Council, Board, and community update: 12 November
A round-up of events & activities over the first two weeks of November 2022
A warm welcome to subscribers who have joined recently đ Iâm slightly rearranging my online presence and hope that this newsletter will be a helpful way to keep in touch.
Council
Governance structure agreed
The first ordinary meeting of the Christchurch City Councilâs 2022-25 term took place on 2 November. For those interested in the details, the agenda and minutes can be found on the Councilâs website, as is a video recording of the meeting.
One item of interest was the Councilâs proposed new governance structure, mentioned in my previous newsletter. At the meeting, the mayor tabled some additional recommendations, and Deputy Mayor Cotter moved that Councillor McLellan be appointed to the Chief Executive Performance Committee - this later amendment was opposed by Councillors Gough and MacDonald but carried by a majority. All other recommendations were passed unanimously.
Portfolio Leads
We now have Councillors appointed as âPortfolio Leadsâ with respect to: Central City Revitalisation; Youth; Multicultural; Accessibility; and Climate Change. In addition, staff have been asked to provide advice on the establishment of additional Portfolios, âincluding but not limited to a Suburban Regeneration Portfolio, an Arts and Culture Portfolio and a Homelessness Portfolioâ. The Council also noted that âthe Terms of Reference for all Portfolio leads will be further refined and agreed by Council.â - there do not appear to be any terms of reference at this stage, and being a Portfolio Lead doesnât appear to come with any resources, delegations, or other powers.
Community Board
We had the first ordinary meeting of the Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board on Thursday 10 November. The meeting was livestreamed on the Boardâs Facebook page and YouTube channel.
At the meeting, our Board:
heard from a group of local school students who had been supported by the Board to undertake a leadership course
heard about the work of the Phillipstown Community Centre Charitable Trust and the Phillipstown Community Hub
heard concerns from members of the community about traffic issues in Canon Street
received correspondence on a range of issues
established funding pools for our Community Board to support our local community over the balance of this financial year
received a staff report on issues and initiatives current within the Community Board area, and as always
exchanged information on a number of topics of interest.
Minutes of the meeting arenât up yet. Iâll post on Think Papanui when they are available.
Some of what Iâve been up to
I had a quick work trip to Motueka - in my role at Te Ora Hou I have an overview of the School Attendance Service across all of Canterbury, Marlborough, Tasman, and the West Coast. I can confirm that after recent heavy rain the rivers were up, and Maruia Falls in particular was looking spectacular.
Innes Recount resolved
Iâve been keeping a close eye on the recount of the Councillor vote in Innes Ward. As reported by both RNZ and Stuff, the outcome is that Deputy Mayor Pauline Cotter has retained her seat, by a reduced margin of just 8 votes - a great story about how every vote can make a difference. Subsequent to the recount, Ali Jones has stated that she will not run in the upcoming Innes Community Board by-election.
Event season
The first weekend in November was an especially busy one in the Papanui Ward, with a night market at the LOOP Youth Centre, a book fair at St Paulâs Anglican Church, the first birthday of the Northern Community Market, and the annual Whakaoho Papanui Community Day. I aim to give advance notice of local community events on Think Papanui, so please keep an eye on that website, as well as Think Papanuiâs Facebook and Instagram feeds. To cater for people who donât use social media, thereâs also the option to sign up to a weekly Think Papanui email newsletter. Please also drop me a line if you know of upcoming events.
I also took in some of the TĆtaranui cultural festival at Casebrook Intermediate School - a perfectly warm evening of performances by a range of cultural groups from our local schools.
This past week I expected to attend How do we grow a climate action city for everyone?, an event by Te PĆ«tahi Centre for Architecture and City Making. Unfortunately the event has been postponed due to illness, but on the bright side it looks like tickets are still available for the new date (24 November) - see the links above or head to Humanitix for tickets.
Seeing as I was suddenly free that Tuesday night I had hoped to catch the livestream of the Tuesday Club talk on Community Engagement and Community Boards - the video didnât eventuate but there are some interesting notes from the evening on the Tuesday Club website. A lot of what is noted certainly resonates with me.
Thanks for reading! Please get in touch if youâd like to discuss anything related to my Community Board role, or anything else mentioned above or that you know or think I might be interested in. You can also just hit âreplyâ if youâve received this newsletter by email. If you just canât wait to hear what Iâm up to, follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more immediate updates.