Be a better leader

from Howick and Pakuranga Times - Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Be held accountable by

Dust off your running shoes and break out the – possibly green – active wear because the Howick Rotary Fun Walk and Run is back for another year!

It started with only a couple of hundred people in 2005— and with 2019 being a record year in terms of participation— this year more than 700 people are expected to take to the streets on Sunday March 15.

Howick Rotary organising committee member Colin Monk says the event is a great way to get the whole family involved in keeping fit and healthy.

There will be three routes on offer. The tracks cater to all levels of fitness – walkers or runners can choose from a 5.9km primary course, a 6.9km intermediate course, or an 8.1km extended course, with five water stations available on the way. More than 700 people are expected to take to the streets on Sunday March 15 – St Patrick’s Day - across the three routes on offer. Times photo Wayne Martin

Rotarian Monk says the event creates a friendly rivalry between local primary and intermediate schools that compete to be crowned the winning school — and this year, with more schools entered than ever, that competition is sure to increase.

With spot prizes on offer (the best selection ever, says Mr Monk) and a delicious sausage sizzle on completion, there’ll be no shortage of motivation to finish. Each participating child will also receive a medal at the finish line.

All courses start and finish at Stockade Hill, so participants can soak up some post-run (and walk) views.

Sponsors this year include My Ride, Mitre 10 Mega Botany, Dilmah Tea, Howick Local Board, The Athlete’s Foot and many others.

Mr Monk also acknowledged the support provided by the Howick Local Board, as part of their keep healthy initiatives. The board provide funds to assist in the running costs.

All proceeds go to the Howick Coastguard, and the Rotary Club of Howick covers all the costs associated with running the event. Last year The Rotary Club of Howick donated $9000 to Coastguard. The more participants, the greater the amount raised for Coastguard. ■ The Howick Fun Walk and Run will be held at Stockade Hill on Sunday March 15 at 9am. Tickets cost $10 for adults, $5 for children and $10 for school teams of four, and registration can either be done at http://howickfunwalkrun.co.nz/ or by entering on the day.

The government’s social housing strategy

MP for Pakuranga Simeon Brown

The apparent strategy adopted by this government to buy up homes off the open market in order to compensate for its lack of follow through on KiwiBuild is only going to make things worse in the housing market, not better.

The disclosure last year that Housing New Zealand, now known as Kainga Ora, had purchased five homes on Nelson Street for nearly $1 million each shined a light on what this government has turned to following the failure of their flagship housing policy.

The issue with this is that buying homes off the open market to inflate our state housing portfolio is only adding to the problem, since it’s not actually increasing the country’s housing stock.

It means the government is competing with first home buyers, who have worked hard and saved for years in order to get their foot in the door only to lose out to the large state-funded pockets of Kainga Ora.

It’s also a poor use of taxpayer money, particularly in the case of Nelson Street. For what the government paid, it could have built twice as many homes itself and housed twice as many families in need.

The government says it is trying to accomplish two main goals when it comes to housing – increasing the stock of affordable homes in New Zealand, particularly in Auckland, and ensuring there are enough so that everyone has a sheltered place to sleep at night.

But this strategy ensures their failure at both of those objectives. It does not add to the housing stock, and it is not helping those most in need.

Rather than buying million-dollar state homes off the open market the government should follow through on the promises it made. While I fundamentally disagree with KiwiBuild, building new homes is what’s required right now.

If elected into government later this year, National will scrap the Resource Management Act and replace it with something that actually makes sense. The biggest impediment to the construction of affordable homes at present is the exorbitant costs placed upon developers and builders through the consents process, so we will simplify things to make it easier to build what’s needed.

I am hosting a public meeting on social housing with National’s Spokesperson on the subject Simon O’Connor, on Tuesday 24 March at the Howick Bowling Club, 33 Selwyn Street, Howick, at 7:00pm. Please come along if you’re interested in hearing more about this issue. ■ Simeon Brown, Member of Parliament for Pakuranga