Agenda of Waiheke Local Board

Waiheke Local Board

26 March 2015

ITEM TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

1 Welcome 5

2 Apologies 5

3 Declaration of Interest 5

4 Confirmation of Minutes 5

5 Leave of Absence 5

6 Acknowledgements 5

7 Petitions 5

8 Deputations 5

9 Public Forum 5

10 Extraordinary Business 5

11 Notices of Motion 6

12 Auckland Transport Report - March 2015 7

13 Wetland restoration programme for Rangihoua Onetangi Sports Park and Te Matuku Bay Esplanade Reserve 13

14 LGNZ Conference and AGM 2015 19

15 List of resource consents 27

16 Reports requested/pending 31

17 Board Members' Reports 39

18 Consideration of Extraordinary Items

PUBLIC EXCLUDED

19 Procedural Motion to Exclude the Public 43

C1 Operational Management of the Old Library Space 43

1 Welcome

Kua uru mai a hau kaha, a hau maia, a hau ora, a hau nui,

Ki runga, ki raro, ki roto, ki waho

Rire, rire hau…pai marire

Translation (non-literal) - Rama Ormsby

Let the winds bring us inspiration from beyond,

Invigorate us with determination and courage to achieve our aspirations for abundance and sustainability

Bring the calm, bring all things good, bring peace….good peace.

2 Apologies

At the close of the agenda no apologies had been received.

3 Declaration of Interest

Members are reminded of the need to be vigilant to stand aside from decision making when a conflict arises between their role as a member and any private or other external interest they might have.

4 Confirmation of Minutes

That the Waiheke Local Board:

a) confirm the ordinary minutes of its meeting, held on Thursday, 12 March 2015, as a true and correct record.

5 Leave of Absence

At the close of the agenda no requests for leave of absence had been received.

6 Acknowledgements

At the close of the agenda no requests for acknowledgements had been received.

7 Petitions

At the close of the agenda no requests to present petitions had been received.

8 Deputations

Standing Order 3.20 provides for deputations. Those applying for deputations are required to give seven working days notice of subject matter and applications are approved by the Chairperson of the Waiheke Local Board. This means that details relating to deputations can be included in the published agenda. Total speaking time per deputation is ten minutes or as resolved by the meeting.

At the close of the agenda no requests for deputations had been received.

9 Public Forum

A period of time (approximately 30 minutes) is set aside for members of the public to address the meeting on matters within its delegated authority. A maximum of 3 minutes per item is allowed, following which there may be questions from www members.

At the close of the agenda no requests for public forum had been received.

10 Extraordinary Business

Section 46A(7) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended) states:

“An item that is not on the agenda for a meeting may be dealt with at that meeting if-

(a) The local authority by resolution so decides; and

(b) The presiding member explains at the meeting, at a time when it is open to the public,-

(i) The reason why the item is not on the agenda; and

(ii) The reason why the discussion of the item cannot be delayed until a subsequent meeting.”

Section 46A(7A) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended) states:

“Where an item is not on the agenda for a meeting,-

(a) That item may be discussed at that meeting if-

(i) That item is a minor matter relating to the general business of the local authority; and

(ii) the presiding member explains at the beginning of the meeting, at a time when it is open to the public, that the item will be discussed at the meeting; but

(b) no resolution, decision or recommendation may be made in respect of that item except to refer that item to a subsequent meeting of the local authority for further discussion.”

11 Notices of Motion

At the close of the agenda no requests for notices of motion had been received.

Waiheke Local Board

26 March 2015

Auckland Transport Report - March 2015

File No.: CP2015/03952

Purpose

1. The purpose of the report is to respond to local board requests on transport-related matters and to provide information to Elected Members about Auckland Transport activities in the local board area.

Executive summary

2. This report covers matters of specific application and interest to the Waiheke Local Board and its community; matters of general interest relating to Auckland Transport activities or the transport sector; and Auckland Transport media releases for the information of the board and community.

3. In particular, this report provides an update on:

· Local Board Transport Capital Fund (LBTCF);

· E-bike – Matiatia;

· Auckland Transport Code of Practice (ATCOP) Huaraki Gulf Update;

· Local Consultations; and

· Media.

