Media Releases

September 2006

28 September

Author's legacy in Waitakere

Waitakere City Council has moved to preserve the home of the late Maurice Shadbolt.

Shadbolt died in 2004 and is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s finest authors. Shadbolt and his family lived for some 42 years in the Titirangi home, where he produced such acclaimed works as “One of Ben’s”, “Season of the Jew” and “Monday’s Warriors”.

The Council has agreed to buy the three bedroom Arapito Rd house and establish a writer’s residency with associated school education programmes. A high profile trust, expected to contain a mix of business people and those from the arts and literary worlds, will now be established to manage the project.

The trust will also be charged with raising funds to pay back a portion of the council’s initial $550,000 purchase price for the property.

The project follows on from the highly successful McCahon House restoration and Residency project (the former home of artist Colin McCahon is also in Titirangi.) The council also originally purchased that property before turning it over to a trust which now runs an artist in residence programme and public lectures and tours.

Mayor Bob Harvey says that Shadbolt House cements in place Waitakere’s standing as one of the leading arts regions in the country.

“It also acknowledges one of the true icons of the arts in this country. Maurice. He was an extraordinary talent and even after his death his works continue to sell in their thousands in Europe and America.

“Titirangi and the tranquillity of the bush and views out over the Manukau inspired Maurice and informed his writing and we are delighted that will continue with another generation of authors.”

The Shadbolt family has been in discussion with the Council over the project since 2003. Sean Shadbolt, Maurice’s son, says that his father would spend most mornings writing in the small studio, amongst the bush, near the water’s edge.

“As a family we knew both the public and private world of my father but in some ways his achievements were lost on us because the focus was on our own relationships and being a family. So it’s wonderful that his achievements as a writer can be acknowledged forever in the place that inspired some of his best work.”

“In a lot of his novels Maurice explored the relationship between individuals and their environment and a lot of that was inspired by Titirangi,” he says.

Sean says that one novel, Touch of Clay, is even set in Titirangi. “The street names and things like that are changed, but it is very clearly Arapito Rd and Titirangi in the 1970s.”

25 September

Kids get in on the act at Moon Festival

Detailed costumes, elaborate makeup and gorgeous accessories will make their return to the New Lynn Community Centre on 6 and 7 October, with the fourth Waitakere Moon Festival.

Dancemaker Production students will perform a traditional silk ribbon dance and Chinese spear dance at two sessions; 7.40pm Friday and 11.00am Saturday.

The Chinese spears used are decorative versions of the earlier fighting spears, and the silk ribbons are 100 percent silk. People will have the chance to see and touch them after the performances.

Yu Fen Wang, owner of Dancemaker Productions who put forward the suggestion for a more interactive performance show, says more people should be actively participating in cultural festivals, rather than sitting and viewing passively on the sidelines.

“For years there have been too many cultural events where people just sit and watch. People should be able to feel the material, and touch the (Chinese) spears to experience the culture,” she says.

Dancemaker Productions will be performing 7.40pm on Friday night and 11.00am on Saturday at the New Lynn Community Centre, 45 Totara Avenue, New Lynn, Waitakere.

25 September

Festival built on tradition

One of the founders of the Waitakere Moon Festival, Councillor Peter Chan, is urging people to come along to this year’s festival at the New Lynn Community Centre, in early October, and experience a culture other than their own.

Now into its fourth year, the Moon Festival attracts thousands of people from all cultures across the Auckland region. There is an opening ceremony on the evening of Friday 6 October. The next day is taken up with an extensive programme of old and modern music, dance and martial arts from many different cultures surrounded by art displays, calligraphy, food stalls, fortune telling, children’s and other interactive stalls.

The Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated throughout Asia from the fifteenth day of the Chinese eighth month with gifts of moon-cakes, fruit and wine being exchanged. Adults and children alike carry colourful lanterns to the parks and countryside at night to have a picnic supper and appreciate the full moon.

