PO Box 11-474, Ellerslie, Auckland 1542

6 August 2014

The ChairmanMaungakiekie Tamaki Local Boardc/- Auckland CouncilFreepost Authority 232621Private Bag 92300Auckland 1142

Attention: Brina Burden

Dear Brina,

Ellerslie Residents Association Submission on the Draft Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board Plan 2014

The Ellerslie Residents Association (ERA) welcomes this opportunity to provide feedback to The Auckland Council on the Draft Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board (MTLB) Plan 2014. This document endeavours to set out the outcomes that the MTLB proposes for managing the MTLB area con-tributing to The Auckland Plan vision of making Auckland ‘the world’s most liveable city.’

The ERA advocates on behalf of Ellerslie Residents to achieve our objective of being the Auckland’s Most Liveable Suburb. It is estimated that only 9% of the residents of Ellerslie live in the MTLB area. However, despite the small number of residents in the MTLB we take our advocacy role seriously. The ERA explains carefully in its response how some activities overlap boundaries and need careful consideration by more than one Local Board.

To inform our position on the opinions of those residents living in the MTLB area of Ellerslie, we hold public meetings every three months for not only our members but the Ellerslie community at large. In addition to this we have regular stalls on the Main Street of Ellerslie on one or more Saturday mornings each month from 10am to 1pm. The ERA also canvasses public opinion through online surveys, and questionnaires given out at our public meetings. Our website has recorded 1721 hits in the last year and our email address has received 1028 email communications. On saturday mornings during the interviews with people on the street in Ellerslie we have found that two-thirds of the people passing by are from outside of Ellerslie. More than consistent with the esti-mate of 9% of the residents of Ellerslie living in the MTLB area, in two recent Saturdays we gave out 67 copies of the OLB Draft Plan 2014 Summary Feedback forms to only 8 of the MTLB forms to inter-ested residents. The ERA has 525 interested supporters who receive its newsletter

The ERA commends the MTLB for its progressive and forward thinking attitude towards enhancing the business and employment opportunities in the local area. The priority they give to assisting the town centres of Glenn Innes, Panmure, Onehunga and Sylvia Park to be vibrant business centres of-fering lots of employment opportunities is commended.The viability of these town centres is abso-lutely vital to the support of the neighbouring com-

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munities. The new emerging Lunn Avenue retail area is on the border of the MTLB and the OLB and we hope that both boards will be able to work together to ensure that this large retail area gets ‘BID’s’ support as equally as the Glenn Innes, Onehunga, Sylvia Park and Panmure Business Associations, albeit being a ‘BID’ shared with the OLB.

The ERA supports the outcomes of the Draft MTLB Plan 2014 as described below, and seeks to make comment on details in those objectives that are not immediately obvious from the broadly scoped outcomes;

1a) Transport that meets our communities and business needs - safe and accessible transport choices for our community and businesses. The ERA wants the MTLB to advocate for; i) transport initiatives that will enhance these objectives such as the installation of the Southdown loop so the Central Isthmus rail can operate efficiently in both directions on a 10 minutes frequency of service that is reliable and on time. Auckland Transport (AT) has failed to deliver a reliable and timetable oriented rail service for Ellerslie residents. The MTLB needs to advocate for this service to be managed in such a way that commuters can depend on it to deliver them to their destinations on time. ii) the proposed St John’s rail station (as part of there Stone-fields development) needs to be included in the route from Ellerslie to Sylvia Park to Panmure, Glenn Innes, Orakei, and the Britomart as part of the Central Isthmus rail route. A rail station at Judges Bay would also be desirable for access to Parnell. iii) the development of adequate park n ride facilities at the Panmure rail station. What has been provided is too small and not well-managed. Double parking blocking all day parkers vehicles is common and AT does not police this adequately. iv) acceleration of the AMETI projects bus lanes from the eastern suburbs to Panmure and the consequential reduction in bus services throughout Ellerslie from East Auckland commuters being delivered to the Panmure rail interchange. This requires the rail timetable to be reliable and efficient. v) the Southdown loop will enable the majority (greater than those who go to the CBD by 2-1 according to an AMETI study) of commuters coming from East Auckland who work in the Greenlane - Ellerslie Business parks to take the train from Panmure efficiently and keep them off the roads. This could also have an affect on reducing parking pressures at the Greenlane & Ellerslie Business parks on Great South Road. vi) feeder bus services to rail stations in the MTLB area b) The residents in the ERA area who are MTLB constituents support the development of an integrated cycle way from Mission Bay to the Onehunga township. We commend the draft greenway plan of the MTLB and hope that the OLB will develop a similar plan in co-operation with the MTLB. We hope the MTLB will be fully cooperative in this approach as well. We applaud the MTLB initiative in taking the lead on this project. c) The ERA supports 24 hour public transport services to assist businesses to use their plant 24 hours per day providing shift work. Shift workers need to feel safe taking late night commuter services and Council and the Police need to cooperate to reduce the risks of late night violence that are all too common in Auckland. d) The ERA wants the MTLB to support its call for a permanent restriction on heavy

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transport on Gavin Street and the development of the existing alternative route. e) The ERA wants the MTLB to support its call for the extension of Ballarat Street to Abbotts Way to make business access to the Marua Road and Lunn Ave business precinct more efficient. We believe that this new road could alleviate traffic congestion at the Ladies Mile intersection of Abbotts Way and Marua Road.

