August 2021: Local Board Member Report

There was no reports for June and July as I’ve been active in my role throughout this time, but decided to take a short break from putting my reports together on this website as my family of three became a family of four recently!

Heritage farmhouses now part of the Long Bay Regional Park

Absolutely thrilled that the Long Bay farmhouses were purchased by Auckland Council. The farmhouses were owned by Templeton Group (Long Bay developers) who put them on the market earlier this year. Our Local Board supported and endorsed the submissions made from Long Bay Okura Great Park Society (LBOGPS) seeking Auckland Council to urgently acquire them. It was a pleasure working with Fiona McLaughlin, the former convenor of LBOGPS and she deserves a huge amount of credit for this community win. North Shore Councillor Chris Darby was also instrumental in advocating for this purchase with Senior Council staff members. The houses, which are in a heritage protection zone, will now form part of the Long Bay Regional Park. I’m looking forward to future discussions on the potential community use of these buildings.

The 3,000 square metres of coveted land will complete the 18-hectare Heritage Protection Area.

Rubbish collection changes being discussed

Auckland Council is interested in moving the city to have one refuse collection model. Half of the city has a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) method like we do, where you need to buy a tag for your rubbish bin to be collected. The other half of the city has a rated-funded service which is a set charge on your rates bill for a weekly collection based on your bin size. PAYT was introduced because best evidence at the time suggested that this was an effective way to incentivise people to create less waste. This hasn’t been the case.

Auckland Council are now considering three options, including 1) retaining the mixed service model, 2) moving the whole city to PAYT; and 3) moving the whole city to a rates-funded service. There are a multitude of benefits and disadvantages to each – it’s certainly an interesting discussion.

I’ve been listening to your feedback on this and will be forming our Local Board’s initial feedback on this for our September business meeting. A public consultation will also occur in about 6 months.

Updated property values coming in December 2021

Having been delayed due to Covid, property rates will be finally updated and available in December. Every three years, all properties in Auckland are revalued – the last revaluation was in 2017.

A revaluation was due in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to accurately forecast sales data. Under these circumstances, the Valuer General granted the council a deferral of 12 months.

Revaluation was planned for October 2021. In August, Alert Level 4 restrictions affected the council’s ability to complete the final stages of the valuation process and the Valuer General’s ability to conduct an audit of these values. The release of Auckland Council’s updated property values in October was therefore delayed and will now be available in December 2021.

The new values assigned are based on the most likely selling price if the property had sold on 1 June 2021. The impact of revaluation won’t come into play until 1 July 2022. Your current rates will stay the same until then.

Celebrating some of the incredible volunteers in our community

Some dedicated volunteers in our community were recently celebrated with awards from the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board. The Volunteer Awards celebrate the achievements of locals who devote their time and deliver exceptional things for our community. Local Bays winners included:

• Brian Mooney (Deep Creek Restoration Society)

• Lynn Dewar (North Shore Riding for the Disabled)

• Elizabeth Wall (Browns Bay Citizens Advice Bureau)

• Lezette Reid (Friends of Okura Bush)

• Liz Goodwin (Centennial Park Bush Society)

It’s been said that the East Coast Bays harbours the most volunteers – especially in the environmental space. We’re incredibly proud of our community and the award winners this year who continue to make the Bays the best place in Auckland to live.

Water and environmental projects in our area

The Water Quality Targeted Rate and the Natural Environment Targeted Rate is delivering some larger regional projects but is also being invested locally in many great projects. A few examples include:

• Investigating water network issues and finding solutions to make Long Bay and Rothesay Bay safer beaches to swim at. Further investigations have also been conducted for Waiake, Browns Bay and Mairangi Bay.

• § Stream restoration projects and funds provided for Awaruku Stream and Taiaotea Stream.

• Increase in pest plant and pest animal control in and around public parks with priority given to Awaruku Reserve and Dacre Historic and Esplanade Reserve.

• Kauri dieback management work was completed at Awaruku Reserve and works are also taking place at Emlyn Place.

Deep Creek Brews and Eats – leading the way in zero waste

Trash Free Taiaotea is supporting local businesses with waste audits to help improve sustainability practices. Popular bar and restaurant Deep Creek Brews and Eats are a leading example in this space and recently undertook an audit to further improve their zero waste efforts.

The audit identified that the grain by-product from their brewing process could be diverted from landfill. The grain, like their kitchen food scraps, is now being composted by City to Farm. City to Farm is a unique compost service that uses food scraps from businesses and schools in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area to fertilise and improve the soil at a farm in Waitoki. The soil is so rich in nutrients that they are successfully growing bananas. Trash Free Taiaotea and City to Farm are supported by the Local Board and Council. To find out more about waste audits and services contact baysworkinprogress@gmail.com. For more about City to Farm services contact hibiscuscoastzerowaste