COVID-19 UPDATE 27/03/20

Earlier this week, the Government declared a nationwide state of national emergency under section 66 of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002. You were probably made aware of this through a very loud alarm sound coming from your mobile phone! As a result, Council has responded in line with this and the move to level four (lockdown).

I’m really hoping this newsletter finds you all well at home, finding joy in the small things you can do around the house, keeping you and your community safe.

Due to these uncertain times, I plan to communicate with you more often to help you understand some of the new ‘rules’ that have been imposed on us to keep Auckland safe and reduce the impacts of Covid-19 in NZ.

During the next four weeks, we have been asked to stay inside and only venture out for exercise in our local area or to go to the supermarket or pharmacy if needed (unless you’re classed as an essential worker who needs to travel to work).

That means you can go outside for a walk or to exercise. When you do, ensure you keep a two-metre distance from those who are not in lockdown with you in your home (your bubble). We have also been told your ‘walks’ should not be marathon runs either. Keep close to home and keep local. You can definitely take your children outside to your local park but using playground equipment is prohibited. It is important that you avoid touching any shared surfaces. Police are monitoring some of our parks, such as Selwyn Reserve at Mission Bay and council staff are working their way around our playground areas to ensure movable equipment such as flying foxes are locked up. This will help stop the spread of the virus.

They key message is stay home, stay safe.

 Please wash your hands often and if you have children, teach them to sing through ‘Happy Birthday’ twice before they stop or ask them to pretend their hands are two octopuses play fighting and count to 20.

Auckland Transport and the Harbourmaster have also strongly urged that we stay off the water. This is not so much to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but to ensure your health and safety. They will not have the resources to assist you if you get into difficulty. Remember, lockdown is not a holiday and public boat ramps should not be used during this time. For more information on this, see the AT website here: https://at.govt.nz/about-us/news-events/covid-19-alert-level-4-harbourmaster-urges-aucklanders-to-stay-off-the-water.

On a lighter note, I am aware many of our local communities are encouraging people to put a toy teddy bear in their window if you have one. This is to help entertain kids when they are walking by participating in a local ‘Bear Hunt’, counting as many bears as they can find. I think this initiative is wonderful and I’ve made sure a teddy is now up at my place. 😊

But what about Council services?

As of 24 March 2020, Auckland’s kerbside rubbish and recycling are considered essential services so will continue as usual (one of the few things in life right now that is staying the same). We will also continue to provide any service that supports the health and wellbeing of our residents. This includes the maintenance of our stormwater networks, cremation and burial services, animal welfare and management, essential governance (that’s me!), some regulatory and compliance activities, resource and building consenting for essential infrastructure, and biosecurity.

Our CCO’s will also continue to provide essential services relating to waste-water, drinking water and the delivery of core public transport for our essential service workers.

The supply chains and support required to run these services, such as our contact centre, will also continue to operate. I hope this alleviates any concerns you might have in terms of accessing key services provided by Auckland Council. If anything changes, I will be sure to keep you updated through this newsletter.

In terms of updates on things local, I continue to highlight the urgency of rectifying the health of Hobson Bay, Newmarket, Hapua and Portland Road Streams (some of which have current health warnings). I have been assured that despite the current crisis, they are continuing to monitor this daily and react accordingly. What is most important to me, is to secure funding not just for the immediate remedial work, but for the larger piece of work to address improvements long term. I am waiting for confirmation from Watercare and relevant staff of that, and will keep you updated.

Finally, a huge congratulations to communities such as those in Stonefields and Glendowie who have letter dropped within their neighbourhoods asking if anyone needs support during the lockdown and how to access that locally. If any of you at any point need some support, please do reach out. We do have many options for assistance, especially for those living on their own.

 I know the next weeks will be tough. But to put things in perspective for those of us feeling a bit stir crazy already, Anne Frank and seven other people hid in a 470sq foot attic for 761 days quietly trying to stay undiscovered to stay alive. It’s not that hard to do our part to keep everyone safe and stay home for a few weeks.

Desley

COVID-19 UPDATE

Auckland Council has made the difficult decision to temporarily close its network of libraries, pools and leisure centres for the next two weeks in line with Government recommendations to constrain the spread of COVID-19.