Recommendation/s

That the Waiheke Local Board:

a) Receives the report.

b) Identifies and approves preferred option on the LBTCF, Ostend Road footpath.

Discussion

Local Board Transport Capital Fund (LBTCF)

4. In September 2014 the Local Board provided a list of potential Local Board Transport

Capital Fund projects.

5. The table below outlines an up-date as to decisions by the Board and on the progress of the projects.

Table 1: Waiheke Local Board project update for Board approval:

Resolution # WHK/2014/209

ID#	Project Description	Progress/Current Status
	Empire Avenue, Boardwalk and stream rehabilitation	On hold at request of Board
	O’Brien’s Road Causeway pedestrian, equestrian and cycle bridge	Waiting formal handover from SLIP’s to LBTCF
	Matiatia boardwalk 350 metres, low height, no side rails, low impact lighting built into toe rail	Initial ROC of $707,000. On Boards recommendation 2^nd scope of broadwalk removing path in carparking area and only going through wet lands ROC $507,088, awaiting further investigation work re feasibility and discussion with local expert. Awaiting AT’s outcome on use of volunteer’s
	Causeway reserve retaining wall and boardwalk 65 metres	On hold at request of Board
	Walking trail up Sea View Road	· Seaview Road trial, two sections Erua Road to 36 Seaview Road $594,000 · 36 Seaview Road to 365 Seaview Road $440,000 · Discussion regarding volunteers and re-scope re other options
	Formation of low level multiuse trail, Ostend road verge	Options still in consideration for next board report

Note: ROC = rough order of costs; FEC = firm estimate of cost)

LBTCF O’Briens Road Update

6. The Waiheke Local Board requested Auckland Transport to;

Resolution # WHK/2014/209

1) Scopes and provides indicative cost estimates for the following potential Local Board Transport Capital Funds project;

· Formation of low level multiuse trail, Ostend road verge.

7. This is currently under discussion and options will be presented at Board meeting of 23 April 2015.

Cycle Hire at Matiatia update

8. Prior to Christmas 2014, Auckland Transport received an application, for commercial space at Matiatia to be provided to E-Cycles. A company planning to offer the hire of electric cycles. The operators subsequently sought and obtained political support from the Auckland Council Infrastructure Committee, and from the Waiheke Local Board.

9. After working with the Local Board and E-Cycles, Auckland Transport agreed to temporarily allocate one car park and adjoining motorbike parking area to the E-Bike business and made this available from December 2014 to March 2015.

10. Auckland Transport is currently working with the Local Board on an agreed Registration of Interest document and process to allow any interested parties to apply for their business to operate an E cycle operation at Matiatia.

11. It is anticipated that this process will be conducted by end of March 2015 to coincide with the end of the lease to E-Bikes.

ATCOP Design Guide for Hauraki Gulf Islands

12. In early 2015 the Waiheke Island Local Board provided Auckland Transport with suggestions, on what the Board would like to seen in the ATCOP design guidelines for the island.

13. The AT member working on this section of the guide reports, work is yet to start on this section and once it does it is expected it will sit in Volume 3, Section 6 “Hauraki Gulf Islands”.

14. It is expected that work will commence on this section, early this year with consultation/feedback/workshops expected to take place by mid 2015.

Local Consultations

15. Consultation documents and discussion for the following proposals have been provided to the Waiheke Local Board for its feedback. As the Board’s transport portfolio holder and the Local Board Chair provide feedback on the Board’s behalf, the material below is included for general information purposes only.

16. No consultations this month

Media

Auckland train numbers hit the lucky 13 – Million

17. March 2015 sees the annual total train passenger trips pass 13 Million for the first time, this is an annual growth of 19% to the end of February.

18. Auckland trains are now carrying 10,000 more customers on a normal weekday than at this time last year.

19. In March 2014, 11 million annual trips were recorded of which means and increase of two million trips in 12 months.

20. Each weekday in February, on average 51,500 customers used Auckland’s trains including 12,500 during the morning peak (7am to 9am).

21. Auckland Transport are aiming to have electric trains on most services by the middle of this year, which will mean extra capacity, improved comfort and reliability.

