Steve Tollestrup Video from Andrew Dallaston on Vimeo.
A coalition of westie progressives formed to campaign for the 2010 Local Body elections in West Auckland - representing your street, not Queen Street.
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A response to a certain Waitakere City Councillor who thinks new Kiwis are inferiors
By Lincoln Dam
West Auckland is a perfect kaleidoscope of cultures reflecting New Zealand as a whole today. This is what makes us unique, so it’s crucial that we celebrate, support and look after this diversity.
Coming from an immigrant family and having worked with many international students, I have experienced and seen the burden that arises from and the courage needed in settling in to a new area that you hope to call home. The vast majority of immigrants leave their home towns and countries in search of a better life, a better place to raise a family, where they are all bound to have a brighter future. Future West believes that local initiatives are vital in building and enhancing our diverse cultures and communities.
It is often the case that ethnic minorities are judged by the actions of a few individuals. However, we should not base our interpretations on such assumptions, but rather how we collectively make our mark in the world, how we make West Auckland the best it can be and the best place for all citizens. After all, it is through the emerging ethnic communities whose cultures, heritage, languages, and faiths add greatly to the richness of our region, and ultimately the nation.
Future West believes that input from all walks of life is vital to ensure that local democracy thrives, and meaningful engagement and accountability is in place for the region to succeed.
Licensing Trust concept popular
Jeremy Greenbrook-Held
At the Western Heights Residents and Ratepayers meet the candidates evening on Friday, a member of the audience asked what the council candidates thought was the best way forward for alcohol sales under the Supercity. All the candidates universally said that they support the Waitakere Licensing Trust, and wouldn’t alter it’s role in our community.
So it’s really great to see the licensing trust concept is also popular in other parts of Auckland:
“It is time for alcohol in our community to be controlled by the community”, says Michael Wood a spokesperson for Roskill Community Voice, which is launching a policy to bring back community controlled liquor licensing trusts.
“Everyone is concerned about alcohol related problems in our community, but no one is taking decisive action. A big part of the problem is that local communities have very little say over alcohol issues in their own backyard”, continues Mr Wood.
“Licensing trusts are community controlled organisations that have authority to exercise control over liquor in a community. The people of the community elect and hold to account the elected trustees of the Trust. Any excess proceeds made by the Trust are put back into the community. This flow of funding could replace the money that is currently given to community groups by the scourge of pokies in our community”.
“Due to a law change in the 1990s, communities no longer have the right to establish licensing trusts. A Roskill Community Voice controlled Local Board will campaign for the re-establishment of modern Local Licensing Trusts where communities support them, and will seek the support of an MP to introduce legislation allowing for this. If successful we will go to the people of Mt Roskill to seek their approval for the establishment of a local trust”.
“The free market in liquor has failed, and it is time that local communities took some control back. Instead of looking for easy populist solutions like blaming young people for all of our liquor related problems, we need to give local communities the power to work out local solutions. We will be campaigning hard on this important policy”, concludes Mr Wood.
Future West is running three candidates for the Portage Licensing Trust (Neil Henderson, Brett Austin, and Ami Chand) and one candidate for the Waitakere Licensing Trust (Jeremy Greenbrook-Held).
Greg Presland, Future West Chair
Future West Chair and candidate for the Waitakere Ranges Local Board, Greg Presland talks about why it is important that West Aucklanders vote Future West in the upcoming local body elections.
Save Waitakere One
By Greg Presland
The formation of the super city is supposedly motivated by achieving efficiencies and saving money. For westies this does not appear likely. C&R appear to be determined to push through bulk wastewater charges, despite the opposition of some of its more outlying candidates. This will mean a significant increase for most Westie families. There is also the cost of a new computer system, the cost of reorganisation of 8 significant organizations into one and Auckland City’s neglect of its wastewater systems will become a regional expense.
So I was surprised to hear that the Auckland Transition Agency has indicated that it wants to build new premises for the Waitakere Ranges Local Board in the Glen Eden area, presumably at significant cost.
I thought that we could be spared the expense and share Waitakere’s former Council Chamber with the Henderson Massey Local Board. Sharing occurs now. Waitakere Community Board and the Henderson Community Board both currently use the Chamber along with the Council. If Len Brown is elected he has promised to circulate Council meetings throughout the region and the Chamber would be ideal for meetings out west.
I have a certain affinity with the building. Denise Yates and I were part of the Council that decided to build it. There was intense debate at the time and we both voted against a prior proposal to build new premises on Ratanui Street, essentially on the basis that it would cost too much and that we could not see it working or the claimed economic benefits materialising.
The site where the current Chamber is situated then came on the market. It was a cheaper option and offered also the benefit of integrating a brand new Rail Station into the development. By building there we were making a statement that public transport especially rail is vital and that developments like the Council building should be on transport hubs, thereby reducing the need to drive and increasing the desirability of public transport.
