Funding strangely stripped from long-planned project

Re the walkway and cycleway from Francis St to Esmonde Rd:

Last week, I witnessed something very unusual at the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board meeting. The board chair brought a members’ report to the meeting revoking the decision made in 2021 to put $1.3 million into exploratory work towards a project to build a bridge for cyclists and pedestrians from Francis St, Hauraki to Esmonde Rd. Chair Toni van Tonder’s motion directed that the funding will now instead go towards a walkway/cycleway project through the mangroves in the Wairau Estuary. How Auckland Transport (AT) reacts to this decision will be interesting.

The Francis St to Esmonde Rd project is a safer direct walking and cycling route from Devonport to Takapuna; a link to the Akoranga transport hub; and a link to the wider walking and cycling network. It will link into the Patuone cycleway and walkway, which goes right into Takapuna. The local board started pushing for this bridge across the estuary in 2015, so planning has been underway for some time. I know it has been a long journey to get where we are, but I was feeling confident that this project is now becoming a reality.

During the Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions over 2020 to 2022, the Francis St-Esmonde Rd project saw little progress. AT completed a “Feasibility Assessment Update and Concept Report” in November 2019 in an attempt to restart the project. At that stage, there is no mention of iwi engagement having been undertaken.

With the new local board elected in 2022, there was a comprehensive briefing of board members in November on this Francis St-Esmonde Rd project. At that stage, AT recommended the local board engage with mana whenua. This would have to take place in 2023; then there would be public consultation in 2024, when the resource consent application would have been lodged and heard, no doubt, by independent commissioners. In 2024/2025 the budget for construction would be confirmed, and then construction would have commenced. That timeline is now up in the air, with the local board’s decision to withdraw its funding.

It is interesting that an additional motion was put up by a board member, which the chair incorporated into her motion, which restated support for the Francis-Esmonde link. This means the local board has taken away the funding for the preliminary work but still wants the Francis St-Esmonde Rd project. It is hard for me to fathom out this new position.

I am concerned as to how AT will react to this funding withdrawal, which I voted against. The previous boards have pushed the case for this combined walkway and cycleway since 2015.

George Wood Member Devonport-Takapuna Local Board

Takapuna and Devonport snaffle bulk of board grants

Grants doled out to support community activities and events in the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area are skewed in favour of groups based in Takapuna and Devonport, a check has found.

An assessment of allocations by the board last year has found northern suburbs received less than central and southern areas (see top chart).

“You can see, there is some disparity,” council board adviser Rhiannon Guinness said in presenting the data, which was requested by the board.

The central area – centred on Takapuna and including Hauraki – did best, netting 44 per cent of $189,000 in funding. The vast majority went to groups based in central Takapuna or for events held there.

Close behind was the southern area, receiving 39 per cent of funding, for groups mostly based in Devonport. While a number of these groups service residents of the wider peninsula, including Bayswater and Belmont, Devonport town centre was a big beneficiary when compared with the northern area, which includes the larger Milford town centre.

The northern area, including Sunnynook, Forrest Hill and Castor Bay, as well as Milford, received just 13 per cent of funding.

The remaining 4 per cent of funding was to groups from the wider North Shore that provide benefits to people in the board area.

Board members said the report would prove useful for the next financial year’s funding rounds.

“The information will help us be more directed,” said board chair Toni van Tonder.

The slant towards the central and southern parts of the board region was partly explained by these being well-established areas, with groups used to lobbying council.

DTLB Grants Share

Approved Grants By Region

Feedback used to shape the board’s draft Local Plan showed the community had environmental initiatives at the top of itspriority list, and this should be reflected in grants, Powell said.

Over several recent workshops allocating amounts of money under $2000, a tightening of future grants criteria has been signalled to meet reduced budgets.

Repeat applicants in one year are likely to face more scrutiny than in the past. Groups already getting alternative board funding will be considered lower priority.

Grants are not meant to fund the likes of school or church groups. But board members plan to continue using their discretion over some fundraising events, such as the biennial Sculpture OnShore, which also offer a visitor-attraction benefit or bring people together.

In the case of Takapuna, deputy chair Terence Harpur, who is also Takapuna Beach Business Association chief executive, was quick to point out it was the biggest centre and also played host to a number of organisations that covered the wider area, such as North Shore Budgeting Service, Auckland North Community and Development (Ancad) and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Member George Wood said, based on population, the north was not getting as much, but it also had fewer incorporated societies with a track record of making applications.

Member Mel Powell noted the northern region’s ethnic make-up, saying some cultures did not like to ask for money. Their participation had to be encouraged.

The board will emphasise support for activities that deliver wider community benefit; so the days of sports groups asking for money for limited-use items, such as tennis balls or small coaching courses, are over. However, applications for upgrades to clubrooms, such as with heat pumps or dishwashers, are still allowed.

The board noted the high cost of traffic-management plans required by Auckland Transport, but because this was a factor for many groups staging events, member Gavin Busch urged against paying costs towards this, cautioning: “If we do for one, we do for all.”

Powell said she would like events the board supported to include a “healthy choices” clause, so the likes of fizzy drinks and baking were not available, and for organisers to be made accountable around events being waste- and smoke-free.

The board offers a range of grants, from $500 to $5000, and in the current financial year will have two grants rounds, one in July 2023 and one in January 2024.

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120 people dipped on Sunday. Numbers were down because it was a reasonably fresh morning, but it was the same fun vibe as always. Our very own, but world famous Druid alerted the gathering to the fact that this was, he understood, the 25th Year of the Dip, before the ‘Brave and the Bold’ charged into the water.

Our thanks to: 1st Devonport Scouts; our kayak patrollers and Auckland Coastguard, who kept watch on proceedings, the team at Officers’ Mess for truly delicious pumpkin soup; Suzanne Stickney and family; Iain and Ruth, Aloi, and of course, our Druid. Well done Abby and Suzannea great community event.

Matariki - Go to www.dpt.nz to see the range of events being staged across the Peninsula. Windsor Reserve - July 15th at 5:00pm - a community gathering - to celebrate Matariki with a welcome, karakia, kapa haka, Indonesian dance, song, stories, Carl, our local musician, Devonport Market on the wharf, and food trucks to supplement local eateries.

If you or your child(ren) would like to present a small item to the gathering - perhaps a Matariki story or poem you/they have written, or a song they would like to sing, please email abby@dpt.nz

Our thanks to Pub Charity for supporting the July 15th event with staging, medic, litter control, and our thanks to Auckland Council and Devonport Takapuna Local Board; The Navy Museum of New Zealand; Devonport Business Association for the funding that helped enable the 2023 programme. Email nigel@dpt.nz if you wish to make contact.

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