22. Overall total public transport boarding’s have increased by more than 9% for the 12 months to end of February, an additional 6.6 million boarding’s, taking the annual total to 77 million.

Auckland Transport wants to share our roads

23. Auckland Transport is looking for a car share operator to launch a large scale scheme in Auckland, based on Plug-in Electric Vehicles.

24. Auckland Transport has released a request for Proposal (RFP) from car share operators to create a scheme here.

25. It would initially require the operator to have 250 – 300 vehicles which AT will match with a similar number of carparks dedicated to care share vehicles. It is expected that in time the fleet would increase to at least 500 cars.

26. Car share schemes are based on members who pay a membership fee which entitles them to use a scheme-owned car on demand, for which they pay a per-trip charge based upon the time used.

27. There are already about five million people, world-wide, who are members of a car share scheme and the numbers of both users and cities with a scheme, are growing rapidly, changing transport habits in the process.

28. Auckland Transport chairman Dr Lester Levy says evidence shows members reduce the number of cars they own, with some giving up ownership altogether. As a result, one shared-car can replace between eight and 20 privately-owned cars, depending on the scheme and the city.

29. Dr Levy says if a large scale scheme in Auckland achieved at the lower end of the scale, it could replace 2000 private cars and at the higher end, as many as 10,000.

30. He says besides reducing their car ownership, scheme members tend to travel fewer kilometres each year in a car and significantly re-orientate their transport habits onto a mix of car-share, public transport and walking and cycling.

31. Mayor Len Brown says, “A scheme like this can make an important contribution to both our transport network, our commitment to lowering carbon emissions, and our sustainability initiatives. Once again, it is about offering Aucklanders alternatives – a new transport option, an alternative energy source, and if people want, an alternative to private car ownership to complement public and active transport.”

32. In addition, car-sharing schemes had the potential to allow operators of large fleets to significantly reduce the number of vehicles they own.

33. Dr Levy says, “We estimate that Auckland Transport could reduce its fleet by between 25 and 50%, which would represent a significant saving to ratepayers. All of these changes would make a contribution towards Auckland reducing road congestion and encouraging people out of private cars into alternative forms of travel.”

34. When a scheme is based on electric vehicles, as favoured for Auckland, there would be an accompanying reduction in environmental pollution, an encouragement for more people to move to electric vehicles and the substitution of a clean, “home-grown” fuel for imported fossil fuels.

35. These benefits will tick a number of the boxes in Auckland's Low Carbon Action Plan and assists our existing initiatives to also meet low carbon objectives, Dr Levy says.

36. Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) Chief Executive, Mike Underhill, applauds Auckland Transport for its leadership in this proposal which will help get Auckland moving, support the Low Carbon Auckland Action Plan and play an important part in supporting the uptake of electric vehicles nationwide.

37. “Auckland Transport’s proposal will offer Auckland businesses and residents an exciting alternative to using their own car in the city.”

38. Mr Underhill says electric vehicle car share programmes have been successfully running overseas for years. “It’s time for New Zealand to grab the opportunity to reduce our carbon emissions and make the most of our abundant renewable electricity.”

39. “Wearing his hat” as chairman of both the Auckland and Waitemata District Health Boards, Dr Levy says an average of 126 premature deaths each year in Auckland, of adults below 30, are attributed to transport emissions in the air.

40. “Anything that brings that figure down is worth doing – and this is but one of the health benefits that will come from cleaning up Auckland’s air,” he says.

41. Dr Levy notes Auckland already has a commercial car-share operator, City Hop. There is also a community based scheme, NZ Car Sharing on Waiheke Island. Auckland Transport has worked with both for a number of years, they are relatively small-scale operators and the RFP released today is for a large-scale scheme.

42. Dr Levy say both existing schemes are welcome to respond to the RFP but even if they don’t, Auckland Transport will continue to work with them.

Consideration

Local board views and implications

43. The board’s views will be incorporated during consultation on any proposed schemes.

Maori impact statement

44. No specific issues with regard to the Maori Impact Statement are triggered by this report.

General

45. The activities detailed in this report do not trigger the Significance Policy. All programmes and activities are within budget/in line with the council’s annual plan and LTP documents and there are no legal or legislative implications arising from the activities detailed in this report.

