Howick Local Board

OPEN MINUTES

 

 

 

Minutes of a meeting of the Howick Local Board held in the Howick Local Board Meeting Room, Pakuranga Library Complex, 7 Aylesbury Street, Pakuranga on Thursday, 28 April 2016 at 6.00pm.

 

present

 

Chairperson

David Collings

 

 

 

Deputy Chairperson

Adele White

 

 

 

Members

Garry Boles

 

 

 

 

Katrina Bungard

 

 

 

 

Lucy Schwaner (from 6.05pm)

 

 

 

 

John Spiller

 

 

 

 

Steve Udy

 

 

 

 

Bob Wichman

 

 

 

 

ABSENT

 

 

Jim Donald

 

 

 

 


Howick Local Board

28 April 2016

 

 

 

1          Welcome

 

 

2          Apologies

 

Resolution number HW/2016/218

MOVED by Chairperson DA Collings, seconded by Member JR Spiller:  

That the Howick Local Board accept the apologies from Jim Donald for absence and Lucy Schwaner for lateness.

CARRIED

 

 

3          Declaration of Interest

 

There were no declarations of interest.

 


 

4

Annual Plan 2016/17

 

Attachment A, B, and C and late submitter No. 3333 tabled at the meeting are attached to the back of the minutes.

 

Resolution number HW/2016/219

MOVED by Chairperson DA Collings, seconded by Member G Boles:  

That the Howick Local Board:

a)      Agrees 2016/2017 LDI budgets by activity, within funding envelopes as outlines in Attachment A.

b)      Agrees key advocacy issues as outlined in Attachment B with the additional advocacy:

          Ensure that the Chapel Road bridge realignment in Flat Bush is included in the Regional Land Transport Programme on traffic safety grounds in order to get funding to enable the project to proceed to detailed design stage.

c)      Provides the following views on regional financial policy issues:

         i)     Increase the Uniform Annual General Charge.

         ii)    Increase the Interim Transport Levy for business.

         iii)   Keep farm and lifestyle property rates over 50 hectares at the same level.

         iv)   Does not support reducing rates collected from Maori land.

 

d)      Requests that $110,000 of 2015/2016 LDI opex to be deferred.

e)      Note the summary feedback from the public consultation on Auckland Council’s Annual Budget and Howick Local Board proposals for 2016/17, and

          i)     Refer to the Arts, Culture and Events portfolio the submission received  from Uxbridge Arts & Culture (submission no. 47) requesting that their existing level of funding be maintained and that the Board considers their future funding requirements and recognize the additional costs in respect of:

·            Attracting regional and national exhibitions to the new public art gallery;

·            Attracting new regional markets which bring economic benefit to the area;

·            A year-round performance space and extended events programme;

·            A focus on delivering a broader programme representative of the community; and

·            Additional front-of-house staffing.

ii)    Refer to the Arts, Culture and Events portfolio the submission received  from Howick Little Theatre (submission no. 1080) requesting funding to support extraordinary maintenance costs of $52,800 that the organisation faces in 2016.

f)       Notes the late submission No. 3333 be received.

 

CARRIED

  

            Secretarial Note: Member Lucy Schwaner entered the meeting at 6.05pm.

 

 

 

 

 

6.14pm                                               The Chairperson thanked Members for their attendance and attention to business and declared the meeting closed.

 

CONFIRMED AS A TRUE AND CORRECT RECORD AT A MEETING OF THE Howick Local Board HELD ON

 

 

 

DATE:.........................................................................

 

 

 

CHAIRPERSON:........................................................


Item 4 Attachment A

 

 

 

 

 


Item 4 Attachment B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 


Item 4 Attachment C

Annual Budget 2016/2017 consultation feedback report for Howick Local Board

1.   Purpose

A.    This report summarises all feedback received through the Annual Budget 2016/2017 consultation on Howick Local Board proposals. It also summarises feedback on the regional proposals from people or organisations based in the Howick local board area. 

 

B.    The purpose of this report is to inform the Howick Local Board of the views of their local community on the annual proposals. This will build on the boards understanding of community priorities and preferences as established in the development of the Howick Local Board Plan 2014.

 

C.   The feedback received will inform the Howick Local Board decisions on allocation of their local budgets in their local board agreement for 2016/2017. It will also inform the Howick Local Board discussions with the Finance and Performance Committee on 6 and 9 May on advocacy and local priorities in relation to the regional budgets and proposals.

2.   Executive Summary

Out of the 3,324 submissions received on the Annual Budget 2016/2017, 183 were submissions from people living in Howick local board area or concerning Howick Local Board local proposals. This comprised a total of 44,076 individual points of feedback, with 3,016 points of feedback from people living in Howick local board area or concerning Howick Local Board local proposals.