The council is also reviewing its wider network of community facilities, including community centres, community art galleries and venues for hire to ensure that from Monday 23 March these facilities only support classes, activities, programmes and events that allow for social distancing within government guidelines.

In addition, Regional Facilities Auckland is closing the Auckland Art Gallery and Maritime Museum.

These closures are effective from the close of business today. They will be for a period of two weeks initially, extended as required depending on the evolving situation with COVID-19 and the advice of Government.

Following further Government advice that indoor gatherings of 100 or more people should be cancelled the council’s top priority is to protect the health and wellbeing of Aucklanders and of our staff who use its facilities.

Given, the nature of how our libraries and pools and leisure centres operate, it has become increasingly difficult for us to maintain an environment for safe social distancing and hygiene, despite our best efforts, which poses an undue risk to our customers and staff. 

Our facilities are often communal areas with close contact between people, where equipment and technology are shared. We also cannot identify who our customers are, so contact tracing people would be very difficult.  

No staff jobs will be adversely affected. We will work with staff affected by these changes over the coming days.

We will also work closely with our stakeholders about what this means for them and how we can support them through the next fortnight.

We have not made this decision lightly. We understand that these facilities are an important part of community life for many Aucklanders.

However, we are dealing with an unprecedented health crisis and have thoroughly assessed the situation and the risks of these facilities remaining open. At this time we believe temporary closures are in the best interests of the health and safety of our staff, customers and all Aucklanders.

The temporary closures – for review in 14 days

• All Auckland Libraries

•  Pools and leisure centres – except the early childhood education centres and out of school care (OSCAR) programmes. There remain available and we will continue to follow Ministry of Education guidance when it comes to educational facilities.

• The Auckland Art Gallery and Maritime Museum

I will update more when further information comes to hand 

Please contact me if you have any questions or need support 

March Newsletter

I want to acknowledge the difficult and unprecedented times we are facing with regards to Covid-19. Each day brings with it new information and new challenges for us all. While we rightly focus on the health and wellbeing of our communities, I want to give you confidence that council is handling this changeable environment professionally, competently and appropriately. We are unified in our focus – the best outcomes for Auckland, its residents and communities. At an individual level, please make sure you continue to follow the guidelines established by the Ministry of Health on social distancing, hygiene (wash your hands regularly) and travel restrictions. Councillors are getting almost daily updates and Local Boards regular communications too. I have been impressed with the many community groups that are reaching out to neighbours and friends to check in on their wellbeing. If you know somebody who needs extra support, please let me know as there are options out there to assist.

Covid- 19 will impact our next Budget. As Chair of Council’s Finance and Performance Committee, ensuring our Annual Budget is appropriate and prudent is a key component of my role. That’s become more challenging within recent days. That said, we have been open for consultation and feedback since 21 February on an annual budget scoped out well before Covid-19. To assist in promoting what’s in that budget, I have been using my facebook page to highlight various components for the 20/21 year that will have a direct financial impact on ratepayers.

Social media is a wonderful tool to engage people with and I have enjoyed receiving informal feedback. When you separate out the issues we are consulting on, you get a better picture of how any proposed changes might impact you personally.

Below, are some of the messages I put out on my personal social media page:

1.      After nearly 10 years in operation, an independent panel has been established to review councils five Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) Auckland Transport (AT), Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Panuku Development Auckland, (Panuku), Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) and Watercare. The panel want to know what you think is working well, not so well or any improvements you think could be made. Have you say by heading to our website.

2.      Auckland Transport is arguably the most familiar of the CCOs but did you know that they oversee 7,550km of roads, 7,137, km of footpaths, bus and cycleways, and manage over 100 million public transport journeys every year. ATEED promote Auckland as a great place to live, work, invest or visit. Last year their major events contributed $493.9 million to regional GDP. Finally, for today, Panuku is council’s redevelopment agency focused on creating vibrant, liveable place with high quality housing. They also manage council’s $3billion property portfolio. How do you think they are all doing? Have you say by heading to our website.

