Putting community into local board

Maungakiekie-Tamaki

From Glen Innes across Onehunga to Royal Oak, includes Penrose and Panmure

Local Board chair Leila Boyle says financially, things are looking positive for the ward, .

"One of the things we wanted was to do detailed planning for the MAGIC [music and arts] centre in Glen Innes," she says. "We were really stoked to get $230,000 over and above the existing budget, for that project. MAGIC been an aspiration of the Glen Innes community since the 90s. We'll be looking hard to get the capital part of that into the 10-year plan.

"The only other boards to get extra were Mangere-Otahuhu and Great Barrier Island.

"The other really big win that I feel we had was we were advocating strongly to have discretionary funding," she says.

That's money allocated from the central council to individual boards for initiatives decided locally. The board managed to have funding increased from $1 per person in the ward to $6.

She says ample discretionary funding is important. "We think the only way it's going to work is if local boards do have a reasonable amount of funding that they can use to react to local issues.

"The other big thing is the Onehunga foreshore reclamation project. That's in the budget over the next three years, $28 million all together. We're going to reclaim nearly 7ha on the Manukau Harbour side of the Onehunga lagoon area and there are going to be nine beaches, a walkway and cycleway, and a bridge going from the Onehunga Bay Reserve to the reclamation."

Ms Boyle spent six years as an Auckland City Council councillor but says this year has been her most challenging.

"The legislative timeframes were just nuts. But we felt it was important to keep to those deadlines. Everyone has been frantic, trying to get sorted.

"That was to be expected when you amalgamate six into one but it wasn't helpful that we were understaffed. The staff has delivered above and beyond any fair expectations you can have of workers."

Her ward contains two of Auckland's eight priority areas for residential growth - Onehunga and Tamaki town centres - and Sylvia Park is also targeted for significant employment growth.

"I worry there's been under-investment in our community for a long time and now we're being identified for all this growth. To make sure that's successful and you're not setting up ghetto communities, you need to do the investment up front.

"The proof in the pudding will come with the 10-year plan process."

Rodney

Largest ward; main towns Helensville, Kumeu, Warkworth, Matakana, Wellsford

Board deputy chair Steve Garner says most of his board's challenges are linked to its huge geographical spread. The important thing is to make sure it gets heard.

"The Rodney Local Board has been very vocal. We've tried hard to get in front of the governing body as often as possible and be heard. And I think we are.

"From the get-go there was an understanding the Gulf islands would never support themselves and Rodney is in a similar space because of the scarcity of people."

The new system combining a council and all but independent, corporate council-controlled organisations has complicated matters.

"From the beginning it was difficult to engage with the council and the CCOs, partly because I don't think there was enough understanding about the relationship. That is getting better, though," he says.

"Under the new structure with the CCOs, even if someone talks to their local councillor it doesn't always mean they can get through to the person who makes the decisions. For example, if a road needs resealing you could tell a board member but neither the member nor the council has the final say.

"Having said that, Watercare has been very good in particular and ATEED too. Auckland Transport as a CCO has been quite difficult to communicate with. Possibly that reflects the size of the CCO, but it's frustrating."

He says with 650km of unsealed roads, 46 per cent of Auckland's land area and limited public transport options, many of Rodney's most pressing needs relate to transport.

"We need timely and meaningful information about roading projects and maintenance. Helensville is looking for better public transport and eastern Rodney is looking for any sort of public transport," he says.

For funding, this had been a hard year. "We didn't have any discretionary funds to spend anywhere. It's a good thing that what we'll get next year has been increased from what was initially touted.

"The former Rodney District Council was able to fund items across different budgets and we really notice the difference now."

He says the board has worked hard this year to be accessible. "We've been very aware of our requirement to make a connection with the community and to reflect what the community is saying.

"Our urban centres are spread over a massive area. The issues affecting Matakana are very different to those affecting Kumeu or Helensville.

"Our Local Board Plan reflects quite well the issues we're aware of. What's going to be interesting to see is how effectively the content of that plan is carried through to the 10-year plan."

