Facilities study frustrates board members again

The Hibiscus and Bays and Rodney Local Boards have again criticised an Auckland Council report for concluding that no new public facilities, such as pools and courts, need to be provided for the rapidly expanding Wainui and Silverdale area.

The latest investigation was carried out after an initial report last year was slammed by both local boards for failing to take local factors into consideration.

At the Rodney Local Board meeting on July 19, deputy chair and Dairy Flat member Louise Johnston said it was disappointing that, once again, the report hadn’t taken into account the special structure of Milldale, which is a Crown infrastructure partnership.

“It’s really upsetting for residents. You’ve assumed the population growth will be the same as the rest of Auckland,” she said. “If we don’t get the modelling right, the community are going to be the ones that suffer. The school is there, opening 2024, there will be a secondary school by 2028, and many more houses by 2030. This is the only area in New Zealand using this structure. If we’re not incorporating that projected population in our investigation, we’re failing this model.”

Staff said the report was based on Council’s latest population predictions.

Senior policy manager Carole Canler said Council was looking at priorities across the region.

“You may have local knowledge that shows the community has different needs,” she said. “What we’re presenting is what is in front of us.”

Members voted not to support the findings of the Community Provision Investigation for Wainui and Silverdale for the following reasons: the urban area of Milldale was included in the Rodney sub-catchment, which the report identified as rural; Milldale was located more than 10km from the nearest public pool; Northern Arena pool is private and too costly for many residents; the report assumed that school courts would be available for public use; projected population figures did not consider Milldale, where developers were on track to build 4500 new homes by 2030.

At the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board meeting on July 25, members also voted not to support the report’s findings, for much the same reasons, noting in particular that Ōrewa Library, local pool facilities and courts cannot be expected to handle predicted growth in the wider region.

Members will speak to the report when it goes to Council’s Planning, Environment and Parks Committee for adoption. They are asking the committee to be very cautious before adopting the report due to fundamental errors, and to consider revising it.

At the July 25 meeting, Council staff told members they could understand their frustration, but that the report had already been revisited once, with exactly the same outcome, and to look at it again would be a waste of ratepayers’ money as it was unlikely to come up with any different conclusions.