NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2017
MILESTONE HOME FOR WHAT’S
HOBSONVILLE POINT HAPPENING Information Centre: Open 7 Days from 10am to 4pm Street of Show Homes: Open 7 days from 10am to 4pm on Liquidambar Avenue Hobsonville Point Farmers Market: Every Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 1pm at Catalina Bay
Over 1000 homes have now been completed in Hobsonville Point, with the number growing steadily each day. The new owners of the 1000th house, Bryce and Alyssa Farrow (pictured), bought their Axis Series affordable home off the plans last year. Having lived with relatives while saving for a deposit, the couple say they feel lucky to have secured the one-bedroom, Jalcon-built home with the help of a KiwiSaver HomeStart grant. They were welcomed to their new neighbourhood by Social Housing and Housing New Zealand Minister Amy Adams, Upper Harbour MP Paula Bennett and HLC Chief Executive Chris Aiken at a special celebration held in June. “The $3.5 billion Hobsonville Point development is delivering around one new
home a day for Auckland. Already home to 3000 residents, it’s a significant development that’s changing Auckland’s urban landscape and providing much-needed houses for Auckland families. It’s by far New Zealand’s largest and fastest residential housing development,” Ms Adams says. The 1000 home milestone arrived two years earlier than initially planned and reflects the pace at which the township is progressing. More than 1600 homes have already been sold at Hobsonville Point with an average price of $730,000. Over 400 of these have been Axis Series affordable homes, sold at or below $550,000. A further 630 homes are currently under construction and a population of around 11,000 is expected at completion in 2023.
Pohutukawa Art Project: Volunteers required (especially keen knitters and crocheters) for yarn bombing of Hobsonville Point’s Pohutukawa tree. Email Kathleen Waldock for more on kathleen.waldock@hlc.co.nz. Kaipatiki Project: Volunteers needed for the nursery! Wednesdays between 9am and 12pm. No experience needed, learn on the job! Contact Kaipatiki for more info on (09) 482 1172 or email restoration@kaipatiki.org.nz Auckland Heritage Festival: ‘God Willing and Weather Permitting’ charter ferry ride from Hobsonville Point ferry terminal. October 1, 10am – midday. Tickets $12.50/adults, $7.50/ children available via The Red Boats. For more information, call Louelle Botes at HLC on (09) 261-5112.
5 MARLBOROUGH CRESCENT, HOBSONVILLE 0616 TELEPHONE 09 261 5054 FAX 09 416 5803
hobsonvillepoint.co.nz
RIFLE RANGE AT THE READY With summer sunshine around the corner, Hobsonville Point’s repurposed Rifle Range is ready for all to enjoy. The public space, which opened in March, was formerly an Air Force shooting and target practice facility that has now been converted into an outdoor theatre. History-lovers will enjoy the information boards that are wallmounted at the range, detailing the unique backstories of the facility and the adjacent Bomb/Te Onekiritea Point. Located along Bomb Point Drive on the Coastal Walkway, the Rifle Range includes a full stage (with electricity), storage areas, a utility area with a basin and benches, a table tennis table, large areas of lawn, seating and public toilets. Also available for onsite use is a range of play and outdoor equipment, compiled in consultation with students from both
Hobsonville Point schools. Visitors can enjoy bean bags, soccer gear, rugby balls, large outdoor games, a play parachute and other gear. The equipment is locked in storage but can be accessed by texting the mobile number listed on the wall by the storage room next to the stage. The range may be made available for organized events for large numbers of people, events with a commercial aspect or private events for which it may need to be closed to the public. Such bookings are dealt with on a case by case basis. Please contact HLC via info@hlc.co.nz at least 20 working days beforehand to enquire. The facility is presently overseen by HLC but will be transferred to Auckland Council ownership and management later this year. Users are asked to take all rubbish with them as bins are not provided.
MAKEOVER FOR COMMUNITY COTTAGE The upgrade of Hobsonville Point’s historic Chichester Cottage begins this month, readying the building for use as a bookable community facility. The cottage, which is located alongside Mill House on an Auckland Council reserve, dates back to about 1927 and is being gifted to the Hobsonville Point Residents Society (HPRS) by HLC in a refurbished state. No small detail is being overlooked in the upgrade, which includes work to ensure weather-tightness (such as recladding, re-roofing, spouting, gutters and downpipes), installing a new floor and floor coverings, rewiring, replumbing, new service connections, fitting out a new bathroom and kitchen, internal redecoration, planting and building a patio/seating area. The work is expected to be completed by December, at which time HPRS will take over the facility and manage it as a community venue available for hire on a user-pays basis. “This opportunity is really great and we are delighted that it’s happening,” says HPRS chairperson, Peter Herbert. “We are very, very happy to be part of it as Chichester Cottage will certainly be an asset for this community for years to come.”