3.      Developing our arts, culture, heritage and sport, RFA manages some jewels in the Auckland crown. Auckland Zoo, The Civic theatre, Mt Smart Stadium and Auckland Art Gallery are just a few of the 13 recognisable landmark facilities they oversee. In 2019 RFA’s facilities attracted 3.36million visitors. During the last eight years, RFA has generated $422.3 million in commercial revenue while also producing free or subsidised events attended by over 12 million people. The final CCO is Watercare. A familiar name to most of us, they provide high quality, safe water to homes and businesses in our region. Looking after 9,000km of pipes, they also treat and dispose of around 396 million litres of our wastewater every day.

The independent panel that has been established to review all five CCOs I’ve talked about this week and are interested in what you think is being done well, what’s not going so great and what improvements you think can be made. Have you say by heading to our website.

4.      Every year, Auckland Council picks up around 135,000 tonnes of recycling from households and some businesses. Unfortunately, around 12% of this is either non-recyclable items or containers that are too contaminated to recycle because they are still filled with food or liquid. These items are separated and need to be sent straight to landfill adding to the cost of our recycling service. Certain types of hazardous liquids like paint or motor oil can contaminate a full truckload of recyclables, meaning the whole load needs to be sent to landfill- that's expensive both financially and environmentally.

So how much is 135,000 tonnes of recycling every year? – I’m told it’s equivalent to approx.19,286 male African elephants! Use Auckland Council’s online recycling search tool to check if an item can be recycled or not. Not recycling correctly is costing us more.

5.      To help Council cover rising recycling costs (remember in 2018 China banned the importation of recyclable materials) we’re proposing an $19.97 increase to the base service for those who receive the service. The option of simply sending recyclables to landfill would end up costing ratepayers more and an environmentally unsound decision. Option B, is to increase general rates (on top of proposed 3.5%) by a further 0.6% for everyone, even if they don't receive the service.

6.      Have a swimming pool? All pool owners are required to have an inspection once every three years to ensure that their fences meet pool safety standards.
In the annual plan we are proposing to replace the current $130 first inspection fee with an annual targeted rate of $44 for all pool owners. This would save us approx. $74,000 in admin costs -or we raise the first inspection fee to $135.

7.      Council is delivering a $2.7billion plan of investment to improve Auckland. That means more sports fields, better parks, and better infrastructure such as the upgrade of Tamaki Drive and the flood mitigation work around Kohimarama. From 1 July, we want to implement one of the lowest average general rates increase – 3.5% - of any major urban council across New Zealand. Did you know, Tauranga is talking about 12.6% increase and Dunedin reported to be around 6.5%?

8.      As I mentioned yesterday, we are continuing to grow to record levels the level of investment we make in our facilities and infrastructure
This spend is also a major driver of our rates requirement as we need to fund the maintenance and operating costs of this growing asset base and to provide for their future renewals. This is all part of being good stewards of Auckland’s infrastructure and ensuring that it provides the services we rely on.

9.      In the last term, we have seen a doubling of transport funding for the Orakei Local Board rising from $1mil to $2mil, to distribute into local projects. In addition, we are in our second year of an $800,000 investment programme of further safety initiatives. We’re also investing in raising Tamaki Drive to mitigate flooding, as well as providing alternative transport routes with a new cycle way. Further flooding mitigation works at Kohimarama and cleaning up our water at Okahu Bay. There’s a lot going on in our area. Have you say by heading to our website.

10.  There are different pickups of rubbish currently operating across the Auckland region. In Orakei, we remain on a standard general fee for weekly rubbish collections as opposed to a pay as you throw model (which currently costs about 25% more for same weekly service per year).

The one point I raised in almost every post was my keenness to hear from you and the link to the relevant sections of the online information (which I took out for the purposes of this newsletter).

To that end, you still have time to let me know what you think of the proposals from the Mayor, with submissions closing on March 22 (that’s this coming Sunday). So please, head along to our website here and let me know your feedback:  I am here to represent your views

https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/topics-you-can-have-your-say-on/annual-budget-2020-2021/Pages/default.aspx.  

Thank you for those who have responded and thank you in advance to those of you who will. I will report back on the Orakei Ward feedback when it’s received and analysed and before the final vote.

Stay safe out there.