“Lively and artistic paper lanterns in natural and fantastic styles are on display in streets a few weeks before and during the festival,” says Cr Chan.

The opening ceremony begins at 6.30 pm on Friday 6 October and this year it includes a fireworks display starting under the full moon, at 9pm.

There is a Moon Festival song which roughly translated tells of the moon shining brightly, with everybody appreciating it with beautiful smiles. The Moon Goddess, Sheung Ngor, descends on earth and people sing and ask for fortune and peace whilst burning incense and praising the goddess.

“Altogether, Waitakere City’s Moon Festival is an opportunity for families to celebrate time together,” says Cr Chan.

“Waitakere City has a variety of ethnic and cultural groups with differing religious beliefs. Buddhist monasteries and Thaoist temples co-exist with Hindu and Sikh temples, churches, mosques and synagogues,” says Mr Chan.

20 September

Waitakere rejects division: supports further work on regional governance

Waitakere City councillors today unanimously rejected any suggestion of local body amalgamation in the foreseeable future.

At a meeting this morning the council passed the following resolution:

“That Waitakere City councillors express most strongly their opposition to any proposals for amalgamating Waitakere with other local authorities. To retain the sustainable and resilient nature of the Eco City, Waitakere needs to remain a city in its own right that works collaboratively with neighbouring local authorities in the Auckland Region.”

The resolution comes after several weeks of debate and discussion over the future of the Auckland region.

The resolution was put forward by Cr Penny Hulse.

Mayor Bob Harvey, on a private holiday in Australia, said he “whole-heartedly” endorses the recommendation.

“This has been a very hotly debated issue and there has been a lot of confusion in the media, so we needed to be very clear about where this council stands,” says Deputy Mayor Carolynne Stone who chaired today’s meeting

Deputy Mayor Stone says that Waitakere councillors also expressed disappointment, and concern, that proposals for reform had been developed by the Mayoral Forum without input from individual councils.

The chief executives of councils in the region have now been asked to bring back proposals for how governance can be improved in the region as a whole – and the role and responsibilities of the Auckland Regional Council in particular (by December 2006).

Cr Hulse proposed that councillors from around the region should call a meeting to act as a reference group to assist the chief executives.

“We need to look at what can be done effectively at a regional level and how resources could be shared to ensure ratepayers get the best value for their money. Some things are going to be achieved best when they are delivered locally and some by collective action and we need a system to ensure that the best results are delivered with maximum efficiency,” Cr Hulse says.

20 September

Waitakere Remembers Sir Hugh

Waitakere City’s Deputy Mayor Carolynne Stone says New Zealand Aotearoa is poorer for having lost one of its great Maori leaders, Sir Hugh Kawharu.

Councillor Stone paid tribute to Sir Hugh as a man of great dignity and mana who will be remembered for his compassion, intelligence and unflinching commitment to helping Maori.

“We may have lost Sir Hugh’s physical presence but his work and achievements will live on,” she says.

Deputy Mayor Stone says Waitakere would send condolences to both Sir Hugh's family and Ngati Whatua .

Waitakere City Councillor Carl Harding worked with Sir Hugh at the Auckland War Memorial Museum for several years and says he “learned a great deal about our history from him."

“New Zealand has lost a great man – a great Totara and his loss is not just to Maoridom but the whole country,” says Cr Harding.

Among his many achievements, Sir Hugh was a principal negotiator for Ngati Whatua ki Orakei Maori Trust Board in their Waitangi claim to the Crown.

Representatives from Waitakere City Council are attending Sir Hugh’s tangi at Orakei Marae.

15 September

Waitakere Cautious About Regional Funding Initiative

A proposal to fund more key regional facilities and services by a levy on ratepayers would only be supported by Waitakere if the levy is collected by the Auckland Regional Council.

At present a number of facilities – such as the Museum and MOTAT – are based in Auckland city but because they serve the whole region, the ratepayers of the other cities and districts are levied to help pay their costs.

