My Account
I am 48, married and a mother of three children. I grew up in Te Puke, spent 14 years working in Europe and now live on the North Shore. I’m an accountant and love tennis in any spare time. We have cats, a dog and horses, and love being out of the city but close to what the city offers. I currently chair the Upper Harbour Local Board, am a member of the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board, and a former North Shore City Councillor. I believe in commonsense, value for money and accountability.
What are the three crucial issues facing the Hibiscus Coast?
Transport: Travel times are unreasonable for the distances, and public transport has limitations.
Employment: There is limited local employment due to the planned housing coming on stream without the expected job opportunities in the knowledge economy zone. This means working residents are having to travel off the Coast for work and hitting the transport issues.
Change: Managing to build a community is difficult with the rapid growth in some new areas, combined with changing demographics in more established areas.
How would you address these issues?
Penlink is the obvious answer to releasing the pressure point of traffic in and around Silverdale – I mean delivering Penlink, not just talking about it at election time. This also releases development areas adjacent to the motorway ramps, which can contribute to much needed housing supply. Certainty around delivery of Penlink means infrastructure planning and delivery can be done.
We also need to bring forward the next harbour crossing and future-proof it for public transport.
The Whangapararoa 2030 project is aimed at revitalising the peninsula including encouraging business to help provide local employment. Over time, the Silverdale businesses may see value in setting up a Business Improvement District to target investment there to stimulate business growth.
We need to work out how other community facilities are funded regionally to ensure our residents have access to the same network of opportunities that exist elsewhere.
How can Council improve its performance?
- Core business done well
- Better communication and visibility between Council and Local Boards with our communities.
What would you hope to deliver in the next three years?
- Provide clear timelines for Penlink and the Harbour Crossing through good relationship building with Central Government
- Reduced waste in Council
- Focus on core business and investing in infrastructure for growth
- Keeping residential rates low