Desley

February Newsletter

Happy New Year to you and your family. I hope the year has started well and you have had a great January. Sadly, while the weather has proved great for holiday makers there has been no relief for our water supplies, and we have now reached a record breaking 40 plus days with less than one millimeter of water. While our supplies are coping Watercare have asked us to be vigilant with water consumption as there doesn’t appear to be any rain on the immediate horizon. For tips on how to conserve water please go to: www.waterforlife.org.nz.
 
With most back at work, many in the CBD, we have been faced with a nightmare trying to navigate all the road closures and detours. A combination of Auckland Transport works, CRL works, America's Cup improvements, NZTA works and private development has created ‘cone city’ and almost a daily headache as to how to get in and out of the central city.  I’m assured this will all be worth it when completed but I also acknowledge that these collective works are causing significant disruption.  I can assure you I am continuing to raise concerns with Auckland Transport around traffic management on your behalf- especially for our east to city connection and will be sending you a specific update on this soon
 
Last Sunday, I attended the sod turning ceremony to begin construction to upgrade the walking and cycling facilities on Tamaki Drive seaward side between Quay Street and Ngapipi Intersection. This is a shared NZTA/Auckland Council regionally funded project which will separate cyclists, who will now have a bi-directional off-road cycleway on the other side of the grass berm and pohutukawas from pedestrians all while keeping the existing traffic lanes and widths. Tamaki Drive has one of the highest  cycle usage numbers in Auckland so whilst the improvements are good for them I’m especially pleased to see the raising of Tamaki Drive of up to half a metre to prevent flooding included in this project – something I’ve lobbied hard for and will welcome its completion . With this part of Tamaki Drive being such a key commuter route in and out of the CBD I have worked hard to ensure AT keep two lanes operational in and out of the city during  extended peak hours (6am to 10 am and 4pm to 7pm) during construction .The last thing we want is more congestion!

To find out more information about the project and its delivery timeframe on the Auckland Transport website here: https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/tamaki-drive-improvements/tamaki-drive-cycle-route/.
 
For those of you in Mission Bay and Kohimarama, you will be aware of work being undertaken to cope with wave overtopping along Tamaki Drive. Council’s regional  specialists in the area have installed fixed coastal monitoring cameras to help inform our management responses before and during storms, built wave barriers (gates) at wall openings to limit water passing through during a storm which should reduce overtopping discharge during low level storm events; and installed  non-return valves on public stormwater outlets that are subject to frequent tidal inundation should minimize the risk of seawater flooding land.

If any residents would like to receive a copy of the Tonkin and Taylor report that was conducted last year (prompting the upgrades I listed above), please get in touch. I am hopeful Council will continue to work hard to provide our coastal communities with as much protection as possible.
 
I was very pleased to see Clonbern Carpark resealed and available for use earlier in the year. In December last year, Finance and Performance committee approved the disposal of 6 Clonbern Road, subject to the provision of 200 car parking spaces and quality design outcomes for this redevelopment. Panuku (the development arm of the Council family), has now entered a period of exclusive negotiation with Foodstuffs to understand whether an integrated development of 6 Clonbern and the adjoining privately owned carpark is both viable and provides suitable outcomes for the community of Remuera. I remain positive this development will provide excellent retail space to this beautiful part of Auckland and will continue to keep you all updated. In the meantime, the wider and longer carparking spaces are working well for shoppers.
 
There are to be parking changes in Parnell too. After considering feedback from the Parnell community, Auckland Transport has decided to implement several changes to improve parking availability by increasing turnover and discouraging commuter parking.

Thank you to all of you who took the time to place your feedback, the outcome reflected your response and hopefully will improve availability of parking in the area. For more of a detailed overview of the changes, please take a look on Auckland Transport’s website here: https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/parnell-parking-improvements/.
 
Now is the time we ask for your feedback on our Annual plan. This is your chance to voice your perspective on regional issues, priorities for your local board area and the review of our CCOs.  I’ll be going into a bit more detail later but here is a short update on a few regional suggestions that are out for consultation.
 
Rubbish and recycling continue to be a challenging area for council. Sadly, compared to other world leading cities we have low rates of recycling and reuse of waste (35 per cent). We need to continue to find ways to mitigate this and make good decisions around our waste services.