It has now been proposed that other facilities should also receive a contribution from a regional fund.

Possible contenders are: Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, Surf Lifesaving Northern region, Watersafe New Zealand, Auckland Zoo, Edge/Aotea Centre, Maritime Museum, Stardome Planetarium and Observatory, Auckland Festival, Auckland Theatre Company, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, NBR Opera.
The Waitakere City Council’s Finance and Operational Performance (FOP) Committee conditionally supported the Regional Funding Initiative proposal at its September meeting.

“Our support for this initiative is entirely conditional, however, upon this levy being collected by the ARC,” says Councillor Janet Clews, chair of the FOP Committee.

“Waitakere City Council has some reservations about this funding proposal – one of them being the financial impact upon our ratepayers,” she says.

“We are talking about regional funding for regional facilities so it is a no-brainer that the regional council should be collecting this.”

Council has also asked for the West Wave Aquatic centre to be placed on the list of regional facilities for consideration – this has been done.

13 September

Stellar year for the Waitakere community

Waitakere’s community facilities are proving more popular than ever, with record numbers of people using them.

This month the Waitakere City Council’s Finance and Operational Performance Committee heard that the Massey Leisure Centre exceeded its targeted visitor numbers in the 2005/06 financial year.

The Massey Leisure Centre, which provides a range of community functions, including a crèche, meeting room and a two-court stadium had over 191,000 visitors.

This was an eight per cent increase – 14,835 more visitors – on the year before.

Further, each of Waitakere’s seven community houses massively exceeded their year’s performance targets which relate to their number of visitors and programmed activities.

For example, while Massey’s community house had a target of 10,000 visitors for the 2005/06 financial year; nearly 30,000 people actually used the facility.

“It is wonderful to see these grass-roots community resources being so terrifically supported,” says Councillor Janet Clews, chair of the Finance and Operational Performance Committee.

“Not only do these community houses provide vital social resources, they are also crucial in helping build a sense of local identity and belonging,” she says.

The houses host an array of local user groups, ranging from Plunket to yoga, to diabetes eye clinics and patchwork and other crafts classes.

Another local success story is Sport Waitakere, whose programmes proved successful in keeping the community active.

One of the highlights of 2005/06 for Sport Waitakere was the amazingly well-supported Hikoi for Health. More than 300 people attended the event which had a one kilometre track for those aged under five and a four kilometre track for older participants.

11 September

Ranui learning centre closed for refurbishment

The Ranui Learn IT Online learning centre has closed for a month to undergo refurbishment.

It is expected to reopen on Monday 2 October with enhanced services in a new location opposite the issues desk in the library.

The learning centre will operate a new computer system, improving security, speed and access to the internet.

Users will be able to create individualised logons to book computers in advance and have access to the other learning centres in Waitakere.

8 September

Report a good start

Detailed research into how well the Auckland region is prepared for a major disaster shows that much more needs to be done, says Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey.

Mayor Harvey was commenting on the release of a “Capability and Capacity Assessment” report commissioned by the Auckland Region Civil Defence Emergency Management Group.

“For some time I have been calling for a detailed analysis of how well we are prepared for a disaster that could see thousands evacuated and out of their homes for long periods,” Mayor Harvey says.

“This report asked the hard questions and we have received some very clear answers back. It shows that regionally there needs to be much better co-ordination as well as more training for emergency response personnel.”

Mayor Harvey also says that he fully supports the idea of setting up a properly resourced regional civil defence office, which is one of the recommendations of the report.

“Locally, and particularly here in Waitakere, we are in a good position to respond quickly to localised incidents. However major disasters are never localised – they are on a large scale and require a completely different type of response”.

Mayor Harvey congratulates the Regional Civil Defence Emergency Management Group for the “upfront” way in which it has dealt with the report.

“This is not about naval gazing,” he says. “This report gives us a platform for some very concrete actions that must be taken.”

