Extra rate mooted to fund Takapuna hub

Levying a special local rate has been suggested by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board as a way to pay for a new combined library and community services hub for Takapuna.

The suggestion is a surprise inclusion in the draft Local Board Plan which is expected to be approved by the board this week, before community consultation ahead of the document being finalised later in the year.

Board chair Toni van Tonder told the Observer the board wanted to gauge opinion on the option of a targeted rate, in its bid to deliver the best possible services in a growing town centre.

“Once we’ve got a steer that we’ve got a man- date, we would ask council to investigate it.”

The amount a targeted rate might be set at and what area it would be levied on had not been discussed, she said.

The board would have to seek the approval of Auckland Council’s governing body for such a rate. To page 2

Diverse line-up... Korean students from Westlake Boys High School perform a haka at a combined Westlake schools Korean Night, held to celebrate traditional Korean culture, while also embracing different art forms. An audience of more than 1500 attended this month’s event, held at the WBHS auditorium. They raised $2023 for Red Cross for flood relief. Girls fan-dance photo, page 15.

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From page 1

Van Tonder admitted it would be a hard sell to convince the public that more should be contributed by ratepayers towards new community facilities.

But she said board members wanted to explore what facilities people wanted for the future and if they would be prepared to pay more.

“I’m pretty realistic – some people are feeling the pinch, but I hope some people will see the vision.”

This was to deliver an “uplifting” new central hub over several floors of a new building in Waiwharariki Anzac Square, partly funded by selling off other ageing community assets.

A hub would bring together the library and other modernised community and council facilities under one roof, as well as providing a home for the local board, to save renting commercial premises for its offices.

A model was the well-used Te Manawa community facility at Westgate, which also includes a library, public space, bookable rooms and a commercial kitchen.

The idea of a targeted rate idea was first put to the board by council’s property arm Eke Panuku at a confidential workshop, van

A petition to save Kennedy Park’s heritage-listed military fortifications had more than 800 signatures by early this week.

The Castor Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association and the Kennedy Park WWII Installations Preservation Trust launched the petition after learning council officers had suggested sealing off the tunnels and demolishing an old barracks at the site, as one option in the face of its maintenance needs.

The groups say the facilities have been neglected for too long. They want them at least shored up, until a plan can be agreed.

No decisions have yet been made, but Auckland Council staff have been asked

Tonder said. It had identified that rising costs had created a funding shortfall in the relocation option it put to the previous board.

The last board, which was divided over the ‘optimisation’ plan, did not make a decision, instead calling for more information on options. These range from the status quo of having three main council buildings, all of which require upgrades; to leasing air rights above them; or selling for private development, one, two or all of the Mary Thomas Centre on Gibbons Ave and Takapuna Library and the Community Services Building on The Strand.

The leaky Mary Thomas Centre needs $300,000 spent on upgrades, including roof replacement. Tenants from its top-floor have been moved to the services building, which houses other community groups and the war memorial hall.

Van Tonder recognised the library was well regarded, but said it could end up in the shadow of apartment blocks. It would also require money spent on it in due course.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do the right thing for the town centre,” she said, adding: “If there’s no appetite for it, there’s no appetite – we would just have to work with what we’ve got.” to report back to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board. This is expected next month.

Board chair Toni van Tonder said she had raised with Mayor Wayne Brown the difficulty of the board’s maintaining heritage assets from its reduced budget. She wants a city-wide heritage fund to help.

Van Tonder was relieved council’s recently agreed budget meant rather than the board losing 60 per cent, or $810,000, of its discretionary spending for community purposes, it was down about 9 per cent to $126,240. But hard decisions still lay ahead. • Guided tunnel tours will be held for a gold coin donation on Sunday 9 July, 11am-2pm.