So, what is being proposed?

In the Annual Plan, we are beginning to look for ways to reduce the amount of rubbish in our landfills. Preventing further cost to our environment will inevitably require some financial cost – like the proposed rise in your annual waste service charge. Unlike many other areas of Auckland who now operate on a user pays system, our area will still have a fixed annual charge. The charge is proposed to rise from $130 a year to $144, but still works out to be 25% cheaper than other areas of Auckland who have a pay per lift system. I am sure you are all aware of the increasing global pressures around waste management which obviously impacts the market costs for both collection and disposal. Despite this, council still managed to negotiate a waste management contract that was best value for money and at a reduced cost to what we had anticipated.
 
The budget also has a proposed average increase in rates from 2.5% to 3.5%. While I know increases are never particularly welcome, this will remain one of the lowest rates increases of the major urban councils (Tauranga are proposing 11% for the same period). On top of that, our area will, for the first time in a while, benefit hugely from some large infrastructure projects.
 
But nothing is confirmed!
 
You can give your feedback for any part of the budget either online or in person and will find dates and venues for relevant events in your area on the council website here: https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/topics-you-can-have-your-say-on/annual-budget-2020-2021/Pages/default.aspx. The consultation period closes on 22 March 2020.
 
As you all know, I do listen to and appreciate your views.

Desley

Changes to Rubbish Days

With Christmas and New Year coming up you are sure to have more rubbish and recycling than usual .

Please remember, because of these public holidays there will be some changes to your bin collection dates.

All collections will return to normal on Monday 6th January 2020.

Please remember all rubbish and recycling bins are to be placed out before 7 am on your collection day.

Fabulous facts of 2019

It is the season to be jolly, so I thought Id highlight some of the positive results from 2019. Its not a full list, as yes there is more, but these are just a snapshot of those I’ve chosen

·     $350 million of Green Bonds issued

After leading the way in 2018 as the first organisation in New Zealand to issue Green Bonds, Auckland Council followed up with a second release of $150 million in July 2019. Green bonds are a way to raise funds to spend specifically on ‘green’ initiatives such as electric trains and cycle ways.

·      $2.75 billion capital investment

From major regional initiatives such as the City Rail Link, delivery of our water quality and natural environment targeted rate programmes through to local initiatives such as new community facilities and the development of town centres.  This is Auckland’s future in progress.

·      $5 million pledged to Auckland City Mission

To support the City mission’s ambitious HomeGround project, council pledged financial support to help our region’s homeless.  This purpose built centre will house 80 apartments to provide safe and supported permanent shelter.

·      Auckland Council has retained its AA S&P credit rating and an Aa2 Moody’s rating

These are higher than any of the 26 registered banks that currently operate in New Zealand.

·      Net debt to total assets currently sits at 16%

In simple terms this is similar to having a 16% mortgage on your home or business.

·      Operational savings of $24.6 million

This was against a target of $23 million.  We aim to save an additional $23 million in operational expenditure this year too.

·     $70 million of Natural Environment and Water Quality targeted rates collected

The impact and outcomes of this essential revenue goes to initiatives large and small across the region – all with one outcome in mind – clean up our environment and waterways.  From
$50 million Daldy Street/Freemans Bay projects to reduce overflows and contamination in our harbours, to $4,000 for Men’s Shed East Auckland for materials to make rat traps, every cent is focused on improving the health of our surroundings.

·     $1.1 million contribution towards free public transport for children

Has helped provide free public transport travel at weekends and public holidays for kids aged 5 to 15.

·      $400 million project to secure Auckland’s water supply is almost completed

The final 3.5km of the Hunua 4 watermain is now under construction.  Once completed this 31km pipe will run from Redoubt Road in Manukau City and finish at Khyber Pass in the central city.

·      A record 14,000 new residential dwellings consented

·      Over 15 million items checked out of our libraries

      And over 11 million visits made to libraries throughout Auckland.

·      400 paths and over 62km of track walked by the Kauri team to identify Kauri Dieback

With the support of the Natural Environment Targeted Rate, we are protecting Kauri trees from Kauri Dieback disease in our regional and local parks. Over the year, we reopened eight tracks in the Waitakere Ranges, allowing Aucklanders back into the bush whilst protecting our mighty Kauri.