Franklin

Second largest ward; from Awhitu to Hunua Ranges, includes Pukekohe and Karaka

Board chair Andy Baker lives many kilometres away but he's chuffed with the Wynyard Quarter. "Now, with the waterfront, Auckland actually holds an attraction for people in Franklin," he says.

"On the train this morning I met some family members who were coming in expressly to visit the Wynyard Quarter. This area is something we can feel part of and I think that's important."

He knows: he spends much of his time coming into the central city for meetings. But Mr Baker is also pleased with progress closer to home. "We've had some great results for things that would never have happened before, or would have been financially straining.

"Watercare is connecting Pukekohe to the Waikato pipeline. Before, this area relied on a spring and the quality of the water was rubbish. Watercare has acknowledged this and is upgrading more of those lines. It's a $10 million project. Now for the rural people, urban Pukekohe is no longer sucking water out of the aquifer, so there should be more left there for those in agriculture to use for their businesses.

"Our train station at Pukekohe is getting upgraded. There are business improvement districts getting established in Pukekohe and Waiuku."

The imbalance of rural/urban representation within the top-tier council is a nagging worry though it hasn't caused any friction. "To be honest, I think the year has been pretty good. It's been easy because we haven't had to find our own money and we've been living on the old legacy budgets [set by the outgoing councils]. As a new board, we had no baggage so we were able to say, 'Well, let's look at this need and deal with it'."

"I think the next year is how this council is going to be judged. If I was the mayor I would be nervous."

This is Mr Baker's first foray into politics but he feels the local board model is more effective than the former  model. "The boards actually have decision-making powers, whereas on the community boards all they could do was make a proposal."

However he says more discretionary funding is needed. "That would enable us to do things without being at the beck and call of the governing body. We'd like to have a little more say in how some of the rates collected in our area are spent, but I think that will come, we've just got to be patient.

"I'm disappointed by this extra $1.5 million going to the Rugby World Cup. That's a hard message to give to people who have been banging on our door for a while, with us saying, 'There's no money and we'll put it in the Long Term Plan'."

Kaipatiki

Northern motorway west to Beach Haven, Birkenhead, Glenfield

Board chair Lindsay Waugh is keen to emphasise all local boards are working towards the greater Auckland good. "I think this Auckland is about boards representing their communities effectively and working with others if necessary.

"I think we need to accurately buy into what our areas need and in a lot of circumstances that then puts us in the position of working alongside other boards.

"For example, we're working with the Waitemata board on a walkway over the Harbour Bridge. We've got a joint project with Devonport-Takapuna in terms of developing a walkway/cycling network.

"The message is that this Auckland is about looking at how we all contribute to a whole and not focussing purely on what we want in our patch."

She says the 10-year plan will be the document that "makes or breaks" the ward and the board has been clear about what it wants to achieve.

"The Beach Haven ferry service - we've been fighting for that for a long time and the cycling infrastructure. We're pretty low on that in Kaipatiki.

"Also of importance is a strategic plan for the Wairau Valley. I think it's is an underperforming area that has huge potential to deliver for Auckland.

"Long-term I would like to see a business district develop there. If you look at an aerial image there are really wide berms, and potential for cycle lanes, it's flat and very cycleable. I think it's a really under-utilised area with huge potential.

Mrs Waugh says the year has been challenging for the board. "It's sort of like being involved in a game of 3-dimensional chess, it's really complex. The amount of work that has been achieved in the last 12 months is nothing less than phenomenal. I really can't fault the staff, it can't be emphasised enough."

She feels the local board model works better than the community board model and has led to improved community engagement.

"I think the way the consultation was done for the local board plan was very well-received; it was a very interesting gathering of people who turned out. I think the connection we've got wasn't always able to be achieved in the past."

She says a decision on a second harbour crossing is needed soon.

"We're very clear that the tunnel option is what our community would prefer. Sectors of our community have been directly affected by a lack of decision for a long time; we need a decision within a year or two."