Councillors hear local issues first hand

Auckland Council’s Annual Plan hearings for the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board in Orewa saw a stream of submitters appear before the board and six Auckland Councillors on April 20 to present their views.

Around 26 submitters from community groups, business associations, sports organisations, residents and ratepayers groups and individuals gave voice to their written submissions on topics that included the case for and against Penlink, the need for ongoing funding for cultural organisations such as Centrestage and Estuary Arts, public transport and better access to beaches for dog walkers.

Public consultation on the Annual Plan ended on April 1, and resulted in 1800 submissions to Auckland Council.
A total of 109 of these were from the Hibiscus & Bays area, with the most common theme being transport – this accounted for almost half of all submissions. Transport issues raised by submitters encompassed improvements to roads, walkways, cycleways and public transport as well as the possibility of a rail link as an alternative to the building of the Penlink Road.

The environment was also a major concern with submissions on topics such as water quality, beach maintenance, stormwater, tree protection, the use of toxic sprays in public places, and the introduction of an inorganic recycling service on the Coast.

Funding for community groups, events and programmes in areas such as youth development was also a chief concern for many submitters.

The plan will be adopted by Auckland Council in June.

Each local board will take into account the feedback received when developing their individual local board plans.

Plans in brief

• The Annual Plan is Council’s yearly budget. Submissions closed on April 1 and Council will adopt the plan on June 28.
• The Long Term Plan. This is Council’s 10-year Budget, which will go out for consultation later this year.
• The Auckland Plan is a spatial plan to guide growth and development over the next 30 years. The discussion document for this, called Auckland Unleashed, was released in March. An informal consultation period on the Auckland Plan is underway and should be completed by the end of this month. Formal consultation will take place from August to November and the plan will be adopted in December.
• Local board plans set out the community’s priorities for the next three years. Consultation on the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board plan is now underway.
• The Unitary Plan is a combination of all the existing District Plans and work on that is underway.