – equivalent to 5% of the Council’s (parent) direct expenditure.

I lobbied NZTA to get the Orakei Basin walkway balustrade lowered, supported locals to fast track the dredging of Martyn Wilson Field in Remuera and worked with Auckland Transport to get a drop off zone for Kings school at no cost to ratepayers,

For the first time in Auckland Councils history I have ensured the local Boards priority project is funded and have as I have promised to do, always voted as per the majority view on your feedback when asked.

In no way is this an exhaustive list….but a small balance against some of the not so positive stories Auckland Council gets.

 

Again, thank you for your support. I couldn’t do what I do without it.

I wish you all the very best seasons greetings and the happiest of summer holidays.

I’m taking a well deserved break myself and I look forward to seeing you all in 2019.

 

Desley

Councillor attendance- What are my statistics?

You may have read this article in the Herald re Councillor attendance at workshops and council meetings

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12156847

Having been elected by the residents and ratepayers of Auckland, I think the very least one should do is turn up to meetings. If you don’t, you cannot in my opinion, do your job properly and successfully input into the decisions and decision making direction of this Council

 

There are a couple of points I’d like to clarify re my attendance and participation

First the number of committees I attend.

It’s not 5 as mentioned. One of the few delegations the mayor has is to set committees and determine who should sit on what. Unlike some councillors I have never refused to be part of a committee when asked.

The  various Council Committees I am on are as follows;

Governing Body ( all councillors)

Finance and Performance ( deputy chair- all councillors)

Environment and Community ( all councillors)

Planning ( all councillors)

Appointment and Performance and Value for Money

Domain Committee

Ngati Whatua Reserves Board

Hauraki Gulf Forum ( alternate)

Quality Advice Political Advisory Group ( chair)

 

Second – my attendance at workshops was noted as 97% ( 95% plus 2% on Council business)

The reason this isn’t higher is that in three cases, the workshop was scheduled to finish at a certain time, and didn’t it went over time. My councillor support person who manages my diary, had booked other meetings  for me following these and made commitments  for me to attend. If I had stayed on I would have been late or missed them.

 

I stand by my commitment I made to all the communities and residents of the Orakei ward when I said I would work hard on your behalf. I’m hoping both the  Herald article and my associated explanations help prove that.

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

Boundary Changes for 2019 elections

Legislation dictates that the ratio of people to elected member in a ward should not vary from the average across the whole of Auckland by more than 10 per cent. This is to ensure "fair and effective representation for individuals and communities". Auckland currently has 13 wards and a review of these showed our city ward (Waitemata and Gulf) was well in excess of that -43%! Population growth in the city centre has been unprecedented so, following public consultation Council made the decision to move the communities of Parnell, Newmarket, Grafton and Newton into the Orakei ward to lower the ratio for the city. In doing that Orakei was too big so the communities of Ellerslie and St Johns (east of St Johns Rd) have been moved into the Maungakiekie Ward.

Wards are represented by Councillors, but within Wards there can be more than one Local Board area. The changes are for the Wards (Councillors) and will NOT affect the local Board boundaries.

If you live in Ellerslie and are currently part of the Orakei Local Board area, this will not change.

If you live in Parnell, Newmarket, Grafton or Newton you will still be part of the Waitemata local board area.

For more details of the changes and a link to the agenda item you can visit the council website here.

The Local Government Commission are expected to give final approval to these changes in early 2019.
 

Clonbern Carpark


Sadly, even though there has been large signage added to the entrance of the Clonbern Carpark alerting drivers of large vehicles to keep off the upper deck, this doesn’t appear to have worked.

This carpark is integral to the Remuera Town Centre but due to its durability issues, the structural capacity is being compromised. While currently the carpark is safe, unless weight is reduced there is a serious and very high chance that the upper level will close. Re-development is dependent on factors outside of Council control but we do know how important it is for Remuera to have this carpark so over the next 2 weeks a security guard will be on site handing out information to reinforce the signage. Please help us spread the word as to close the carpark would take 70 much needed parking spaces away from the 199 total spaces available at the carpark, making parking even more difficult for Remuera.
 

King's School now has a pick up/drop off zone
 

One project I have particularly championed was for King's School in Remuera to have some sort of pick up/drop off zone. I am pleased to advise this is now in operation and is well loved by the King's School parents, staff and wider community. I facilitated discussions between the two landowners (Auckland Transport and King's School) and following a year’s ‘debate’ the project was completed over the September school holidays and paid for by the school. Portland Rd continues to have two lanes operating both ways and rather than holding up that traffic the drop off zone provides a much safer option for the boys and their parents and does not affect commuter traffic.
 

Fireworks – should they continue to be sold for private use or should we only have public displays?
 

With Guy Fawkes Day just this week, it draws attention to a section of the new by law out for consultation which asks your views as to whether fireworks should be allowed to be sold for private use or not. As always when we ask your views, my vote will reflect the feedback from our ward, so please have your say on the Auckland Council website here.