EXPLORE WHAT CAME BEFORE The use of the Upper Harbour’s ‘highways’ for travel and transport will be in the spotlight during this year’s Auckland Heritage Festival. The annual two-week festival, which this year is being held from September 30 to October 15, showcases a range of heritage-inspired events from over 200 contributors. One of the contributions, ‘God Willing and Weather Permitting’, will feature talks aboard a charter ferry ride from the Hobsonville Point ferry terminal. The event will explore how the area’s harbours, estuaries and rivers were used for travel and transport by the generations who pre-dated today’s modern motorways. ‘God Willing and Weather Permitting’ will be held on October 1 from 10am to midday.
NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2017
Tickets ($12.50 for adults and $7.50 for children) will be available via The Red Boats (www.theredboats.co.nz/about-us/onlinebookings/) and are limited to 75 spaces. An announcement about ticket sale dates will be made on the Hobsonville Point Facebook page. Event participants are welcome to bring their own food onboard and the nearby Farmers Market will be selling refreshments from 9am to 1pm. HLC is also hoping to work with local community groups and the Hobsonville Point schools on this event. For more information, call Louelle Botes at HLC on (09) 261-5112.
The cottage features one large room, a kitchen and a bathroom, and will suit small group activities of up to 20 people such as hobby groups, a practice space, exhibitions or garden parties.
PRECINCT TAKING SHAPE Exciting signs of progress will soon be apparent in Launch Bay (formerly the Marlborough Precinct), the waterside site under development between Jimmy’s Point, Launch Road and Catalina Bay. Developer, Winton Partners, plans to start civil works in the area in October when the current remediation work being undertaken by HLC concludes. The civil works will transform the precinct through the addition of roads, a lookout at Jimmy’s Point, street trees, seating and a playful park on the east side of the Oval. Winton Partners are also progressing the various dwellings planned for the precinct, construction of which is expected to start in 2019. In time, Launch Bay will combine four
former Officer’s houses and 13 standalone homes with potentially 300 apartments (including the conversion of the existing seaplane hangar on Launch Road into eight loft-style dwellings centered around an internal courtyard). The Officer’s houses are in the process of being repainted with landscaping, driveways and new garages to be completed by Christmas. Once subdivided into individual housing lots, these historic homes will be available to buy in 2018. Plans for all of the proposed new buildings have also been signed off by HLC’s design review panel and the first apartments are expected on the market in the first half of 2018.
BUSINESSES COMING TO THE BAY
Interest in Catalina Bay has been strong since plans for the waterfront precinct were announced by developer, Willis Bond & Co, earlier this year. The 1.8 hectare site will in time be home to a mix of restored heritage buildings and new ventures offering retail, hospitality, office and residential opportunities. The refurbishment of six existing Air Force buildings is underway and expected to be completed by early next year. This includes the installation of a mezzanine structure and a double-glazed wall in the Catalina Workshops, one of which will be home to HLC from November 2017. Also preparing for a move is the iconic Farmers Market, which is expected to be in its new permanent home (one of the bay’s oldest buildings located at the bottom of the Launch Road steps) in October. The market is currently operating in the Fabric Building beside the wharf.
NEW HOME FOR OLD FAVOURITE
Once vacated by the market, the Fabric Building will itself become home to a new venture offering over-water dining. An experienced all-day bistro café operator has been signed for this space and will be announced soon. Meanwhile, restoration on the immense Sunderland Hangar is due for completion late next year. A tenant has already been secured for the ground floor retail space, leaving only The Armoury available to rent. Expressions of interest in this 280m2 retail space are currently being accepted by Willis Bond & Co. Catalina Bay will also offer a range of character office spaces, enquiries about which are welcomed, and residential options. The main apartment building will house about 70 high-end apartments and five townhouses while a boutique five-storey building will offer a further four apartments each spanning an entire floor. More information will be available in the on-site display suite from early next year or visit www.catalinabay.co.nz/apartments to register your interest now.
