$3000 for 18 'awesome' street parties draws flak

The Eden-Albert Local Board has handed out grants of up to $200 to fund "Neighbours Day" parties that included sausage sizzles and bouncy castles.

All up, $3123 of ratepayers' money went towards 18 street parties in late March and early April for neighbours to get to know one another.

Local Board chairman Dr Peter Haynes said Neighbours Day was a chance for people to have some fun and build stronger and safer communities, which was a top priority for the board.

But former Auckland City councillor and finance company director William Cairns said that while he was all in favour of neighbours getting together, "I can't see why we have to give money for this".

Mr Cairns said in his neighbourhood in Epsom, residents regularly caught up and this year held a tapas dinner without public funding.

But feedback by local groups to the board has been grateful and positive.

Claire Sterne said the street party at Maranui Ave in Pt Chevalier would probably not have gone ahead without a $200 grant, which went towards some sausages, salad ingredients, soft drinks and a few bottles of wine.

"It was just awesome," she said of the event, which attracted about 30 residents of the cul de sac.

About 35 residents of Pasadena Ave in Pt Chevalier held a sausage sizzle at Western Springs Park, which, according to Jo Pannell, was a blast. "Everyone was saying how nice it was to meet people from further down the road."