A warm welcome to subscribers who have joined recently 🙂 I’m slightly rearranging my online presence and hope that this occasional newsletter continues be a helpful way to keep in touch.
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Slow speeds, interim speed management plans, and now more
In this newsletter I shift focus from cycleways to our roads. As I write, consultation is about to close on speed limit changes across the city. The draft Safer Speed Plan is open for feedback until 25 October 2023.
This follows a July 2023 Council decision to approve an Interim Speed Management Plan, which is focused on streets near schools an in surrounding neighbourhoods. That interim plan itself follows decisions on more local safer speed areas. Confused? I’ve written up an overview of how all these parts fit together, with a focus on the Papanui Ward.
I’ve included a couple of links that provide more information on the safety and health benefits of lower speed limits, and how a reduced speed limit doesn’t equate to a corresponding increase in travel time.
Council
Hospital lane drop trial begins this week
As I mentioned in my August newsletter, Council has authorised staff to trial temporary lane closures of Hagley Avenue and Riccarton Avenue near the hospital, to test potential options for increasing on-street carparking on those streets. The trial will commence on Wednesday 25 October and is intended to help the Council understand the impact of permanently closing the kerbside lanes around the Hospital in order to increase on-street parking.
Mayor: the Council is “in shit creek financially”
This past week our community libraries made front-page news, with the Mayor speculating that libraries and pools might have to close in order to reduce the rates burden. A facility like my local (Redwood Library), is apparently just a "building with some books in" according to our mayor. I’m gathering some feedback on this issue via a Facebook post, and Councillor Sara Templeton has set out some helpful information on her Facebook page.
I also highly recommend following the Council web page that’s collating information as the Long Term Plan development proceeds. Much of the process of developing the next 10-year budget for the city is happening in the public domain - the web page hosts videos of briefings and a large number of supporting documents.
A last word on rates rises and the long term plan from Councillor Templeton - the 18% rates rise figure we’ve read about in The Press is not the starting position that the Council is working from. Read more in Cr Templeton’s Facebook post.
Community Board
Highlights from recent meetings of the Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board:
August
We received two public forum presentations and a deputation; approved an urban forest planting plan for Lancaster Park; approved the renewal of a section of Innes Road; and more. See my post on Think Papanui for more details and a link to the minutes.
September
September’s meeting was reasonably brief. We granted a ground lease to the Marist Harewood Cricket Club in relation to the club’s pavilion at Redwood Park; approved $4,500 in Summer with your Neighbours funding for local gatherings / community sausage sizzles; and approved a $2,000 grant to the City Park Community Patrol. See Think Papanui for details.
October
At our October meeting we received three public forum presentations; approved the installation of an irrigation system at Malvern Park (at no cost to the Council); approved the formalisation of mobility parks at the Graham Condon Centre; and more. Think Papanui has the details.
Some of what I’ve been up to
In August I took some of my team to Auckland to attend the INVOLVE conference for youth health and development in Aotearoa.
September saw me in Wellington for a face-to-face hui with my colleagues on LGNZ’s Community Boards Executive Committee (CBEC), where we met with the Remuneration Authority to discuss systemic issues with remuneration for Community Board members, and spent time planning a national ‘mood of the community boardroom’ survey of Community Board members and also next year’s national conference.
This month Stuff published a feature article on youth employment. I was grateful for the opportunity to share the amazing mahi my team at Te Tahi Youth is doing, and the stories of some of our amazing young people.
Coming up
I’ll be joining a LGNZ hui to continue development of a consensus response to the Future of Local Government report, and to work more broadly on a future by local government.
Whakaoho Papanui Community Day is coming up on Sunday 5 November 2023. Head the LOOP Youth Centre (1a Harewood Rd, by St Paul’s & the Papanui RSA) between 1pm & 4pm for a community celebration with food, games, prizes, bouncy castles, a book sale, market stalls, stage entertainment and more.
Through my work in the youth sector I've had a connection to Dame Sue Bagshaw for over ten years, and I now work at the youth one-stop-shop she founded. As you're probably aware, Dame Sue's son Andrew Bagshaw was killed in January while helping war-impacted people in Ukraine. On Friday 10 November at Hagley Oval there'll be Cricket for a Cause - a memorial cricket match to celebrate Andrew Bagshaw's life and to raise awareness and funds for the people of Ukraine. I'm planning to go - perhaps I'll see you there?
Thanks for reading! Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss anything related to my Community Board role, or anything else mentioned above or that I might be interested in. You can also just hit ‘reply’ if you’ve received this newsletter by email. If you just can’t wait to hear what I’m up to, follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more immediate updates, and keep an eye on my website for longer-form content.