October-December 2025: Chairperson's Report
- alexispoppelbaum
- 13 hours ago
- 5 min read
Your new Hibiscus and Bays Local Board
Local elections are over and our the new board for the 2025-2028 term is now established.
It's an honour to be leading the board as Chair for the term. Returning members to the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board are Jake Law (Deputy Chair), Gary Brown, Leanne Willis, Julia Parfitt and Gregg Walden. Our two new members are Gemma Moffatt and Mike Bishop. They're all a great bunch of people and I'm really excited for what lies ahead this term.
December board business meeting: Chair's report
The following is a copy of my Chair's report I write for our monthly business meetings (this one being from 2 December). We did not have a meeting in November, and our October meeting was simply for officially electing the board members (no business reports).
Purpose of the report
To receive the chairperson’s update on recent activities of the chairperson, itemised by outcomes in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan 2023.
Executive summary
Items noted in this report are intended to be key highlights, not a full overview of all activity.
Our People
Our Facebook consultation with the community and stakeholders, regarding what piece of accessible play equipment we should add to Browns Bay Beach playground, was very successful. I was contacted by a resident, Karen Adams, who is undertaking her PhD at AUT based around children with significant physical disabilities due to cerebral palsy and intellectual disability. Much of her research is about child development and the environmental barriers to this. I met with her on 6 October alongside key Auckland Council staff members, including our Parks and Community Facilities Manager and Play Advocate Lead. It was incredibly insightful for us all and staff are continuing conversations with Karen to learn more and connect so our open spaces and playgrounds are genuinely accessible to all.
Our Community
On 9 October I attended an exhibition at Mairangi Arts Centre by Families Growth and Thrive as part of their ‘LIFTa Week’. The exhibition showcased stories from migrant families and the creative journey of settling in New Zealand. Families Growth and Thrive support new Chinese migrants in the East Coast Bays area to build confidence and a sense of belonging. They do this through a range of different programmes, but most notably a very popular course they facilitate that helps new migrants understand the local community, culture and how to navigate important things like schools and Auckland Council.
On 9 November, I attended the Families Growth and Thrive Kids Flea Market that they hold once a month at St Anne’s Hall in Browns Bay. This programme is developed to give confidence to young Chinese migrants to interact with the wider community. It was a pleasure to hand out awards of acknowledgement to local college students who have been volunteering their time to Families Growth and Thrive by helping running this market.
Our Environment
On 7 October I wrote a letter supporting Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust’s application for a Section 186A (Fisheries Act 1996), which would capture the Whangaparāoa Peninsula (i.e. Army Bay). The letter is included in this report as Attachment A.
A meeting was convened by a range of Auckland Council staff members and stakeholders on 7 October regarding a recent Watercare overflow event at Vaughans Stream, Long Bay. Te take mō te pūrongo
Purpose of the report guidance
1. To receive the chairperson’s update on recent activities of the chairperson, itemised by outcomes in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Plan 2023.
Executive summary guidance
2. Items noted in this report are intended to be key highlights, not a full overview of all activity.
Our People
3. Our Facebook consultation with the community and stakeholders, regarding what piece of accessible play equipment we should add to Browns Bay Beach playground, was very successful. I was contacted by a resident, Karen Adams, who is undertaking her PhD at AUT based around children with significant physical disabilities due to cerebral palsy and intellectual disability. Much of her research is about child development and the environmental barriers to this. I met with her on 6 October alongside key Auckland Council staff members, including our Parks and Community Facilities Manager and Play Advocate Lead. It was incredibly insightful for us all and staff are continuing conversations with Karen to learn more and connect so our open spaces and playgrounds are genuinely accessible to all.
Our Community
4. On 9 October I attended an exhibition at Mairangi Arts Centre by Families Growth and Thrive as part of their ‘LIFTa Week’. The exhibition showcased stories from migrant families and the creative journey of settling in New Zealand. Families Growth and Thrive support new Chinese migrants in the East Coast Bays area to build confidence and a sense of belonging. They do this through a range of different programmes, but most notably a very popular course they facilitate that helps new migrants understand the local community, culture and how to navigate important things like schools and Auckland Council.
5. On 9 November, I attended the Families Growth and Thrive Kids Flea Market that they hold once a month at St Anne’s Hall in Browns Bay. This programme is developed to give confidence to young Chinese migrants to interact with the wider community. It was a pleasure to hand out awards of acknowledgement to local college students who have been volunteering their time to Families Growth and Thrive by helping running this market.
Our Environment
On 7 October I wrote a letter supporting Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust’s application for a Section 186A (Fisheries Act 1996), which would capture the Whangaparāoa Peninsula (i.e. Army Bay). The letter is included in this report as Attachment A.
A meeting was convened by a range of Auckland Council staff members and stakeholders on 7 October regarding a recent Watercare overflow event at Vaughans Stream, Long Bay. The event and associated environmental concerns at this location instigated this meeting. Stakeholders were interested in ways we can reverse the decline of Vaughans Stream and create a flourishing and resilient freshwater and riparian environment. It was noted there is little shade over a large part of this stream in the wetland which is key for stream health. Other concerns raised related to sediment from nearby housing development.
Our Places and Economy
On 9 October I met with a range of Auckland Transport (AT) staff and our Elected Member Liaison about the southern part of Browns Bay Beach (around 2 Browns Bay Road). This area was raised by Police in a regular board and Waitemata Area Commander meeting. Police were having difficulties with people driving up on the section of the reserve there and drinking. The Browns Bay Business Improvement District are considering progressing an application to make the area a 24/7 liquor ban (as well as some changes to the business area) and AT were involved as there is a small, concreted section of the reserve that they technically own that may have previously been used as a boat ramp but is no longer functioning. I have asked AT to bring us information about transferring the land to Auckland Council so it can be gazetted as part of the wider reserve and turned back into grass to match the surrounding area for leisure. AT are also now supporting our Parks and Community Facilities staff by putting in bollards around the area to stop vehicles driving up on to the reserve or the concrete pad.
December board business meeting key reports to note
Our December Business Meeting was held on 2 December 2025.
Our December meeting covered feedback on the Annual Plan/Mayoral Proposal; delegations (members being delegated to business associations or to provide feedback on Land Owner Approvals etc); elected member expenses; approval of a new playground in Gulf Harbour; Local Grants allocations; and more.
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