Memories of the former Hobsonville North Kindergarten are once again on public display, with a permanent home secured for a much-loved artwork. The kindergarten formerly occupied a site on St Georges Road but, following negotiations with HLC, was relocated to its existing home in Whenuapai to make way for the Hobsonville Point development. Trish Burn, head teacher of the kindergarten at the time, requested that something be left behind as “a reminder to those who came here of our wonderful little paradise that taught so many children to value nature and become confident independent learners”. And so, a collaborative creative project was born under the leadership and tutelage of artist Janet Holtrigter. Alongside Janet, their teachers and parents, the then three and four year olds embraced imaginative thinking skills, problem solving and creative energy to complete an artwork with meaning for them. The resulting artwork - five posts featuring ceramics - was originally located on Hastings Street opposite Catalina Café but when this site was also developed, the piece was put into storage in 2013. Now it is back on public, permanent display in its new home alongside the Hobsonville Point Coastal Walkway/Te Ara Manawa. This location will enable generations of visitors to enjoy the piece for years to come, including children who contributed to the project and are now aged nine and ten.
ON THE MOVE
KEEPING THE KIDS ENTERTAINED
Original Air Force houses from Hobsonville Point are being giving a second lease on life by families as far afield as Northland. From the early 1950s onwards, several hundred houses were built in an area of Hobsonville colloquially known as ‘top camp’ to provide accommodation for married Air Force personnel. Located near Hobsonville Village between what are now Clark and Hobsonville Point Roads, top camp was distinct from ‘bottom camp’ which housed Officers on the base itself. With the former ‘top camp’ now earmarked for development as part of the Buckley B and Te Uru precincts, the last of the original houses are being removed. Where possible, they have first been offered for sale to mana whenua iwi for relocation, renovation and reuse. “The houses are very solidly built with a number of native timber features. Our whole objective is that we would rather see them reused by new families than just demolished,” says Tracey Cudby of HLC. Whãnau from both Ngãti Whãtua o Kaipara and Te Kawerau a Maki have purchased houses through the scheme for use as first homes to be lived in and enjoyed in new locations. “The houses purchased by our whãnau have gone between Whatuwhiwhi, in the far north, and Auckland,” says Robin Taua-Gordon, Heritage and Environment Officer for Te Kawerau a Maki. “Our whãnau are excited about being able to purchase an affordable home, move it and renovate it.” The last of the houses will be removed from Hobsonville Point by October, allowing soil remediation work to begin in preparation for the redevelopment of the precincts.
Parents have plenty of options to keep the kids busy at Hobsonville Point with the recent opening of the new Harrier Point Park. The latest addition to the play and recreation spaces on offer at The Point is located on the corner of Launch and Boundary Roads, with water views providing a stunning backdrop to the outdoor space. Nestled above the Estuarine sculpture, the park has something to appeal to young and old - a large lawn, seating, barbeque facilities,
a flying fox and a web swing. Shrieks of delight could be heard as children explored the new equipment during the park’s first open weekend late last month. Harrier Point Park provides yet another fun experience for families at Hobsonville Point, following the opening of the Catalina Water Play Park earlier this year. The water play park is located on the corner of Onekiritea and Tuatua Roads in the Catalina Precinct and also includes barbeque facilities.
DON'T RELY ON LUCK AROUND TRUCKS Hobsonville Point is a unique development where completed areas coexist alongside construction sites. In this ever-changing environment, community safety is particularly important to HLC and our local builders.
• Encourage children who bike to school to stop before reaching intersections/ junctions. Teach them to jump off their bike and walk to the edge of the footpath to press the pedestrian crossing button.
A voluntary reduced speed limit of 30kph has been introduced around school zones following consultation with Auckland Transport, Police and our local schools. Students have really got behind the initiative, designing the art work for the safety banners.
• Trucks often have to take a wide berth to turn into the smaller, more constricted roads, meaning they can come very close to the opposite kerbside. Take some time to study the trucks when out and about and discuss any hazards. Show children how trucks turn and teach them about being too close to the edge of the roadside.
Residents can also help by taking extra care around the ongoing construction, especially when out walking and cycling. Here are a few tips for you to consider: • Organize a walking school bus for children to and from school. • Think about initiating a one metre stop zone before crossing the road. This will encourage children to stop and think before reaching the kerb’s edge.
• On bleak and raining days, wear brightly coloured raincoats/clothing (or a hi-vis vest) to help with visibility. HLC is always looking to assist where it can in maintaining a safe, happy and interactive community. If you have any questions, please call HLC’s Safety Team on (09) 261-5246.
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