Implementation

46. All proposed schemes are subject to prioritisation, funding and consultation.

Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

Signatories

Authors

Ivan Trethowen, Elected Member Relationship Manager

Authorisers

Jonathan Anyon, Elected Member Relationship Team Manager

Judith Webster - Relationship Manager

Waiheke Local Board

26 March 2015

Wetland restoration programme for Rangihoua Onetangi Sports Park and Te Matuku Bay Esplanade Reserve

File No.: CP2015/03826

Purpose

1. For the local board:

· to agree and allocate funding for immediate work required at Rangihoua Onetangi Sports Park and Te Matuku wetlands; and

· to allocate funding for a community partnership to deliver the restoration of native bush and wetlands on the island, initially focussing on Rangihoua Onetangi Sports Park.

Executive Summary

2. In 2012, Council’s biodiversity team prepared restoration plans for four wetlands on Waiheke Island -Rangihoua, Te Matuku, Tawaipareira and Okahuiti. Since then the Waiheke local board has funded the implementation of the restoration plans at Rangihoua and Te Matuku, which were considered the highest priority sites. All work including weed control, planting and maintenance has been done by contractors.

3. Over the last year there have been increasing concerns from the community about the methodologies used for this work. In particular the extent of herbicide use and the cost of high-intervention weed control, which seeks to keep newly planted areas weed-free.

4. The board wishes to develop a new approach to the restoration of native bush and wetlands on the island. This would be a low intervention approach, in particular: removing only those plants classified as total control and containment species in the Regional Pest Management Strategy (primarily moth plant and rhamnus); tolerance of other weeds including woolly nightshade and gorse; minimisation of herbicide use and use of well-managed and motivated volunteers for planting and manual weed control.

5. This report recommends funding the establishment of a community partnership which would promote increased volunteer involvement in restoration of native bush and wetlands.

6. Work is required at Rangihoua and Te Matuku in 2014/2015 in order to complete outstanding tasks from last year and avoid re-establishment of weeds. Given time constraints and the availability of budget, this work is best done by contractors. This report provides details and recommends the allocation of budget for the work.

Recommendation/s

That the Waiheke Local Board:

a) Agrees in principle to support a new approach to the restoration of native bush and wetlands; this approach will minimise herbicide use through the tolerance of some weeds and the use of manual weed control where necessary.

b) Agrees to fund a community partnership to continue the wetland restoration work at Rangihoua Onetangi Sports Park, through the motivation communication, organisation, reward and recognition of local and visiting volunteers at a cost of $25,000 from the boards 2014/15 small local improvement projects budget. The general terms of the grant are set out in paragraph 16 in the report below and are to be agreed by the Local Board Chair or other person delegated by the board.

c) Agrees to fund immediate restoration work at Rangihoua and Te Matuku, in accordance with the priorities set out in this report, at a cost of $37,000 from the board’s Wetland Restoration Budget line in FY 2014/15.

d) Agrees to contribute up to $8,000 in 2014/15 from the small local improvement projects budget line to prepare a new work programme and associated monitoring and reporting framework for Rangihoua, Te Matuku, Tawaipareira and Okahuiti wetlands.

e) Agrees to contribute up to $5,000 in 2014/15 from the small local improvement projects budget line to carry out maintenance on the 2014 planting areas as necessary.

Comments

7. In the 2013/2014 financial year, the board funded the implementation of the year two restoration works at Rangihoua and Te Matuku wetlands, a community wetland restoration workshop, and two further restoration plans for Tawaipareira and Okahuiti wetlands.

8. Over the past six months a series of meetings and workshops have been held with local board members, Council staff and community stakeholders to discuss issues relating to the overall cost of the programme, the restoration methods to be employed (including use of herbicides), use of local contractors and promotion of community support and volunteer input to the programme.

9. This report is based on acknowledgement that there is a diversity of ecological and community objectives and a range of opinions over how habitat enhancement and restoration work should be undertaken at Rangihoua and Te Matuku wetlands. It reflects discussions with Biodiversity, Biosecurity and Parks staff and community stakeholders rather than the position of any single Council unit or community group, and seeks to develop a short and long term approach which, as far as possible, accommodates all perspectives and enables all interests to work together.