The bylaw review seeks feedback on changes to the Public Safety and Nuisance bylaw and aims to consolidate and simplify rules that have been previously set by council (or legacy councils) by making them enforceable under legislation from central government instead of via bylaw. This will also cover issues such as window washers at traffic lights, mind altering substances, graffiti, street names and property numbering.


 

Orakei Basin section of the Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive shared path
 

This project seems to have one issue after another. Consultation is out for re-design feedback on this section and the next section from Meadowbank up through the Purewa Valley to St Heliers Bay Rd.

Nowhere in the consultation document does it say that NZTA and AT have FINALLY agreed that the rail can be lowered from 1.4m to 1.2m alongside the Basin nor does it show a picture of a fully wooden option. The current 1.4m high metal railings will be repurposed for use on a different walkway project. Click here to see the options and here to have your say. Happy to chat this through with you further if you’d like, but please be aware consultation closes on November 9 ( this Friday!)
 

Remuera Golf Club and the Mayor


I am pleased to advise that things are looking up re the Mayor and Remuera Golf Course.

I requested Mayor Goff meet with the Club so he could fully understand their long held objective to increase public use. The meeting was last week and ended positively. I believe the Mayor now has a better understanding of the site and  how it integrates with other surrounding facilities. The Mayor was open to all options including lease extensions, purchase of the land by the Club, and their development of facilities for community use. It is now back in the hands of Remuera Golf Club to develop some specific options, work with Council officials and present back in 2019. It’s a positive attitude change by the Mayor and one which I know many in our community will welcome (the meeting was also the day before the Herald contacted me as to my opinion of Mayor Goff so was well timed!)

Portland Road flooding prevention

Another of my strong advocacy based initiatives has been to lock in a work stream to reduce  flooding on the Shore Rd end of Portland Rd and the flooding of Portland Reserve from the ‘creek’ during heavy rain events. Staff advise they are progressing with the design of the two major elements to this project; raising the road and environmental works to improve the functioning of the wetlands in Waitaramoa Reserve and Portland Reserve. As the design progresses, Council will be in touch to inform residents in the immediate area of the works of what is planned, seeking feedback. I have also requested they hold a community meeting to answer any questions from the community.  ( I’ll probably ask the Remuera Residents Association to  facilitate if they are willing) At this point I’m asking you all to ‘watch this space’ but rest assured, work is happening. We are finally getting closer to resolving this longstanding issue of flooding which has been a major hazard for residents of the area and those driving along Portland Rd, especially at night.

Update on sewage overflow in Meadowbank

On Wednesday this week local residents brought to my attention raw sewage overflowing from a stormwater pipe in Meadowbank

I visited the site and sadly found this to be true with wet wipes, tampons and excrement obvious and disgorging into the Purewa Creek. Within 30 mins of my call, Watercare was on site to fix the problem

By way of background, the wastewater network in this area was predominately constructed in the 1950’s, by Housing New Zealand. It is a purpose-built separate wastewater network and currently has sufficient capacity for dry weather flows.

Watercare’s latest system performance assessment of the Purewa wastewater network indicates that small sections of the wastewater network will require upgrading to provide capacity for growth based on the land use changes and upzoning provided in the Operative Auckland Unitary Plan.

I will be pushing hard for those upgrades to happen

The are two engineered overflow points within the Purewa wastewater network that allows wastewater to spill during heavy rainfall or when blockage occurs in the network. These are network relief points and are designed like this to reduce the risk of overflows occurring on private properties

The wastewater overflow that I observed at the creek was a result of a blockage in the network due to fats and wet wipes/rags. The fat congeals and the non-flushable wet wipes bind with the fats and creates the blockage. The attached photo and video shows one of the wet wipes/rag, which do not break down and remain in one piece.

IMG_7383.JPG

Watercare will shortly be sending out a customer newsletter to our Purwea customers, which will provide information on how to help reduce local overflows. Anything you can do to assist in that education and awareness will be greatly appreciated.

Watercare have also installed monitors at each of the engineered overflow locations. These monitor the performance of the network and we will send an alarm when a dry weather overflow occurs, which will allow Council to respond rapidly.

Watercare also intend to modify the two engineered overflow points to lessen the frequency of overflows during wet weather. They aim to have this completed within a few weeks.

I understand that there could be up to 60 properties that have historical consented stormwater (roofs and paved areas) connections to the wastewater network. Healthy Waters ( Councils regional water quality department) will be carrying out field investigations of the drainage connection status of these properties during December 2018, and based on the outcome they will look to construct new stormwater infrastructure to allow the 60 properties to connect to the new stormwater pipes.

October Newsletter

Eastern Bays Songbird Trap Hand outs

I’m sure you join with me in wanting an Orakei community and an Auckland that is vibrant with birdlife, free of pests with healthy biodiverse ecosystems.

The good folk at the Eastern Bays Songbird Project have a mission for local residents to be involved in controlling rodents, possums and hedgehogs and  are distributing free rat traps between 10am and 2pm at the following dates and locations.

  • 27th October - Grammar TEC Ruby Club, Orakei

  • 3rd November - the car park outside 6 Nihill Crescent, Mission Bay

  • 10th November - 46 Long Drive, St Heliers

  • 17th November - Maskell Street Shops, St Heliers

  • 1st December - Kupe Street Shops, Orakei

I’ve got mine and encourage you to have one too. If you are worried about disposing of what is caught, don’t panic- the good folk associated with the organization will do that for you.

