Te Rimutahi – Ponsonby’s New Civic Space
It was great to attend the recent opening ceremony for Te Rimutahi – the wonderful new public space at 254 Ponsonby Road. However, there was no acknowledgement of the role of the Western Bays Community Board many years ago in initiating the concept of a 'civic square' on Ponsonby Road. The board commissioned Boffa Miskell to investigate the idea and received their favourable report back in 2000. But, without a suitable council-owned site, the concept remained but a dream.
Then, out of the blue in 2005, Western Bays Councillor Penny Sefuiva heard a rumour that the 2326m2 Liquor King site was about to be sold. Concerned that a developer might snap up the land before council could act, she moved quickly. Penny rang me as Chair of the Western Bays Community Board to propose that we could initiate the purchase by offering up the funds in our Development Contributions Fund, then worth over $2 million. The Arts Culture and Recreation Committee (which she chaired) was due to meet later that week, so it was arranged that I would request on behalf of the board that council buy the site, with the board contributing about half the cost.
So, council bought the site in 2006, but having emptied out its DC fund the Community Board could not afford to develop the new square. Even when new funding did become available, the board had responsibilities to other parts of the Ward to attend to. So the premises on the site have been leased out for the last two decades, during which time the Community Board was abolished in 2010 and succeeded by the Waitematā Local Board.
Congratulations to all who have been involved. It’s been a very long saga – but good things take time!
Graeme Easte, Mt Albert
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