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People shape places, places shape people – was the tagline for the community placemaking workshop, held at Leigh Primary School.
A placemaking workshop in Leigh has received mixed reactions after it successfully brought the community together but came with a hefty price tag.
Most of the 13 people who attended the workshop on June 14 found it worthwhile but the Rodney Local Board funding was less well received, with concerns it cost more than local initiatives.
The Board allocated $13,600, including mileage, to Auckland-based Beacon Pathway to deliver two half-day workshops in Leigh and Parakai. The funds came from $4400 of unspent community volunteer awards budget and $9200 from the community facility initiatives budget, part of unspent Old Wellsford Library funds.
The four-hour workshop was facilitated by Beacon. It started by introducing placemaking with international, national and local examples. Placemaking is about communities engaging to shape the look, function and feel of the places they live to build a sense of community, local pride, identity and connection.
The facilitator asked the group for community placemaking ideas, which were written down and discussed. Ideas included creating a community centre, community garden, utalising vacant spaces, improved walkways and a park or education area. Barriers, like frustrations with Council processes, were noted but parked to avoid derailing the workshop.
Community member Tony Enderby says it was a positive workshop but the money would have been better spent on local projects. He said a little went a long way, for example the two day Leigh Coastal Walks received $2000 last year and was attended by 130 people.
Elizabeth Foster was surprised by the cost. Whangateau Harbour Care spent $3000 this year planting half a hectare with about 500 coastal plants involving 10 volunteers.
However, she says the workshop was worthwhile and after decades on committees, including Whangateau Residents and Ratepayers and Whangateau Hall and Reserve advisory committee, it was the first time she had seen disparate groups come together.
“People beaver away on their own because it’s hard to get others involved. It was good to see younger people turn up and hear all the ideas. I just wouldn’t like to see that kind of money spent on it again.”
Love Leigh facebook page administrator Melissa Crockett-Joyoue says it brought together varying ages and groups and hoped future community led events would encourage even more diversity. She says the workshop was expertly facilitated to keep the group on topic and give them ownership of the issues, which although it seems simple, takes experience and skill.
As a result of the workshop and the placemaking toolkit, a steering committee has been set up, with a working title The Big Omaha Bay, to bring together different groups and the wider community with a social gathering.
Member Mike Francis says the workshop empowered the community.
“It seems expensive at first but if you take a step back, if we get an opportunity to deploy a toolkit that brings the community together with a common purpose and there is a chance the Council will listen to a larger voice, then it is worth every cent.”
Rodney Local Board member Beth Houlbrooke, who invited community groups to the workshop, says it included a full day reconnaissance of the area in the led-up. Beacon were established Auckland Council providers with successful results at a Riverhead placemaking workshop in February.
She says the value was more than just the cost of the workshop. It was to help groups not operate in isolation or compete for funding and resources and instead pull their resources and efforts to focus on what they want to achieve.
