Source: Auckland Council
Kia ora koutou,
Apparently it is spring already! Let’s hope the weather holds and the land starts to dry out after the wettest year on record.
A few updates from me.
The Waiōrea Community Recycling and Education Centre at 990 Great North Rd, Western Springs opened on 11 August 2023. It is the culmination of 11 years of collaborative work including council departments, dozens of community groups and volunteers and the Albert-Eden, Puketāpapa and Waitematā local boards. Communities of central Auckland are now another step closer to our zero-waste goal. The recycling centre is a hugely valuable resource to help locals learn more and actively reduce waste to landfill. It is part of the council network and is being run by MPHS who also manage the Tipping Point in west Auckland. It is open Thursday-Sunday 9am-4pm. More on what they do here.
In August, the much-anticipated basketball court at Coyle Park in Pt Chevalier was completed. A huge thanks to Pasadena Intermediate School for being there on the day with their kapa haka roopu and showing us how to shoot the best of hoops.
Last month, we approved our local board budget for the next 12 months. We had to find $210,000 in cuts to our programme and services but overall, we hope the changes won’t be too noticeable. We will not be able to fund the Movies in Parks series this year after 12 years of great movies, being screened in local parks. We have trimmed our community grants budgets and stopped other programmes too, however I hope you can agree with these as we have done what we can to preserve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of our communities as key objectives and this year’s budget targets were hard!
The council has released a new website called Flood Viewer. You can find out if your home or somewhere you care about might be affected by flooding. It also explains more about the causes of flooding, and how to help prepare your whānau and property. The map shows areas that are expected to flood in extreme rainfall events. View it here.
In October, there will be a range of events funded by the local board as part of the International Day of the Older Person (IDOP). Look out for information and events on our Facebook page.
Finally, thank you to those that commented on our draft local board plan. We will review your comments and suggestions, and sign off the final version in October 2023. The plan will then set our priorities and direction for the next three years, to guide the budget, programmes and services over that time.
Mā te wā,
Margi Watson
Albert-Eden Local Board Chair