Meanwhile Mayor Harvey also urges residents to do their bit to ensure that they are as prepared as possible in the event of a major emergency.

“I urge people to visit the (regional) civil defence website , to visit their own Council’s websites and read the back of the yellow pages to remind themselves of what every one of us can do to prepare ourselves for a disaster.”

8 September

Plan launched

The four Mayors of Auckland today launched a proposal to overhaul the region into one Auckland.

Mayor of Auckland City Dick Hubbard said the new governance structure would provide more grunt. It would streamline governance, speed up progress in the region, and future-proof Auckland.

“We’ve heard Aucklanders’ message loud and clear. It’s time for action and urgency. We’ll speed up transportation, get the waterfront we aspire to and Aucklanders’ rates will work harder and go further,” he said.

“It will be one plan, one voice, a single vision. At the moment, we’re a collection of cities struggling to co-ordinate our activities. The lack of cohesive strategy is inhibiting progress.”

“Our proposal for a Greater Auckland Council is a fresh new start and will accelerate our rise to true international status.“

The key points of the proposition are:

1. A Greater Auckland Council (GAC)
2. A directly elected head of the GAC
3. Representation on the GAC by the Mayors of the Auckland Region cities or councils in conjunction with directly elected and/or appointed representatives
4. A redefining of the responsibility of the current cities and councils into the “delivery arms” of the GAC, albeit allowing these entities to have distinctive local identities that reflect individual social, environmental, economic and cultural characteristics
5. Reconsideration of the number of cities or councils, their boundaries and urban limits, while appreciating that this may need to come after the transitional arrangements have been put in place
6. The use of well structured CCO’s (Council Controlled Organisations) reporting directly to the GAC to run regional structures such as Ports of Auckland, Watercare, ARTA, Emergency management, Parks etc, maximising business expertise and minimising political interference
7. A common rating system and shared services between councils

Mayor Dick Hubbard said the Mayors had briefed the Prime Minister and relevant Cabinet Ministers yesterday.

“They gave us a warm reception and today we will be discussing the strategy at the Mayoral Forum. It is the time for decisive leadership and the four Mayors are united in their determination to demonstrate that.”

Mayor of Manukau City Sir Barry Curtis said the present structure wasn’t working: “There is an urgent need for coherence and a governance structure if we are to be a world-class city. A new metro region needs to incorporate contemporary goals and leadership to include social, economic, environmental and cultural outcomes.”

Mayor of Waitakere City Bob Harvey said: “I’m interested in better governance, and to ensure the ongoing welfare of the West and Waitakere while still being part of a great region.”

Mayor of North Shore City George Wood said: “The region needs a well co-ordinated overarching plan to take us forward. The community right across Auckland seeks the strong leadership that this proposal will enhance for the future.”

8 September

Double tracking full steam ahead

Double tracking of the railway line between Sturges and Swanson is likely to get under way before the year is out, the Waitakere, Henderson and Massey Community Boards have heard this week.

The double tracking between Sturges and Swanson is the latest stage of the project that will soon deliver faster and more frequent passenger services between Waitakere and Britomart.

The community boards heard that public feedback from an open day in August had been helpful and constructive.

Issues raised included the need for better quality passenger facilities at stations, including toilets, bike lockers and graffiti removal, improved access and security, integration of bus and rail services, walk and cycle access and park and ride and drop-off facilities.

“These were very constructive suggestions and we will of course be taking them on board as feedback is an essential element in the development of a first class passenger transport service that we are trying to deliver for Waitakere,” says Councillor Penny Hulse, chair of the City Development Committee.

The double tracking work itself, together with signalling systems, railway pedestrian over-bridges and station platforms is being carried out by the owner of the line – ON TRACK.

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority is responsible for public transport services, will provide the station structures and other passenger amenities such as seating and CCTV.

