|
Governing Body
29/09/2016
|
|
Auckland Acknowledgements
September 2016
Sir Graeme Douglas
Condolences from all over the world poured into
Auckland with the sad passing of Sir Graeme Douglas aged 87.
Graeme founded Henderson based Douglas Pharmaceuticals
in the late 1970s and while he stepped down from day-to-day running of the
business in 2014 he was a regular at the offices and many west Auckland
functions and events.
A huge benefactor to the west in a variety of ways,
Graeme supported every single thing he could and wrote many cheques including
one for Douglas Track and Field at the Trusts Stadium, just over the road from
the company.
Graeme’s life story is an interesting one.
It began at a small Te Atatu pharmacy where Graeme as the chemist created a
cough syrup. By the late 1970s the operation was making $2 million
annually and Graeme sold the shop to focus on his pharmaceutical manufacturing
business.
Today Douglas Pharmaceuticals manufactures about 30
products sold in 35 countries and revenue is about $140 million a year.
Graeme received his knighthood in 2010 for services to
philanthropy and athletics and he received a gold medal from the Pharmaceutical
Society the same year. He was appointed a member of the New Zealand Order
of Merit for services to the New Zealand pharmaceutical industry in 1988. A
patron of West Auckland Hospice, Graeme was awarded a lifetime achievement
award just last month by Sir Bob Harvey on behalf of Auckland Council.
When
Graeme retired as managing director of his company, his son Jeff took the helm
and Graeme went on to establish Douglas Nutrition, a specialist nutritional
supplements company, also based in Henderson, however he continued to hold a
seat on the company’s board. He was fiercely loyal to the company,
his staff of nearly 500 and his friends.
Graeme
and his wife Dame Ngaire were involved in many causes as large, important
benefactors to the west. They donated $3 million to Starship
children’s hospital, its single-largest personal donation, in 2010 to
help pay for a new medical scanner.
A much,
much loved son of the west, Graeme is survived by Ngaire and his sons Jeff and
Robert. He will be sorely missed by them and many, many others.
John
Waller
The
business community suffered the loss of John Waller to cancer this month.
John had an outstanding business career.
John was
the former Bank of New Zealand chairman and his death was received with great
sadness by the bank.
An expert
in managing business insolvencies, John arrived at the BNZ just as the global
financial crisis was taking hold and his judgement and experience guided the
company through. Chief executive of National Australia Bank, the
BNZ’s parent, Anthony Healy said John helped the bank make the right
decisions for its customers and was “rightly proud of the fact that at
the height of the crisis BNZ lent more money to New Zealand businesses than all
of our competitors combined”.
John
retired as chairman from the BNZ and the board of NAB in August last year to
spend more time with his family and to pursue other interests. He had
been a member of the board since early 2008 and became its chair later that
year. He was replaced as chair by former Auckland Council CEO Doug McKay.
He also stepped down as an independent director of Fonterra.
John
chaired the Eden Park Trust board during the 2011 Rugby World Cup and was
instrumental in helping New Zealand secure the event’s hosting
rights.
Awarded
the New Zealand Order of Merit last year for services to business and the
community, John was (to quote Anthony Healy again) “characterised by the
exercise of a brilliant mind, achievement and influence, often during the most
challenging of times. It was a privilege to work alongside him and his legacy
at BNZ will be a well governed, high-performing bank, recognised for its
innovation, culture and customer focus.”
John
will be sorely missed by his family, friends, colleagues and his communities.
|
Governing Body
29/09/2016
|
|
Auckland Achievements - October 2016
City Rail Link funding agreement
On Wednesday 14 September, Mayor Len Brown and Transport Minister Simon Bridges
signed an agreement on the contractual relationship between the parties for the
City Rail Link (CRL).
Enabling works have started for the
City Rail Link (CRL) but until now the funding responsibilities were not set in
stone. With the signing of the Heads of Agreement we have agreed on a 50/50
funding share with government, to be managed by an independent Board of
Directors.
The expected benefits for the whole transport
network will be significant. The capacity of the network will increase from
15,000 to 30,000 passengers per hour, increased rail patronage will ease
pressure on arterial roads and motorways, and urban renewal projects around
stations are estimated to be valued around $5 billion.
Features of the Heads of
Agreement include:
· A
50/50 funding arrangement where Auckland Council and the Crown each pay half of
the total capitalised costs of the project.
· The
principals to the agreement, referred to as “sponsors”, are the
Government and Auckland Council.
· The
establishment of a company (City Rail Link Limited) through which the
Government and Council will oversee the delivery of the project.
· Joint
share in development opportunities arising from the project.
· The
technical and operational aspects of project delivery are to be carried out by
Auckland Transport working to the City Rail Link company.
· KiwiRail
have a formal role in ensuring the CRL’s interoperability with the wider
rail network and the services it provides, such as freight.