·      We purchased land for another 13 new parks and open spaces at a cost of $44.2 million

We’ve got 3,575 local parks dotted throughout the region and the land bought last year gives us over 29 hectares of new parks and open space.

Hope this highlights some of the good news to put a smile on your dial

Stay safe and I’ll be back in touch next year

Desley Simpson

How I helped improve the Quality Advice for elected members

I am not responsible for every elected members vote but good decisions come from good information. I am pleased that I’ve been able to play a part in improving the quality of that information.

Here is a media report on Council’s most recent results released this month……..

Latest results from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) shows that decision-makers at Auckland Council are now receiving better quality advice than ever before.

Councillor Desley Simpson, who has chaired the council’s Quality Advice Political Advisory Group, comments: “This year we’ve received our best-ever score from NZIER which is a great result for the Council and a great result for Aucklanders. Elected members rely on good quality reporting and advice in order to make the best decisions for our communities and residents in Auckland. Accurate, clear and balanced information looking at financial implications and risks, is key to us getting it right. It’s a huge credit to our staff that the agenda items we receive have been independently validated at such a high level.”

Each year NZIER assess a selection of around 50 reports that have been submitted to local boards and councillor based committees from departments and divisions across the organisation. The reports are then scored and benchmarked with other organisations across New Zealand. This year, council highlights include:

Overall average score of 7.45  

Up from 7.38 last year – which was the highest given previously  (ratings are:  5=poor; 6=borderline; 7=adequate; 8= good; 9.5 = excellent

40 per cent of the reports achieved a rating of 8 or above

One report achieved an almost unheard of 9.5

Placed third when benchmarked against 17 central government agencies

Last year we achieved sixth position and the year before sixteenth out of eighteen agencies that were assessed. Councillor Simpson went on to say, “This year’s great result is the achievement of staff across the business engaging and acknowledging that we still wanted to improve on last year’s good result. And they’ve delivered. To encourage and assist the process, the council introduced a formal Quality Advice Programme, independently assessed by NZIER in 2018 as ‘one of the best they had seen’. The programme is well planned and has had strong governance support, including from the political advisory group which is made up of local board members and councillors. This approach has improved the advice received by all elected members, which ultimately impacts positively on outcomes for Auckland.”

Happy Birthday Auckland Museum

Last week we celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Museum building on Pukekawa, Auckland Domain.

Before our iconic building was constructed, Auckland Museum occupied premises in central Auckland, beginning life in a two-room farm cottage in the suburb of Grafton.

With one room for the Museum's collections and one room for the curator, New Zealand's first Museum soon outgrew this humble site and was relocated to what was the Provincial Council Building in 1867 before moving once again to the old Post Office building in Princes Street three years later.

The Museum under the leadership of curator Thomas F. Cheeseman saw a period of rapid growth, resulting in three major extensions of the building over 30 years. Cheeseman lobbied the government to construct a new building that could take its place among the ‘chief museums in Australasia’.

By 1920 it was resolved that the new museum would be dedicated to the memory of those who had given their lives in the Great War. More than one hundred years ago more than 70 architects from around the world answered the call and entered the competition to design the new Auckland Museum building. Three finalists were chosen and Auckland firm Grierson, Aimer and Draffin won with their neo-classical building reminiscent of Greco-Roman temples seen by New Zealand servicemen as they arrived in the Mediterranean en route to Gallipoli and the Western Front.

Aucklanders rallied behind their Museum and subscriptions were raised by the public in remembrance for their war dead. The role of the cenotaph remains deeply important to us and the consecrated cenotaph ground remains the touchstone of Auckland’s collective remembrance of those who served in war.

This milestone has been poignant and timely reminder of our unique inheritance as we progress with our transformation and move closer to our Big Reveal next year. You can take a look back at the history of the building and some remarkable historical images here.