Waitakere City Council is responsible for the development of the station surrounds including the park and ride and drop-off facilities, bus stops, walk and cycle connections and lighting.

6 September

Children “locked in” at Massey Library

The city’s children will have the opportunity to see Massey Library like never before when they are “locked in” on the evening of 16 September as part of national Library Week.

Running from 7pm - 10pm, up to 40 children aged 8 to 12 will get a special “behind the scenes” tour around the library after hours.

Story readings, a fashion parade, games, food and a magic tricks saw 25 percent of spaces fill within days. Bookings are essential on (09) 839 2260.

In celebration of Roald Dahl’s 90th birthday on 13 September, the Kidz Team will be running 45 minute programmes with year three to five students from local schools at all seven branches. Children can also vote for their favourite Roald Dahl book.

Teenagers can drop into libraries and learning centres throughout the week to enter a competition with prizes sponsored by Lions.

6 September

Biggest story time hits Auckland

Libraries around the Auckland region will be celebrating national Library Week by participating in the biggest story time in New Zealand.

Iconic Kiwi author Margaret Mahy’s “Down the Back of the Chair” will be read at libraries across Auckland and New Zealand on Wednesday 20 September, during the week of celebrations that runs from 18 to 24 September.

Out in Waitakere, a special celebrity guest is planned to host the story time from 6.30pm to 7.30pm at the newly-opened Waitakere Central library in Henderson.

All children aged four to eight are invited to come along in the bed time theme of pyjamas and favourite teddy-bears for the evening story time.

Trent and Maria Barclay from The Zoo TV programme will be reading the story at New Lynn library during a similar pyjama story time on Friday 22 September at 6.30pm.

Library Week 2006 is proudly supported by PSIS, a New Zealand financial services co-operative, and is organised nationally by the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa. Library Week is a national celebration of New Zealand libraries and librarians and this year the focus is on the part both play in our communities.

In the year 2004-2005, more than 50 million items were issued nationwide. In Auckland Central alone, 809,000 visits were made, while Auckland branches enjoyed more than 2.5 million visits. Wellington Central hosted almost 1.4 million visits, and, in Christchurch, more than 882,000 visits were made.

6 September

North Shore and Waitakere City Councils today confirmed the sale of Techscape Limited

The Councils both held a 50% share in the company.

The purchaser is Bilfinger Berger Services New Zealand Ltd (BBS NZ).

Last month the Councils both agreed to the sale, subject to the completion of final documentation. The sale price is $13 million with the proceeds shared equally between the Councils.

The sale comes after a public tender process in which expressions of interest were received from both New Zealand-based and overseas companies.

5 September 2006

Special kote performance at moon festival

The Japanese Consul-General’s wife, Mrs Kozue Okabe, has confirmed she will perform the ‘Spring Sea’ on traditional Japanese harp at the 2006 Waitakere Moon Festival on 6 October.

Mrs Okabe will perform the piece on the traditional Japanese harp, the kote at 8pm on the main stage of the New Lynn Community Centre accompanied by Ms. Bianca Kofoed, a Baroque violin performance major at Auckland University.

The ‘Spring Sea’ is one of the most popular pieces of koto music in Japan composed by Michio Miyagim, a blind koto virtuoso and innovator of modern koto music. This piece was originally composed for a duet of Koto and bamboo flute. A French violinist Renee Chemet, who visited Japan in 1932, arranged it for the violin.

Mrs Okabe’s performance at the opening ceremony on October 6 is just one of nine performances scheduled for the main stage. Other performers include Auckland Mai Taiko and the Sonar Chand Dance Academy.

A full draft programme is available at www.moonfestival.co.nz.

1 September

The Waitakere News September issue is out

The Waitakere News September issue carries a special report on Rates. It covers the options the council does and doesn't have.

Fill out the pdf below and send it in to:

Rates  - the big question
Waitakere City Council
Private Bag 93109
Henderson
Waitakere City 0612

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