ATAP agreement signed
Auckland Council and the Government
have completed the Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP).
ATAP delivers an agreement between the
Government and Council on the short, medium and long tern deliverables that are
required to lift productivity and decongest the network. The projects are a mix
of roading works both motorway and arterial, current network improvements and
technological developments.
By agreeing the priority projects,
council and government can prioritise and agree funding for the works so
desperately needed to unlock Auckland’s constrained transport system.
There is an estimated $4 billion gap
between funding available and the ATAP list of deliverables in the first
decade. The next stage of work will be filling the funding gap and begin
construction.
ASB Waterfront Theatre opens
The ASB Waterfront Theatre, a new state-of-the-art arts
facility located in the Wynyard Quarter, has
opened.
Comprising a 660-seat, international standard theatre, bar,
café, gallery space and lounge, the ASB
Waterfront Theatre is a purpose-built venue and home of
Auckland Theatre Company.
It is adjacent to the ASB North Wharf building in the heart
of the Wynyard Quarter.
The Foundation Partners are Auckland Council, ASB Bank and
AUT University. Major funders include
Creative New Zealand and Foundation North. The project
funders are the Edmiston Trust, The Lion
Foundation and Lotto NZ.
The Founding Corporate Partners are Kensington Swan and
Villa Maria, and Platinum Corporate Partners
are Cooper and Company, ECC Limited, and Moller Architects.
Panuku Development Auckland and
Auckland Theatre Company are Project Partners.
Civic Administration Building
The Civic
Administration Building in Aotea Square is to be restored and the surrounding
area
developed
under a private sector proposal that will breathe life into a key part of
Auckland’s city
centre.
Panuku
Development Auckland has chosen Tawera Group to restore the Category A heritage
building
after an international tender process. Tawera’s Civic Quarter proposal
features residential
apartments
in the upper floors, with food and beverage facilities on the ground floor of
the existing
building. There
will also be a new apartment building on the Mayoral Drive corner, a new
boutique
hotel on
Mayoral Drive and a building featuring a Whare Tapere performance space
fronting Aotea
Square.
The Civic
Administration Building holds a significant place in Auckland’s
history, having been a
seat of
local government for almost 50 years.It was designed by Tibor Donner in 1951
and
constructed
in 1966. At the time of its completion it was Auckland’s tallest
building.
Mt Albert Overbridge opens
A $1.23m
pedestrian bridge to the Mt Albert train station from a car park at 915-927 New
North Road has
been
officially opened.
This will in
effect create a third station access, in addition to the access points off
Carrington Road and also an entrance at Willcott Street. The Albert-Eden Local
Board has long been pressing for the train station to have a more
visible and
physical connection to the actual town centre. It sees the bridge as a
significant part of an
upgrade of
the town centre.
This footbridge
opening is the last piece in a four year, $10m project to upgrade the station.
Section of Khartoum Place renamed
On 19
September 1893, New Zealand became the first nation in the world to grant women
the right to vote.
In
recognition, the lower section of Khartoum Place has been renamed Te Hā o
Hine Place. Ngāti Whātua
Ōrākei
gifted the name ‘Te Hā o Hine’ which is derived from the
whakatauki (proverb) ‘Me aro koe ki te Hā
o
Hine-ahu-one'. This translates to ‘pay heed to the dignity of women.'
In April 2016 the Waitemata Local Board consulted with
iwi, the National Council of Women, local
businesses, residents and the wider public to
ascertain the level of support for a name change and
a preference should they support a change. The
majority of submitters supported a name change and for
the options for consideration to include; Te Hā o
Hine, Suffrage Place and Kate Sheppard Place.
Watercare recognised as a leader in
risk management
Auckland’s Watercare has been recognised by the
country’s risk sector body as a leader in risk
management.
The provider of water and wastewater services received the
award for Excellence in Building Risk
Management Capability at the 2016 RiskNZ Awards of
Excellence, which were held in Wellington on
15 September.
The award identifies Watercare as an organisation that
shows continuing commitment to ensuring that they have the risk management
skills, knowledge and resources needed to enhance business performance.
Judges said Watercare’s whole of organisation
approach and focus on developing and implementing a
sound risk culture and systems is the epitome of what the
RiskNZ award is all about.
Love Food Hate Waste Fund opens
Auckland
Council is inviting applications to its first ever Love Food Hate Waste Fund
from people with
innovative
ideas about how to reduce food waste.
The Love
Food Hate Waste fund has $40,000 overall, with maximum funding of $1,000 per
application.
About 40 per
cent of what the average household puts out in their rubbish each week is food
waste,
which goes
to landfill. What’s more, avoidable food waste costs the average
household $563 a year,
with Kiwis
spending an estimated $872 million a year on food that then gets thrown away
uneaten.