The ATA intend to turn the Chambers into offices for use by Council officers. Retiring chair of the Waitakere Community Board Kubi Witten Hannah intends to oppose this. I for one will be supporting him.
Media Release: FUTURE WEST CANDIDATES ANNOUNCED
Future West Team
The Future West team has selected the candidates they wish to stand in the Waitakere Ward for the Auckland Council elections in October under the banner “Future West”.
The values Future West candidates are campaigning on include:
- keeping public assets in public ownership, no privatisation;
- restoring local democracy;
- retaining local identity for communities and ensuring they have a strong voice.
“The candidates that we have picked to stand for the Future West team have a great mixture of skills, experience, background, age, enthusiasm and ethnicity that we think reflects the diversity of the ward” says Future West Chair Greg Presland.
“The candidates we have selected represent the grassroots community and will be working together to restore democracy to the Super City for the future of everyone in the Waitakere Ranges, Henderson and Massey” says GAG President Mels Barton.
The candidates standing for the Waitakere Ranges Local Board in the Waitakere Ward for Future West are:
Greg Presland
Denise Yates
Neil Henderson
Steve Tollestrup
The candidates standing for the Henderson-Massey Local Board in the Waitakere Ward for Future West are:
Jeremy Greenbrook-Held
Melody Shinnick
Gary Stewart
Lyndon Walker
Lincoln Dam
Richard Prakash
The candidates standing for the Portage Licensing Trust for Future West are:
Lorraine Wilson
Ami Chand
Neil Henderson
Brett Austin
The candidate standing for the Waitakere Licensing Trust for Future West is:
More details regarding all candidates are available on the Future West and City Vision websites at www.futurewest.org.nz
Future West is a coalition of the Labour Party, Green Party and independent community groups.
ENDS
Media contact: For more information contact
Mels Barton on 021 213 7779 or mels@wombatsenvironmental.co.nz
Tony Dunn on 021 812 840 or tony.dunn@greens.org.nz
Or Greg Presland on 021998411 or walaw@paradise.net.nz
Strong Community Partnerships Essential
Steve Tollestrup
Key to the success of the new local boards will be their relationship with community groups. For Future West community based organisations and groups are absolutely vital to ensuring local democracy thrives and meaningful engagement and accountability is in place. A commitment to community partnerships is a core promise we are making to the Waitakere Ranges voter.
You can expect Citizen’s and Ratepayers to come out with all sorts of wonderful promises of support for local Community groups. Beware – facts on the ground are very different.
Citizens and Ratepayers on the Auckland City Council denied $80,000 for community assistance on the same day they voted in $36 million extra dollars for Rugby World Cup events. Among those who had received cuts from Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP Foundation Charitable Trust; Cystic Fibrosis Assn of New Zealand, Auckland, Laura Fergusson Trust for Disabled Persons Auckland Inc.
Expect cuts to local Charitable funding from a C and R dominated local board or City Council. These will include community welfare, education, sports, arts, and environment. Cuts will hit particularly hard the elderly and unemployed who presently enjoy access to many local programmes provided by Waitakere based charities and churches.
This is no exaggeration. You do not need a crystal ball. We can all see the future by looking no further than C and A’s National Party minders; cuts to enviroschools, Combined Beneficiaries Union, community education and pre-school education just for starters.
Future West is committed to your community voice through a strong partnership with local Waitakere Community based organisations.
Newmarket Viaduct Closure
Jeremy Greenbrook-Held
For much of the weekend of 4-5 September, the south-bound lane of the Newmarket Viaduct will be closed so the final alterations can be made to bring the new viaduct online. The New Zealand Transport Agency is recommending that people either find other forms of transportation, or stay at home during the 36 hours that the switch is undertaken – particularly on Sunday.
The NZTA have recommended that all south-bound (Airport and Manukau) traffic from West Auckland and the North Shore be diverted down the SH20 motorway. Given that the roads between the Great North Road offramp at Waterview and the start of the SH20 motorway at New Windsor are suburban roads, I shudder to think how far traffic will be backed up in both directions on the Northwestern Motorway. Anyone traveling across town for Father’s Day should expect a slow trip.
Interesting to see that NZTA has recommended people look at public transport options:
Auckland’s public transport system has been revitalised in recent years. Rail links between Auckland, Waitakere and Manukau, and bus and ferry options from the North Shore, will provide viable transport alternatives this weekend throughout the wider region. Visit www.maxx.co.nz to find out your best option.
Here’s an idea – why doesn’t the Auckland Regional Transport Authority use the weekend see how popular public transport options would be if they were free?
Imagine the savings that would be made across the region if Aucklanders were given free (or nominal cost – say $1) public transport on an on-going basis. Auckland’s roads would be freed up for those that actually need them, and increased patronage would led to more frequent and more reliable services.