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f) The ERA needs the support of the MTLB to get NZTA to redesign the Penrose motorway interchange to alleviate dangerous congestion because a large number of MTLB constituents use this route to access the southern motorway to go northbound. g) The Auckland Plan has the outcome of strongly committing to environmental action and green growth. The ERA wants the MTLB to support this outcome especially improvements in air quality. Auckland Council’s own research data reports that 300 people a year in Auckland die of respiratory conditions aggravated by air pollution. The ERA regards this death rate as unacceptable for the ‘world’s most liveable City.’ The primary objects of the ERA are to support the well-being of Ellerslie residents. h) The ERA is concerned that so many of the MTLB transport projects are not funded. In a three year plan the ERA would expect to see substantial progress on these transport proposals. Advocacy for a greater allocation of ratepayers rates to transport projects rather than moving Council offices and other nonessential projects should be given much greater priority.

2a) Successful businesses and good jobs for our people. The ERA wants the MTLB to help the ERA develop a working relationship with the Penrose Business Association (PBA) to investigate synergies in residents and business interests in the area. b) The ERA is very interested in supporting moves to transform the OLB-MTLB business region into high tech and high earning export industries to improve the future economic growth and sustainability of the region from Onehunga to Glenn Innes and Greenlane to Otahuhu. In todays very competitive world this outcome should be the first priority for the MTLB and the OLB working together in partnership to attract innovative new business ventures. c) The ERA wants to see the MTLB lobby Central Government for access to low cost capital for business innovation to enable local businesses to expand and take up new opportunities that will lead to sustainable business growth and enable residents to work close to home and reduce commuting time across the city and environmental harm. d) The ERA supports the priority of providing public transport services to the major industrial employment centres in the MTLB area. e) The ERA supports community wealth creation and to share of that wealth across a wider section of our community alongside social capital creation by up-skilling our communities with business and management skills. The ERA applauds the initiatives of the MTLB to provide expert community management training to local sports clubs. The ERA holds the view that developing local people’s skills to manage their social aspirations well will have a positive effect on business, and the whole community, and participation in democratic processes. f) The ERA is pleased to see priority funding being allocated to business growth in the MTLB area because if it is successful it will have a spin off for all Ellerslie residents. We hope that all of these initiatives will lead to higher skilled jobs being attracted to the area.

3a) A built environment that strengthens our communities and reinforces our heritage and local character. The ERA wants the MTLB to increase its advocacy for the special place historically Panmure & the Tamaki estuary has in the settlement of Tamaki Makaurau,

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Ellerslie and its racecourse, and Onehunga and its wharf and foreshore area, to ensure their collective significance is enhanced. The ERA supports intensified development near major transport hubs provided it does not destroy heritage sites or change vital character. b) The ERA supports a built environment that reduces traffic congestion by locating

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workers closer to their place of employment. c) Environmentally sustainable dwellings are what the ERA sees as essential for the vision of Auckland. It appears that not enough has been done in this area to help achieve our goal of being the world’s most liveable city. Many other cities in Europe are far ahead of us in this respect and we need to catch up quickly lest the Auckland Plan objectives that contain many superlative adjectives will make us the laughing stock of the world rather than the envy of the world. d) The ERA is surprised that a key initiative of the MTLB is to develop a public private partnership to investigate a pilot project for seismic strengthening of a typical unreinforced building in Onehunga. This work was previously carried out by the owner of the Old Post Office a number of years ago and the partnership involved a considerable amount of public money. Can the MTLB not use what was done in the past? e)The ERA is concerned to see that many of the built environment projects of the MTLB are not funded. This is inconsistent with Central Government’s objective to build a lot more housing in Auckland to help reduce price and supply pressures.

4a) A healthy natural environment enjoyed by our communities. The ERA supports all the statements made in ‘the what you told us’ section of the draft plan. In addition to these objectives we ask that the MTLB advocate for the restoration of our ponds, lakes, streams and waterways and the reduction of air pollution as mentioned in paragraph 1g). If we continue to destroy our natural environment we will not be able to live here. This is inconsistent with the Auckland Plan vision of the world’s most liveable city. The ERA wants Ellerslie to be Auckland’s most liveable suburb. b) The ERA would like to see another objective added to this impressive list. The ERA is concerned that Central Government has made the removal of trees on private property too easy and already we have seen significant trees being felled. To offset this action of Central Government to increase housing densities we would like to see the MTLB to advocate with Auckland Transport (AT) for the planting of native trees on the berms of to create tree-lined streets. c) The ERA is pleased to see that many of the environmental objectives of the MTLB draft plan are funded. We hope the MTLB will quickly find a way to fund the balance.