More Aucklanders cycling
Auckland Transport (AT) monitors the number of cycle trips
across the region and the latest cycle
monitoring results for August 2016 show strong increases in
the number of journeys made by cyclists.
At 14 regional count sites:
• 1.66
million cycle trips were recorded for the year of September 2015 to August
2016, an increase of
• 8.8
per cent on the previous 12 months.
• 123,388
cycle trips were recorded in August 2016, an increase of 13.9 per cent when
compared to
• August
2015.
At 13 city centre count sites:
• 1.74
million cycle trips were recorded/estimated for the year of September 2015 to
August 2016
• 130,523
cycle trips were recorded in August 2016.
Record breaking Rio Paralympic Games
Auckland
athletes were among those involved in the recent record-breaking Rio Paralympic
Games. All up, New Zealanders won 21 medals in Rio – nine gold,
five silver and seven bronze. There were three world records and 11 Paralympic
records.
New Zealand was the
No 1 country for medals per capita, as it was for the London 2012
Paralympics.
New Zealanders
delivered personal best times for more than half (52 per cent) of events.
The only
time New Zealand has ever won more medals was the 25 medals secured back in
1984 (8 gold).
The nine
gold medals taken in Rio de Janeiro mean that in gold medal terms, Rio 2016 is
exactly matched to Atlanta 1996 as New Zealand’s most successful
Paralympic Games in its history. Add to this, New Zealand has successfully
defended its title of number one in the world medals per capita, a title
secured during the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
New
Zealand also sits 13th on overall medals, compared to 21st in the world after
London 2012. The highest place New Zealand has ever finished is 16th overall, at
the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games.
There
was a public welcome home on Friday 23 September at the AUT Millennium,
Rosedale, Auckland.
Youth
unemployment decreases
The number
of unemployed young Aucklanders has decreased during the first six years of a
united Auckland.
The figures,
from analysis of NEET rates (not in employement, education or training) and the
Household Labour Force Survey, show youth unemployment rates have almost
halved, from 21.1 percent to 12.4 percent since late 2010 when the super city
was established.
Since the
inception of the Youth Connections programme in late 2012 the annualised NEET
rate has been 10.2 percent on average. Before that it was consistently
higher at 12 to 14 percent.
Youth Connections is one of several Auckland Council
initiatives alongside JobFest and the Youth Employment Pledge which are
supported by The Tindall Foundation.
Since January 2015 Youth Connections has helped more than
5000 young people become work ready and unlocked more than 2000 job vacancies,
filling more than half of them.
Fifty-seven Auckland companies have signed up as
pledge partners, committing themselves to actively employ and train more young
people and more than 800 full and part time positions were on offer at
today’s JobFest which attracted thousands of young job seekers and more
than 80 employers with stands.
Two new initiatives were launched this month - #BuildAKL
which aims to attract more youth into the burgeoning construction and infrastructure
sector and YouthFull, an online platform where young jobseekers can learn
work-readiness skills and pitch for job opportunities. Employers can
engage directly with young jobseekers via the platform and support them to
develop the skills necessary to fill their entry-level roles.
Auckland in
two finals for the C40 Cities Awards
C40 announced
the 35 finalists competing in ten urban climate action categories for the
fourth-annual C40 Cities Awards, sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies and BYD.
The C40 Cities
Awards globally recognizes cities for their leadership on climate action and
showcases the innovative policies and programmes that cities have implemented
to tackle climate change.
Auckland
Council’s Waste to Resources is a finalist in the Solid Waste category
and the Wynyard Quarter development a finalist in the Sustainable Communities
category.
The winners
will be announced on December 1, 2016, at a ceremony in Mexico City, held
alongside the sixth biennial C40 Mayors Summit.
Help on its way
for rough sleepers and homeless
The council’s Finance and
Performance Committee approved funding of $2 million to the James Liston Hostel
in the Auckland CBD to enhance the quality and quantity of emergency housing
for rough sleepers and homeless people.
The funding will come from the City
Centre Targeted Rate with the full support of the Auckland City Centre Advisory
Board.
James Liston Hostel will use the funds
to increase capacity by five new beds to a total of 40 beds, allow for the
provision of specialised rapid intake rooms, additional meeting and activity
rooms and much needed renovations to the building itself.
Alongside a new operating model, the
funding enables the potential for the hostel to transition approximately 238
people into permanent accommodation over the next two years through the
hostel’s Housing First model. The model seeks to move clients through the
hostel and into more permanent accommodation via a 12 week in-house support
programme, followed by tenancy sustainment services.
In May this year the annual Auckland
City Mission street count found 228 people sleeping rough within a 3km radius
of the Sky Tower, up from 147 people recorded in October 2014.
The enhancement of services provided by
the James Liston Hostel through this funding is supported by the Auckland
homelessness sector, including the Auckland City Mission and Lifewise,
alongside the Ministry of Social Housing and Housing New Zealand.