10. The new approach is intended to place greater emphasis on minimising herbicide use, employing a low intervention approach and supporting involvement of volunteers. As a consequence, aspects of this proposed restoration programme would be a departure from the current management plans and the advice provided by Council ecologists and pest management experts on ecological restoration best practice. This brings with it an increased risk that the desired ecological and biodiversity outcomes will not be achieved. It will therefore be important to have continuing discussion with all parties and to regularly review progress across all objectives in order to assess whether any changes to the programme are needed.

11. Discussion will also take place with Council staff and community stakeholders on how the new approach can be applied to other reserves for which the board has management responsibilities. This would include a monitoring programme to test effectiveness of different management methods within the wetlands and/or comparison sites nearby, and evaluate the volunteer programme.

Immediate (interim) work programme requirements

12. The restoration work at Rangihoua and Te Matuku wetlands is midway through a 5 year programme. Until a revised work programme is established, only urgent priority work will be carried out in order to protect the Council and community’s existing investment of resources and prevent immediate re-invasion of the most threatening plant pests. In particular

· up to 4,000 plants, which have already been paid for, will be planted this winter;

· site preparation for these planting areas;

· some maintenance is required for new plantings established last year;

· maintenance weed control is required for areas at Te Matuku where weeds were intensively managed last year to control and prevent re-growth.

Co-ordination of volunteers

13. Co-ordination of increased community support and the involvement of volunteers will be essential if the attached principles are to be put into practice. The resources and skills required to do this would be beyond the current Council staff capacity available on Waiheke.

14. It is recommended that the local board supports this work by funding a community partnership with one of the island’s not-for-profit organisations, on an annual grant basis, in principle for a three year trial period. This would help to build the capacity of the partnership and enable additional funding to be attracted from other sources if required. This three year period would enable the community partner to build a team, recruit volunteers, develop relationships and monitoring and reporting programmes.

15. For Year 1 the co-ordination brief would be to establish and co-ordinate a team of local volunteers to help restore the ecological values of Waiheke, initially focussing on the Rangihoua and Te Matuku wetlands; with work to include:

· Development of a name for the project, key messages and visual identity;

· Recruitment of 100-200 volunteers;

· Recruitment of 5-10 volunteer co-ordinators;

· Development of the necessary volunteer management skills and processes, including responsibility for health and safety

· Motivational communication, recognition and reward of volunteers through social media and local press;

· Organisation of around 10 major volunteer events, equalling at around 500 volunteer hours, primarily at Rangihoua/Onetangi Sports Park;

· Liaison with relevant council staff to make this happen;

· Monitoring and documentation of volunteering and restoration results at Rangihoua/Onetangi Sports Parks.

· The brief will be reviewed and updated as necessary. The work at Rangihoua may extend to include the wider reserve or other local reserves over time.

Budget

16. In recognising the value of restoring wetlands on Waiheke, the Waiheke Local Board (the board) included funding of $37,055 in its 2014/2015 Local Board Agreement (LBA) for wetland restoration. In previous years the physical works restoration programme has also been funded by the board’s Small Local Improvement Projects (SLIPs) budget.

Table 1 : Summary of the 2014/15 work programme and budget.

