We saw the boardwalk reopened from Taumanu Reserve through to Bamfield Place in November, 18 months after the 2023 floods. This has been being put to great use by members of the public, and it is great to see the focus on fixing up the track network following the Notice of Motion I moved last year. I am hopeful that we may be able to build the extension of this boardwalk around to Taylor’s Bay, as planned pre-Covid, but other items in the work programme may take higher priority. 

We have also seen lots of work underway in Waikōwhai Park and Taunahi/Wattle Bay to renovate some of the tracks that were damaged, although it is an unfortunate reality that some of them may never reopen officially after the substantial damage they faced. I was sent the image below by a member of the public, showing the destruction of a path near Taunahi/Wattle Bay that had only been completed in late 2022. 

We have also seen the old “Mt Roskill Tennis Club” hall in Arthur Faulkner reserve be made available to lease by members of the community. This hall has great wooden floors, a small kitchen and toilets and makes a wonderful place for a birthday party or similar with a playground, tennis courts, and massive field space after the removal of the old tennis courts.  

We saw Waikōwhai Park officially reopened in September of 2024, although the lower road down to the Faulkner Bay carpark remains closed to vehicles as council staff work through the massive works needed to make sure it is safe in future storm events. It has been great seeing our playground back in use, and to be able to see the fantastic bird life – including reports of two kaka! Thanks go out to the Conservation Volunteers team who have been looking after the predator control lines along the coastlines for years. 

I have continued my mahi as Chair of the Manukau Harbour Forum, with a key focus being on supporting the Natural Environment Strategy team in their “better outcomes for the Manukau Harbour” work. Our coordinator has also continued to do splendid work in the community through waananga and tree planting. I was also able to help the Coastguard secure access at the Mangere Bridge security great, and we enjoyed a great day out on the Harbour at the end of the year alongside councillors Julie Fairey, Ken Turner, and Kerrin Leoni. 

One great sign for the Harbour is the regrowth of seagrass in the inner Harbour. This plant provides nutrients for fish and is seen as a good indicator of harbour health. Below is a picture taken from within Waikōwhai Park showing the extent of the seagrass at mid-tide. 

One of our disappointments locally has been the decision not to proceed with a bird roost at the Watercare Central Interceptor site at Frederick Street. This had been planned to encourage bird roosting along the coastline and would have been a great asset. Unfortunately, there was some local opposition and Watercare decided not to proceed with it – meaning the area lost out on a nice addition that would not have cost the board any money. 

The Hillsborough Road bus layover which was implemented due to needing to provide bus drivers with a safe place to rest and use the bathroom at the end of their runs was finally completed last year. This proposal had caused a lot of public discontent yet seems to be running fine with no complaints. This has reduced some of the pressure outside Hillsborough Heights village, particulary in the early afternoons. 

It has also been awesome seeing the first stage of the Molley Green Reserve redevelopment opened. Big new basketball courts, a toilet, BBQ, new paths, and the substantial improvement in stormwater are all testament to the hard work done by the LEAD alliance contractors. It will be interesting to see what happens within the wider Mt Roskill Development area as the Government changes direction.  There has been a lot of push back on the large-scale intensification plans with a perceived lack of investment in the supporting infrastructure, yet the works in Molley Green are beyond what would happen if the land is sold off to private investors who are only required to deal with their individual site’s requirements.  

We also had a visit from Auckland Council CEO Phil Wilson. We took him on a tour of our parks and development areas, and he was impressed with the substantial green space we have available for the community to use.  

At the end of 2024, the Board decided to go out for consultation on changing off or on-leash rules at six parks within the Board area. The board has recommended that three parks move from wholly off-leash to on-leash, those being Freeland Reserve, Walmsley, and Underwood. All these parks have had a substantial structural change which has changed them from being open fields that are underused, to spaces where many people walk, cycle, and play. Our Dog-Walking network assessment recommended this change, but the staff advice on the initial report did not. We made the decision unanimously to put this out to consultation. Two parks are proposed to move to fully on-leash: John Moore and Smallfield. John Moore sits beside a path that goes between the Roskill Schools Campus and also has a playground, while Smallfield is a relatively underused site in Three Kings. Another park is Monte Cecilia Park, which currently has an off-leash area. Staff advice was not to change this, but there was belief by some on the board that there has been enough community feedback that the area should be changed to on-leash. Bobby and I moved an amendment to not do this and instead improve the signage, which was voted down. Community feedback is open now and it will be great to see what the local community thinks.  

One final highlight for me was the installation of solar panels on the Mt Roskill Library, which were funded largely by Central Government.  

My thanks goes out to all the staff who are doing great work in our local area – be it Ecological Restoration, Community building, working in the library, cleaning the toilets, providing governance support, answering the phones, fixing footpaths and all of the other great work that often goes un-noticed.