The council year officially began on 1 July with a new Waitemata Local Board work programme and budget mapping out the focus of the year ahead.
Highlights for the year ahead include work starting on new changing rooms at Grey Lynn Park, new playgrounds at Home Reserve in Arch Hill and Outhwaite Reserve in Grafton and the development of new pathways at Basque Park.
The Hobson Bay walkway from Thomas Bloodworth Reserve to Pt Resolution will be renewed to improve accessibility to the coast following the major project to build the Weona-Westmore Walkway on the west side of the local board.
The local board’s One Local Initiative project, Ponsonby Park, remains the major capital project. This year we are moving in to the detailed design stage for a civic park space at 254 Ponsonby Road which will be developed over the next three years.
M-aori naming of parks and places (a project called Te Kete Rukuruku) is also a significant feature in the local board’s 2019/20 work programme.
Te Kete Rukuruku will be undertaken in partnership with mana whenua to value and promote Auckland’s M-aori identity and use of te reo M-aori. Many of our parks already have bilingual names, such as Te Koranga/Victoria Park, but are not on official signage or widely known.
We’ve increased funding in 2019/20 for our arts partnership with TAPAC in acknowledgement of their performing arts leadership. Funding will jump from $20,000 to $85,000 to reflect this.
In addition, a new initiative will see funding for a new community arts space broker role based at Toi Tu Studio One, connecting artists and creatives with landlords of vacant spaces as well as supporting industry leaders offering mentorship programmes. This role will be advertised later in the year.
Community events continue to be a focus for the local board with $83,000 allocated to an Events Partnership Fund supporting popular local events like Festival Italiano, West End Cup and Grey Lynn Park Festival. Larger-scale signature events, Parnell Festival of Roses and Myers Park Medley, which draw crowds of thousands, will also be supported to run again.
Local community groups will also continue to be funded through a contestable community grants process which fosters partnership and collaboration between the local board and its communities. The current round for grants up to $7500 is open for funding applications until 2 August. A new round for quick response grants opens on 23 September.
We have a modest local board budget but we’re working to ensure it goes a long way to support priorities that benefit all our communities.
(PIPPA COOM)
Contact Pippa Coom, Chair of Waitamata Local Board, pippa.coom@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz, www.facebook.com/waitemata