Milford and Takapuna beaches left badly polluted

The sewage spill which followed the 27 January flood left Milford Beach particularly polluted, with a contamination reading 30 times higher than national safe-swimming guidelines.

Popular swimming beach Takapuna was also badly affected for a few days after the floods, particularly at its northern end.

Other popular swimming spots at Cheltenham, Devonport and Narrow Neck had readings below the safe swim maximum but were given black pins (no swimming recommended) by authorities anyway.

The national guidelines for safe swimming say water should have less than 280 enterococci (a bacteria) per 100ml.

Figures supplied by Healthy Waters Auckland show on 31 January Milford had a reading of 21,430 per 100ml; Takapuna North 410/100ml and the Wairau outlet a massive 241,960/100ml. Takapuna central had a reading of 1782/100ml on 1 February.

On 2 February, Milford had a reading of 8664/100ml and Milford south 794/100ml. Takapuna North registered 1725/100ml and Takapuna Central 98/100 ml.

By last Wednesday, the pollution had dropped rapidly with readings well inside the guidelines: Milford recorded 161, Milford South 10, Takapuna Central 41, Takapuna North 31, Cheltenham 10, Devonport 10, Narrow Neck 63 and Torpedo Bay 20. The Wairau outlet was the sole outlier with a reading of 657.

Healthy Waters stresses it agreed a number of protocols with the Auckland Regional

Public Health Service (ARPHS) for returning beaches to normal.

The national guidelines specify two consecutive ‘clear’ samples before removing a water-quality alert, but ARPHS have requested three consecutive clear samples where there was extreme rainfall.

“Once we have at least one clear waterquality sample at a beach we are removing the black pin and replacing it with a red “swimming not advised” pin, a Healthy Waters spokesperson said.

Red alerts advise beach users to “be cautious, but doesn’t stop any events happening (with suitable risk management)”.

“Once we have three consecutive clear samples we are returning the beach to normal operation.”

Board’s community budget set to be slashed

Cuts of $810,000 from a $1,345,000 funding pool for community events and groups need be found by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board.

“It’s going to hurt,” says board chair Toni van Tonder as crunch time looms for board members to prioritise spending to meet Auckland Council budget cuts signalled late last year.

Options range from adjusting spending across community groups to deciding what is expendable altogether.

The board has briefed community groups in its southern area and will soon meet those in Takapuna and further north.

Van Tonder said board members were working on best- and worst-case scenarios under the mayor’s draft budget proposals.

The community needed to be aware of the likely impact on what support the board could offer and to join the board in making submissions to the council seeking a fairer allocation of funding for the area.

Feedback is open from 28 February to 28 March.

North Shore ward councillor Richard Hills, who chairs the council’s Planning, Environment and Parks Committee, is also urging the public to have its say on their priorities.

While the council has talked about boards across the city losing 5 per cent of funding, the true figure to be slashed from the board’s discretionary or Locally Driven Initiatives (LDI) money for Devonport-Takapuna is 60 per cent.

This is due to historic local-body differences in how community funding is allocated, with the North Shore more often funding groups, such as community trusts, to deliver services (for example children’s play sessions), rather than council providing services directly, as happens across much of Auckland.

On top of the LDI cuts come region-wide reductions, impacting the money available for arts facilities, environmental efforts, venues, and other city services.

Van Tonder told the Observer libraries might be closed one day a week.

A “slow-mow” policy also meant reserves would be tended to less often.

Locally, the board has been instructed that LDI cuts need to be “sustainable”, meaning they are expected to be ongoing, rather than

Guard posted after arrest over school incident

A security guard was posted at Wairau Intermediate School in Forrest Hill after police responded to reports of disorder and wilful damage at the school on the first day of the new term.

Police arrested a person after being called to the school, which was briefly locked down.

A 40-year-old male later appeared in the North Shore District Court charged with wilful damage and threatening behaviour.

The school notified parents of the lock- down after it ended through texts and a recorded telephone message on the school number.

Students stayed at school for the remainder of the school day.

No injuries were reported.

The school declined to comment why the security guard had been posted or how long he would remain there.

School principal Yolanda East said the alleged offender was not a member of the school community.

a one-off.

The draft budget was drawn up before recent flooding, so does not cover costs related to the recovery.

Van Tonder said the board would review public feedback and then submit more of its own. It would continue to talk to groups it currently supports, including the business associations that host town-centre events.

The board has already put a case to the council that Devonport-Takapuna is being particularly hard hit, which took Mayor Wayne Brown by surprise.

At its meeting last week, the board signed off on council staff organising a public ‘Have Your Say’ session in Takapuna next month. This will be on Tuesday 21 March from 5pm to 8pm at the board offices at 1 The Strand.

It questioned the format of the council’s feedback forms and asked that the public be given more than three options to prioritise, fearing some groups might be able to mobilise more than others and skew results.

A finalised budget document has to be approved by the council’s governing body by June, for the start of the financial year in July.

Beach Cafe to seek liquor licence

The Takapuna Beach Cafe wants a council lease changed so it can apply for a licence to sell alcohol.

Auckland Council property arm Eke Panuku will put a report to the DevonportTakapuna Local Board seeking approval for a change. The cafe wants to sell alcohol from 7am to 8pm during daylight saving and 7am to 7pm for the rest of the year.