5a) Strong and thriving communities that are enabled to participate, celebrate and contribute. Sadly the MTLB has been spectator to the most destructive displacement and relocation of residents in the recent history of New Zealand through the Glenn Innes redevelopment programme by Central Government. Long term residents of the area were forced to move to South Auckland. Although submissions were made to the MTLB the residents felt they received no support from the MTLB. The responsibility for the project lay with Central Government but Auckland Council and its Mayor Len Brown were equally culpable in effectively stopping local residents from making submissions before the deal was done. The people of Glenn Innes were denied the right to be strong, contribute and participate in the determination of their future as a community. It is important that residents associations are encouraged to develop so the well-being of communities cannot be ignored in the future.

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b) Another recent example of a community being ignored has been the traffic issue on Gavin Street. In a period of seven years no practical solution was able to be found until the residents came to the ERA seeking help. In a recent comment at the last ERA Committee meeting an OLB Board member informed the ERA Committee that Auckland Council takes no notice of the submissions

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of residents until at least 50 to 500 residents complain about the same issue. For strong thriving communicates to develop and for democracy to flourish local residents need to be part of a residents association partly funded by their local board. c) Democracy and community participation in the representative process is essential for the future of our society and the development of Auckland as the world’s most live able city. The ERA wants the MTLB to advocate for effective democracy. d) The ERA wants its neighbouring suburbs to have effective residents associations and that the MTLB budgets $5,000 in four grants to set up residents associations in Sylvia Park, Glenn Innes, Oranga, & the Panama Road areas, to assist the development of effective democracy right across the MTLB area. e) It is a serious concern that most of the community initiatives in the MTLB draft plans are not funded. This needs immediate correction before anymore destructive dislocation programmes are launched in the MTLB in the name of intensification or Quality Improvement of Housing.

6a) Park, Sports and recreational Facilities that promote healthy lifestyles and enhance well-being. The ERA is concerned that intensification under the PAUP will lead to the under provision of facilities for sport and recreation. For those sports that require open fields the options are limited to increasing capacity through artificial turf and longer hours of use with night lighting. Some of these options may reduce the quality of living for residents close to the facilities and consideration of the changes to their living environment must be carefully considered. The ERA would hope that the MTLB will advocate for the interests of all parties in considering intensification of sports fields. The ERA supports the provision of sports facilities because people involved in the discipline of sport are most likely to be healthier, and less likely to commit crime, and live meaningless lives. Sport enhances community well-being. b) The ERA is concerned that there are some sports that require costly upkeep and plant and yet produce excellent health outcomes. Swimming is one such sport. Not every suburb can justify a swimming facility. Consequently there has to be collaboration between Local Boards to advocate for the effective use and development of regional facilities. The Panmure Lagoon swimming facility is one such sports complex. It has hosted the Mt Wellington Swimming Club and given them priority in lane use for several decades. Now the pressure for swimming facilities has become such that the Mt Wellington Club wanted to expand but could not lease any more lanes due to public use of the pools. The Mt Wellington Swimming Club took the initiative to develop a plan for the heating and use for the outside 50 metres olympic sized pool that is currently used for only 4 months of the year. Their plan was a brilliant solution to the pressure on the pools facilities. However, the plan was declined by the MTLB and the YMCA who had a competing interest in the use of the pool. The ERA was not consulted in this process at all by the MTLB and yet its residents use these facilities. The development of the Stone-fields residential development has introduced many more new swimmers to the area. It is logical that more facilities are and will be required. The ERA requests that the MTLB re-visits the Mt Wellington Swimming Club plan and implements it in the next three years so the club can expand and the public can enjoy greater use of the facilities. The alternative options are much more expensive. If Ellerslie says that it

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wants a swimming pool the cost of building and managing and maintaining the facility will be much greater than expanding the capacity of the Panmure pools as proposed by the Mt Wellington Swimming Club. The MTLB should seek to effectively use Council’s assets and network with the OLB. c) The Ellerslie Eagles Rugby League Club has a similar story. Their building is in poor repair and needs upgrading or replacing. A significant portion of the clubs members come from Oranga, Penrose, and south down to Otahuhu. The OLB supported the upgrade of the Ellerlsie Domain ground to a superb facility for Rugby League. The ERA would like the OLB and MTLB to partner together to get the clubrooms upgraded so the Club can expand its activities. d) The ERA is concerned that the only specifically funded projects in the sports and recreation budget are the Waikaraka Park and Colin Maiden Park. The Mangere Bridge north abutment and the play-space entrance existing play spaces or develop new play grounds in new locations is entirely unspecific and yet it attracts the majority of the MTLB’s allocation of funds. This effectively gives the MTLB a blank cheque to do what it wants over the next three years. If that was done without public consultation on a needs assessment basis the ERA would be very concerned for the future of healthy sport in the area. The ERA requests an open and transparent process open to submissions by sporting groups seeing the sum involved is $5-$7 million of ratepayers funds.

Thank you for this opportunity to submit.

Yours sincerely

Bryan Johnson Edgar HensonChairperson Deputy ChairpersonOn behalf of the ERA CommitteeEllerslie Residents Association IncMob 027 276 6900

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