A.   Howick local proposals consulted on for 2016/2017

 

  1. Undertake a stock take of all community facilities in the area;
  2. Support local services and infrastructure in Flat Bush;
  3. Continue coastal erosion and sand replenishment of beaches and advocate for a regional fund for coastal erosion;
  4. Develop a master plan for the former Greenmount landfill area;
  5. Develop a greenways plan to provide safe cycling and walking connections;
  6. Connect our walkways to open up the coastline for everyone to use;
  7. Increase funding for local parks volunteers for pest control measures;
  8. Provide rental support to a number of community facilities;
  9. Improve the existing playground network; and
  10. Fund green assets/ecological restoration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B.   Regional proposals consulted on for 2016/2017

Fixed charge (Uniform Annual general Charge or UAGC)

55% of respondents are of the opinion that the UAGC should be higher than $397, with 31% of respondents of the opinion that if the UAGC were to change, then a level of $650 would be appropriate. It should also be noted that 16% of respondents were of the opinion that the UAGC be lowered, with 22% of respondents suggesting a level of $350 as appropriate.

Interim Transport Levy (ITL)

48% of respondents are of the opinion that business’ should pay more than other ratepayers, with 58% of the opinion that if business’ do pay more, than the levy should be based on property value.

Farm and lifestyle rates

59% of respondents are of the opinion that the rates paid by farm/lifestyle properties over 50 hectares should remain at 80%.

Māori land rates

74% of respondents do not support reducing rates collected from Māori land.

 

C.   Other feedback (on any other proposals and/or other local issues)

The main priorities noted in “other” feedback include Local Parks, Sports & Recreation (particularly the Barry Curtis Park master plan), and Local Governance and Support (main theme around communication from the board).

3.   Context

A.    This report is being provided to the Howick Local Board summarising the local consultation feedback received on the annual budget. Council received feedback in person at community engagement events, through written forms (including those submitted online) and through social media.

 

B.    Feedback on Howick Local Board local proposals and on regional proposals from the Howick Local Board area was received through:

·       Written feedback –

·       In person:

Feedback was received through 2 Have Your Say events at the  Pakuranga Rugby club (11 attendants, 101 points of feedback)  and the Ormiston Senior College (5 attendants, 14 points of feedback).

4.   Feedback received on the local proposals

A.    Key themes across all feedback received were:

 

 

 

 

B.    A summary of the feedback received through each channel is provided below.

Written feedback received

 

Main themes:

Community Facilities Stocktake (3 comments):

Should be business as usual and therefore not incur additional cost.

Flat Bush Infrastructure/services (5 comments):

Too much focus on the Flat Bush area to the detriment of others.

Coastal erosion and sand replenishment (3 comments):

No support for sand replenishment – it’s a natural process.

Greenways Plan (4 comments):

Support for more and improved cycleways

Walkways around coastline (4 comments):

Connect walkways and greenways.

Opposition to walk/cycleway at Bucklands Beach

Parks volunteers funding (3 comments):

Comment with regard to 1080 poisoning and pest control.

Other suggested changes to Howick Local Board priorities:

More funding for Uxbridge Centre

More funding for building maintenance for community groups that own building on Council land.

Feedback received through Have your say events

 

Sources of feedback

Demographic Breakdown

5.   Overview of feedback received on regional proposals from [LB] area

The consultation on the proposed annual budget focused on four key issues, Uniform Annual General Charge, Interim Transport Levy, Rural rates and Maori Freehold Land rates. The written feedback received from the [LB] area on these key consultation topics is summarised below, along with an overview of any other areas of feedback on regional proposals with a local impact.

Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC)

Auckland’s residents and ratepayers were asked if the UAGC should be kept at $397 so that rates are spread differently between high and low value properties, and should it be changed to $350, $450, $550 or $650.

 

The graphs below give an overview of the responses from the [LB] area.

 

 

 

 

Question 1a” What is your opinion on the fixed charge portion of the rates (UAGC)?

 

 

Question 1 b: If changed, what should the fixed charge be?

 

Interim Transport Levy (ITL)

People were asked if businesses should pay more than they currently do toward the ITL (meaning other ratepayers pay less) and should the levy continue to be a fixed charge for businesses or be based on the size of the business (meaning small businesses pay less than large ones).

The graphs below give an overview of the responses from the [LB] area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 2a: What is your opinion on the ITL amount paid by businesses versus the amount paid by all other ratepayers?

 

Question 2b: What is your opinion on the amount businesses pay in relation to their property value?

Farm and Lifestyle rates

Auckland’s residents and ratepayers were asked to provide their thoughts on the rates paid by farm/lifestyle properties (over 50 hectares) reducing to 60 per cent from 80 per cent of the urban residential rate (meaning all other ratepayers pay less).

The graphs below give an overview of the responses from the [LB] area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 3: What is your opinion on the rates paid by farm/lifestyle properties over 50 hectares?

Māori Freehold Land rates

People were asked if they supported reducing rates for some Māori land to reflect restrictions on its use.

The graph below gives an overview of the responses from the [LB] area.

 

Question 4: What is your opinion on reducing the rates collected from Māori land to reflect restrictions on its use?

Feedback on other regional proposals with a local impact

Feedback was received from the Howick Local Board area on other regional proposals The graph below shows the areas covered by this feedback.

6.   Feedback on other local topics

Key themes across feedback received on other local topics include:

 


ITEM 4 LATE SUBMISSION NO. 3333