Location and action	Budget	Cost	Delivered by	Management unit and activity
Rangihoua
Site preparation	Wetland Restoration budget line	Up to $12,000	Contractors	Northern Estuary, Onetangi 4 (and Onetangi 6 if resources permit) Site preparation for planting of approx. 4000 pre-purchased plants. Predominantly clearance of planting areas amongst gorse and woolly nightshade required to gain access to planting sites. By hand removal where feasible. Otherwise by cut and paste herbicide application only, with no spraying. .
Planting	N/A	None	Community partnership	As above. Planting of approx. 4000 native plants in accordance with management plan.
Maintenance	SLIPs	Up to $5,000	Contractors and/or volunteers (for hand release)	Tributary 1 (Onetangi sports park side only). Mid Tennis and Onetangi entrance. Weed control/releasing of existing plantings, using manual/mechanical methods wherever possible. Te Whau Esplanade Reserve. Apart from essential moth plant follow up work, weed control operations will not be carried out until a new work programme and volunteer initiative is developed.
Te Matuku
Weed control	Wetland Restoration Budget line	$25,000	Contractors	Cemetery/stockyard block, Orapiu block, Te Matuku pt land, Peninsula block, sandspit. Control moth plant seedling re-establishment from seed bank after previous control work, prior to replanting/assisted regeneration work. Some control of other species (including gorse and wooly nightshade) also required. Will also need to be continued on a lower scale next year. Due to the size of area, accessibility, terrain and abundance of emerging seedlings requiring immediate control it is not feasible to carry out this work with volunteers this year. The cost of manual removal by contractors would only allow for a small proportion of the area to be covered. Moth plant seedlings will need to be spot sprayed in accordance with existing safe/minimal use practices. Cut and paste will be used on other woody species.
General
Volunteer Co-ordination	SLIPs	$25,000		See details in main body of the report.
Monitoring and planning	SLIPs	$8,000	Contractors	Develop a 5-10 year work programme in accordance with the above principles
Total		$75,000		($37,000 Wetland Restoration, $38,000 SLIPs)

Consideration

Local Board views and implications

17. The contents of this report are based on the board’s discussion and consultation with staff from the Council’s Local Parks, Biodiversity and Biosecurity Units as well as community stakeholders.

Māori impact statement

18. No consultation with Maori was undertaken for the purposes of this report. However it will be incorporated into the brief for a cultural values assessment for Rangihoua Onetangi Sports Park which is to be prepared by Ngati Paoa.

Implementation

19. A robust monitoring programme will need to be implemented alongside the practical restoration work in order to determine the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

20. It is suggested that, in the short term, the board continues to support the minimal use of herbicide at Te Matuku, as well as some areas at Rangihoua in particular to control moth plant on the maunga. This will enable limited comparison of the two approaches.

21. The proposed programme relies heavily on volunteers being involved in weeding and planting of the wetlands. If volunteers cannot be recruited to undertake this work, the board may need to increase the use of paid contractors to complete some of the restoration work.

Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

Signatories

Authors

Gary Wilton - Parks Adviser Hauraki Gulf Islands

Authorisers

Ian Maxwell - General Manager Parks, Sports and Recreation

Judith Webster - Relationship Manager

Waiheke Local Board

26 March 2015

LGNZ Conference and AGM 2015

File No.: CP2015/03670

Purpose

1. This report informs local boards about the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and conference in Rotorua from Sunday 19 July 2015 to Tuesday 21 July 2015 and invites local boards to nominate a representative to attend as relevant.

Executive Summary

2. The Local Government New Zealand annual conference and AGM takes place at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre from Sunday 19 July to Tuesday 21 July 2015.

3. The AGM takes place on the first day of the conference. Auckland Council is entitled to 4 official delegates at the AGM, one of whom is the presiding (or voting) delegate. The Governing Body will consider this at their meeting on 26 March 2015. The 4 official delegates are likely to be the Mayor as a member of the LGNZ National Council, the Deputy Mayor as the Mayor’s alternate for this position, Cr Webster as Chair LGNZ Zone One and a member of LGNZ National Council, and the Chief Executive.

4. In addition to the official delegates, local board members are invited to attend. Local boards should consider the relevance of the conference programme when deciding on attendance, with the expectation that no board will approve more than one member to attend the conference.

Recommendation/s

That the Waiheke Local Board:

a) Nominates a representative to attend the Local Government New Zealand 2015 annual general meeting and conference from Sunday 19 July 2015 to Tuesday 21 July 2015 on the basis that the conference programme is relevant to the Local Board’s work programme

b) Confirms that conference attendance including travel and accommodation will be paid for in accordance with the current Auckland Council Elected Member Expense Policy.

Comments

5. The 2015 LGNZ Conference and AGM are being held in Rotorua. The conference commences with the AGM and technical tours from 09.30 am on Sunday 19 July 2015 and concludes at 2.30 pm on Tuesday 21 July 2015.