See www.songbird.org.nz

New school bus for Sacred Heart College

Following the launch of the new central bus routes in July, there have been many schools unhappy with changes. Glendowie College and Sacred Heart were two of them.  Sacred Heart and Glendowie College have, as a result of changes, been sharing a bus which was causing a variety of problems for the schools- including overcrowded buses and difficult timings for students.


 I’m happy to announce that following a joint meeting I had with deputy principals from both schools, Auckland Transport has added a new school bus to serve Sacred Heart College seeing a bus for both schools operating as before.

A specific bus service for both schools is a logical outcome and I commend Auckland Transport for responding to the school's concerns.

A buzz at Remuera Golf Course

There is a definite buzz at Remuera Golf Club and not all of it has to do with what’s happening on the course. On a recent visit I was surprised to discover the club is home to several beehives which are cared for by a local community group, which collects the honey and sells it.

It’s just one of the many ways the club is connecting with its community and demonstrating its commitment to the being more sustainable.

In 2016 the club was GEO certified for its commitment to sustainable practices which include the hives and returning parts of the course to a more natural state to improve habitats to attract birdlife. It also introduced systems to reduce water use, use electric mowers, organic fertilizers and installed recycling bins around the course.

On the Golf Course’s future as open space, I remain committed to ensuring Remuera Golf Course land is not sold for housing but is able to develop its long held intention to have more public access for sport and recreation on site.

Annual Report

Auckland Council’s Annual report for the July 2017 to June 2018 year was released in late September. Whilst nowhere near perfect I can reliably say that over the past year period Council has shown improvement in controlling more of its costs, reducing reliance on rates as a funding source and improving organizational efficiency all while delivering a record capital investment programme to support Auckland’s rapid growth.

Due to the way the planning and reporting cycles work for Council this is the only report in the 3 year political cycle that will be received by the same group of councilors that approved the budget that it reports against. Some highlights for me were:

·         Rates rise held to 2.5% for the 2017/18 financial year with the UAGC also increasing by 2.5%

·         Overall operating surplus of $122m

·         $1.7 billion in additional capital assets for Auckland (against only $253m in added debt)

·         Launch of Green Bonds

·         Realisation of the first benefits and savings from the Value for Money programme in procurement ($112.4m) and water and wastewater ($79m).

·         Maintenance of Auckland Council’s high AA credit rating

·         Staff costs for the council parent below budget by $26m

·         Staff as a ratio to Auckland’s population decreased

·         96.5% punctuality for public transport services

·         Adding 13 new parks to our network ( one for Orakei Ward )  and 10 Council parks recognized internationally through Green Flag awards.

·         Improved engagement with Asian communities

Lowlights included:

·         Needing to increase provisioning for weathertightness claims by $82m

·         Expenses coming in $77m higher than budget

·         Unsatisfactory performance in timely processing of regulatory consents

 

So yes some good news but still a long way to go……………

CCO performance

The performance of our CCO’s is just as important ( some say more) than Council’s core operations. Last week we received the annual report on our CCO’s performance. One which particularly concerns me is the performance of  Panuku. Panuku Development Auckland is a merger of two former CCO’s Waterfront Auckland and Auckland Properties Ltd.  Last year Panuku’s capital spend was a huge $31.6m behind budget, with only 27% of its capex budget being spent. Sadly this follows a disturbing trend over the last 3 years with 33% of their capital programme being delivered in 2017 and 46% in 2016. With the America’s Cup planning well in place, they will have a whole lot more projects on top of those delays they currently have. I will be taking a very careful look at the performance of Panuku and challenging them to improve their delivery, monitoring and performance in the next financial year as currently they give a very poor performance impression to ratepayers.

Quality of Advice to elected members

Having sound, good quality advice available to elected members before they make decisions is integral for good decision making.  Every year, New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) critiques Council reports and rates them against a set of standards. As chair of the Quality Advice Political Advisory Group, I have had an objective to improve the quality of reports. I’m very pleased to be able to share the headlines results of the most recent NZIER assessment.  Council has achieved its highest score to date; lifting to an average score of 7.38 .From my perspective its still not good enough, but for the first time we have not received any ‘poor’ ratings.  And 84% of the reports were assessed as adequate or above. That’s a very good result. The following rating system is used:  5=poor; 6= borderline; 7=adequate; 8=good; 9+=excellent.

Council has a small team working to support the improvement of report writing and in July, Cathy Scott, Associate NZIER, reviewed our quality advice programme with the aim of identifying successes, gaps and areas for future focus. I’m pleased to report that NZIER was impressed with the programme calling it ‘one of the best they’ve seen’.  They commended the programme’s strong governance and leadership including the role of the Political Advisory Group. Now we will work through the results in detail so we can learn from them, as our goal is to achieve an even higher score next year.

We don’t have our benchmarking results as yet.  However, to put our 2018  score in context, the highest score received by any Council in NZ  last year was 7.19.