I’ve started a Facebook campaign for free public transport for the weekend, and I’ve drafted a letter to ARTA asking them to explore the possibility.
Photo credit: Auckland Motorways.
Len Brown embraces Eco City
It is good to see that Len Brown has decided to embrace the concept of “Eco City”. Future West supports his election and hopes that Waitakere City’s “eco city” concept can be applied to the Auckland super city if and when he becomes Super Mayor.
The Eco City concept is based on the Agenda 21 document formulated at the Earth Summit conference held in Rio de Janeiro during 1992. It involves taking a holistic approach to sustainable development, and in particular recognises the inter-relationships between people, the environment, and the economy.
It encourages a cautious and long-term view on future development and present activity and encourages community-led initiatives in the areas of economic and social development, environmental protection, and community involvement in decision making.
It is structured around 7 key focus areas:
- community empowerment,
- urban consolidation,
- involving local people in the protection of their environment,
- promoting a holistic view of health and safety,
- reducing the need to travel and encouraging public transport, cycling and walking,
- encouraging resource use which results in using less energy, generating energy from renewable resources, using resources more wisely and producing less waste, and
- facilitating economic development by targeting and attracting economic activity while working with the existing business base to encourage more sustainable practices.
As can be appreciated there are a wealth of approaches that are anticipated by these focus areas and it is important that these are at the forefront of thinking when local decisions are being made.
As well as the environmental benefits there are very sound practical reasons why these concepts are important. Reducing traffic makes towns more enjoyable to live in as well as reducing our dependance on overseas oil supplies. Enhancing community activity has a strong beneficial social consequence as people’s lives are enriched. Reducing the need to travel through encouraging local businesses increases the amount of free time that people have. And the wiser use of resources has a direct beneficial financial effect as we reduce our material needs.
The concepts are complex. But they are ideas that will improve people’s way of life.
It is great that Len agrees with this. He deserves our support for doing so.
Westgate and Cars
Jeremy Greenbrook-Held
I wonder how often your average West Harbour resident walks across the motorway to Westgate? I have to say, considering I live less than a kilometre from the shopping centre, I can count the number of times I’ve walked there on one hand. And with good reason – like many of Auckland’s shopping centres, Westgate is not particularly accessible.
Unless you have a car that is.
Josh Arbury over at Auckland Trains has run a small series of posts highlighting how car-centric many parts of Auckland are – illustrating his point with satellite photographs of Botany Downs in East Auckland, and Smales Farm on the North Shore. Here’s the same view of Westgate:
(This image was taken from Google Maps and is a few months old now – there is now a bridge that replaces the roundabout in the top right hand corner.).
Anyone who walks from West Harbour to Westgate will face four sets of traffic lights (only two sets if you drive). From the end of the motorway, it’s another 150m until there’s an entrance to the shopping centre (illustrated by the red line). I’ve seen several keen walkers jay-walk the lights at motorway on and off ramps – literally risking their lives given the speed at which traffic enters and exits the motorway. The story isn’t much better for residents in the Westgate subdivision (orange line) or Massey West (yellow line), except they don’t have a motorway to contend with.
Public transport obviously wasn’t given too much serious consideration by the developers – while there is kind-of a bus station at Westgate (green shaded box), and buses do have a dedicated right-hand turn at the lights on Hobsonville Road, the prolific use of fiddly little roundabouts within Westgate (one at each end of the bus station) makes driving a bus through Westgate a little hazardous.
I’ve worked out that approximately half the space which Westgate occupies is taken up by parking spaces. This seems to be a huge waste to me. I’m not advocating getting rid of all the car parks (grocery shopping at Countdown without a car wouldn’t be a lot of fun – although I know it’s reality for some), but if Westgate was served by a decent public transport system, I think that some of that space could be put to much more valuable use – more retail space, perhaps medium density living space, or even (gasp!) community space?
The Kiwi Income Property Trust saw the benefits of integrated public transport when they build Silvia Park – investing a significant amount of money in building the mall’s own train station (yes, the developers paid for the Silvia Park train station themselves). Westgate would be a prime beneficiary of a dedicated bus-way on the Northwestern Motorway – this needs to be a priority for the Westgate Town Centre development which is currently on the cards.
As an aside, when Westgate was first being built (while I was still a student at Kaipara College) there was a rumour (more urban legend I suspect) that the original plans were for a Westcity-style shopping mall with parking on the roof. However, some bright spark worked out that if someone jumped up on top of their car in the roof-top car park, they would be able to touch the high-tension wires which pass overhead. The plans for a mall were subsequently scrapped. I don’t know how true that story (probably entirely fiction), but I wonder how different the above image would be if there was a mall at Westgate instead of the open shopping centre that’s there now.