6. The theme of this year’s conference is “Leading the Charge for our Communities”. The programme includes:

· Stephen Yarwood, former Mayor of Adelaide, will discuss performance and customer focussed culture - taking your people with you;

· David Meates, CEO of Canterbury District Health Board, will present on understanding what's important to communities and why a strong focus on the customer matters;

· Dr Lester Levy, CEO of New Zealand Leadership Institute, will discuss disruptive governance – how do we increase our performance and create a strong link from strategy to transparent financial performance;

· Kevin Roberts, Executive Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, on telling our story and selling the value of our sector;

· Penny Webster, Councillor at Auckland Council; Rob Cameron, Partner at Cameron Partners; and Dr Oliver Hartwich, Executive Director of the New Zealand Initiative will speak on funding for growth – transformation of local government;

· Dr William Rolleston, National President of Federated Farmers; Andrew Knight, CEO of New Zealand Oil and Gas; and Gary Taylor, Executive Director of the Environmental Defence Society will discuss resource management – how a growing economy can also support a healthy environment;

· Mayors Meng Foon, Stuart Crosby, Annette Main, David Ayers and Tony Kokshoorn will each present on right-sizing your town and making the important decisions – a response to economic and demographic change;

· Brenda Halloran, former Mayor of Waterloo, Canada, will talk about nation building – infrastructure and urban development; and

· Brett Way of Central Hawkes Bay District Council and Rochelle Deane of Auckland Council will present on delivering local government expertise in the Pacific – a snap shot of the Local Government Technical Assistance Facility for Pacific Countries, (PacificTA) programme.

7. The programme also includes a number of Master Class sessions including:

· Growing NZ's talent and economies – strategies to retain and attract skilled migrants;

· Local boards – connecting with the community;

· Engaging with iwi to grow local and regional economies;

· Collaboration, culture change and customer focus under the RMA; and

· Getting the most from the One Network Roading Classification system.

8. Local boards should consider the relevance of the programme when deciding on conference attendance, with the expectation that no board will approve more than one member to attend the conference.

Annual General Meeting

9. The AGM takes place on the first day of the conference. Auckland Council is entitled to have four delegates to the AGM, one of whom is the presiding (or voting) delegate. The 4 official delegates are likely to be the Mayor (or his nominee), the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Penny Webster (as Chair of Zone 1) and the Chief Executive (or his nominee).

10. The Mayor is a member of the LGNZ National Council, the Deputy Mayor is the Mayor’s alternate for this position, and Councillor Penny Webster is the Chair of LGNZ Zone One and a member of LGNZ National Council. The Governing Body will consider an item on AGM attendance at their meeting on 26 March 2015.

11. LGNZ request that local board members who wish to attend the AGM, register their intention prior to the AGM.

Costs

12. The Local Board Services Department budget will cover the costs of one member per local board to attend the conference.

13. Registration fees are $1410.00 (incl GST) before 3 June 2015 and $1510.00 (incl GST) after that. Full conference registration includes

· Attendance at conference business sessions (Sunday-Tuesday);

· Satchel and contents;

· Daily catering;

· Simpson Grierson welcome cocktail function;

· Fulton Hogan conference dinner and EXCELLENCE Awards function; and

· Closing conference function ticket.

14. The council hosted tours on Sunday 19 July 2015 are not included in the conference price. Local board members are welcome to attend these at their own cost.

15. Additional costs are approximately $150 per night accommodation, plus travel. Local Board Services will be co-ordinating and booking all registrations and accommodation and investigating cost effective travel.

Consideration

Local Board Views

16. This is a report to the 21 local boards.

Maori Impact Statement

17. The Local Government NZ conference will better inform local boards and thereby support their decision making for their communities including Maori.

Implementation Issues

18. There are no implementation issues associated with the recommendations in this report.

Attachments

No.	Title	Page
a View	LGNZ Conference and Master Class Programme	23

Signatories

Authors

Anna Bray, Policy & Planning Manager - Local Boards

Authorisers

Rex Hewitt - Relationship Manager

Judith Webster - Relationship Manager

Chairperson	Paul Walden
Deputy Chairperson	Beatle Treadwell
Members	Becs Ballard
	Shirin Brown
	John Meeuwsen

Authors	Carmen Fernandes - Democracy Advisor
Authorisers	Judith Webster - Relationship Manager