Consultation on proposed changes to some central crosstown bus services

Auckland Transport is consulting on proposed changes to some central crosstown bus services. These proposed changes affect the OuterLink and the 650 bus services and include:

•             Removing the section of the OuterLink route between St Lukes and Newmarket via Balmoral/Mt Eden where there is duplication with other bus routes to allow better reliability of the remaining section of the route from Newmarket to the city centre and on to suburbs in the west.

•             Increasing the frequency of route 650 (Glen Innes – St Johns – Meadowbank – Remuera – Greenlane – Balmoral – St Lukes – Western Springs – Pt Chevalier) to every 15 minutes during the day, seven days a week  and operating it later in the evening.

•             Adding more bus trips on Manukau Rd at peak times.

In addition to the proposed changes you can find out more about a new bus route being introduced in May 2020 between Newmarket, Grafton, Mt Eden and the Valley Rd shops. This will assist with journeys when Mt Eden Station temporarily closes to enable construction on the City Rail Link.

You can read the details of the proposed changes and submit your feedback online at AT.govt.nz/haveyoursay

Feedback closes on 13 December 2019.

Welcome to the 4th term of Auckland Council.

Mayor Goff has now met will all his Councillors and has confirmed an updated meeting structure for the new term. We now have 5 main committees of the whole. Three of these were as before, the Governing Body ( chaired by the mayor), the Finance and Performance committee and the Planning committee. Along with these, we now have two new ones, the Environment and Climate Change Committee, looking at environmental and climate change activities and a  Parks, Arts, Community and Events  Committee, focussing on  those key portfolios along with homelessness, grants for regional events and working with our six demographic advisory panels.

There are also a number of other committees feeding into the above. Of special mention are two new ones, the Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) Oversight Committee and the Value for Money Committee.

CCO’s control approximately 75% of our business. Legislation allows that. My understanding is that the thinking supporting the legislation, was that independent professional directors would be better placed than politicians to run significant parts of the Council business. Whilst the theory has merit, the practice has seen much of the CCO delivery performed in such a way, that Aucklanders and politicians have no ‘control’ at all.  The new CCO Oversight Committee ( which every Councillor will sit on)  will set policy relating to CCO governance, have a general overview and insight into their strategy and direction and monitor their performance. To further the input and monitoring of our CCO’s,  the mayor has also appointed a Councillor to sit on each of the major CCO’s ( in Auckland Transports case two Councillors) – not as directors, as that would potentially compromise their focus, but as observers with speaking rights.

The Value for Money committee is the second new committee. Whilst this work stream started last term, the mayor was previously unable to get support for this to be an entity of its own ( I think I was the only one who supported him on this) With this work programme realising $270 million of efficiencies in just two years, he now has that. This committee ensures the pro-active assessment of money saving opportunities and considers the cost effectiveness of the governance, funding and delivery across the Auckland Council Group.

One of the few things the mayor can do completely on his own is set the structure and name the chairs of  committees. In my case he has asked me to chair the Finance and Performance committee. Feeding into this is the Strategic Procurement committee and the CCO Oversight committee. He has also asked me to chair the Value for Money committee which reports into the mayors committee ( the Governing Body). Adding to that, my new responsibilities include being  chair of the Domain committee ( which with the boundary changes now is within the Orakei Ward),  being deputy chair of the Ngati Whatua Reserves Board, a member of the CCO Oversight committee, a member of the Town hall Organ Trust, and a member of the other committees of the whole ( Planning, Environment and Climate Change, Parks, Arts, Community and Events Committee and of course the Governing Body.   It’s a big workload but I’m up for the challenge.

Working alongside Councillors are of course our Local Boards. Unlike Councillor committees, Local Boards choose their own chairs and deputies. I am pleased to announce chairs and deputies for the two local boards that sit within the Orakei Ward. Scott Milne was unanimously voted in as chairman of the Orakei Local Board, supported by Sarah Powrie and Troy Elliot sharing the deputy chair roles over the next three years. For the Waitemata Local Board, Richard Northey was unanimously voted in as chairman, with Kerrin Leoni and Alexandra Bonham as deputy chairs respectively. You are well served with elected members committed to listen to you, your concerns, feedback and deliver improvements in many areas.

Desley Simpson, JP

Councillor for Auckland representing Orakei Ward

AUCKLAND COUNCIL