Roskill Community Voice

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Media statement: Disgraceful plan to bulldoze Liston Village one step closer to being overturned

Disgraceful plan to bulldoze Liston Village Seniors Social Housing one step closer to being overturned

“The disgraceful C&R-led plan to bulldoze Seniors social housing at Liston Village in Hillsborough is one step closer to being overturned”, says Julie Fairey after the Roskill Community Voice majority on the  Puketāpapa  Local Board voted last night to confirm its view that housing should remain on the site.

Cr Cathy Casey of City Vision was also at the meeting last night, along with residents from Liston Village and the Chair of the Liston Management Board. “We have a critical housing shortage and a huge waiting list of older people for housing so why on earth would we even consider demolishing 25 good houses at Liston Village,” Casey says.

“After years of work and making this the top advocacy issue for the  Puketāpapa Local Board with the Governing Body of Auckland Council, we received a report last night (here from p97) and endorsed options to use land from Liston Village to improve Monte Cecilia Park, while retaining (and in fact increasing) the total number of Seniors social housing units on the site. This is a practical win-win that we hope and expect will be supported by the Council Committee who will consider the issue in late 2019”, says Julie Fairey.

“We know that the pressure of the Auckland housing market is placing seniors on fixed incomes under huge stress as rents in the private sector are rising steeply.  More Seniors social housing is urgently needed, not bulldozing what we have”, says Anne-Marie Coury, Roskill Community Voice candidate and long time seniors’ advocate.

“The housing situation in Auckland has changed significantly since 2010 when the sale and purchase agreement for Liston was forced through by C&R in the dying days of Auckland City Council. We were saddened but not surprised to once again see C&R speak to support the old plan to remove this much needed housing to add grassed area, and refusing to vote for the win-win options to retain housing while using some Liston Village land to improve the park. It is an obsessive C&R vanity project to make Monte Cecilia park ever-larger. It is a beautiful park, we have supported significant investments in it and it has already grown by 36,600m2 in the last four years, but we also think that housing for Seniors in our community is important”, says Julie Fairey.

“The residents of Liston Village, are a well-connected existing community that deserve our support now and for the future”, says Anne-Marie Coury. “We now urge the Auckland Council Governing body to work with us to ensure the continuation of this much needed Seniors social housing. We will not give up.”

 

(Images below from the 2016 Save Liston Village campaign)

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Media statement: Roskill Community Voice backs Three Kings Alternative Plan in Environment Court, despite Auckland Council gagging

“The Roskill Community Voice team on the Puketapapa Local Board have formally voted to back the local Three Kings community and the alternative development scheme for Three Kings, developed by leading landscape architect Richard Reid”, say Local Board members Harry Doig and Michael Wood

“At a Local Board meeting last week, we formally expressed our support for the alternative plan developed by Mr Reid and gave it our political endorsement, even though Auckland Council is formally gagging the Local Board from being heard in the Environment Court case about the Three Kings development” says Mr Doig.

“Mr Reid’s alternative development scheme (available here) has our support because:

It delivers a strong residential yield, allowing for high-quality medium density development in the quarry, and supporting further residential development opportunities for surrounding land-owners.
It provides adequate open space and communal space for apartment dwellers and the local community.
It respects and rehabilitates our remaining maunga Te Tatua-a- Riukiuta/Big King by providing a sufficient buffer between development and the cone.
It is a high quality, modern design that creates connections across the community, and enables local residents to walk, cycle, or easily connect to public transport.

On every count, Mr Reid’s alternative plan is superior to the Fletcher Residential Plan, which raids and effectively privatises public reserve land, compromises Big King, and creates housing in a large depression up to nineteen metres deep, disconnected from the surrounding community”, says Mr Wood.

“Auckland Council has now formally blocked the Local Board from being heard in the Environment Court process on behalf of the local community. However the Board has given its political endorsement to Board members Harry Doig and Michael Wood giving evidence in their personal capacities in support of the alternative plan. Disappointingly, the C&R minority on the Board have called for the Board to be “passive by-standers” and continue to support the Fletchers position, rather than the local community”, says Mr Doig.

“The re-development of Three Kings is a major issue in our community and a huge opportunity if done well. We and the community support high quality medium density housing, developed in sympathy with the sensitive volcanic landscape, and connected to the surrounding community”, says Mr Wood.

ENDS
Contact:
Harry Doig: 027 241 2209
Michael Wood: 022 659 6360

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Puketāpapa Local Board resolutions on Liston Village

This will record resolutions and similar position statements made by the Puketapapa Local Board in relation to Liston Village, in chronological order from oldest to newest.

From the Puketāpapa Local Board Plan 2014
Under Key Initiatives for Healthy, Safe People and Places, p44:

Investigate options for increasing supply of affordable community and social housing, including advocating to retain existing social housing at Liston Village.   

From the Minutes of the 28th August 2015 Puketāpapa Local Board business meeting, pp10, 11

Item 16 Puketāpapa Local Board Small Local Improvement Projects (SLIPs) Programme 2014- 2015 
Resolution number PKTPP/2014/163
MOVED by Deputy Chairperson HAJ Doig, seconded by Member MP Wood:

That the Puketāpapa Local Board:
a) acknowledges receipt of the Puketāpapa Local Board 2014/2015 SLIPs funding summary programme
b) delegates authority to the spokesperson to provide guidance and advice to the SLIPs team regarding their allocated proposals and delegates authority to the spokesperson and chair of the board, to be exercised together, to make additional funding decisions where a variation to a project scope is needed due to unforeseen circumstances
…
q) allocates $10,000 SLIPs Operational budget towards a study to establish the feasibility of retaining community social housing for the elderly at the Liston Village site in Hillsborough (when it transfers to Council ownership) and to provide advice about the ownership and governance options for preserving the village as community social housing for the elderly through a partnership arrangement between Auckland Council and a third sector housing provider.

r) request that expert advice on the community social housing sector is sought as part of the report.

s) delegates Member MP Wood to act as spokesperson for this project and to consult with affected stakeholders about the Board’s approach.

t) agrees to advocate to the Governing Body for additional social housing in Puketāpapa
…

CARRIED

From the Minutes of the 27th August 2015 Puketāpapa Local Board business meeting, p8-9

Item 14.2  Board Member report – Michael Wood 
Resolution number PKTPP/2015/170
MOVED by Member MP Wood, seconded by Deputy Chairperson HAJ Doig:

That the Puketāpapa Local Board:
a) receive the report for August 2015.
…
c) receive the “Liston Village Housing for the Elderly Scoping Report” dated 26 August 2015 and:

i) note the findings of the report including information concerning the high level of unmet need for social housing in Hillsborough, and a general growth in demand for social housing for the elderly.

ii) authorise further detailed work to be carried out in line with the recommendations on page 20 of the report, utilising LDI funding for “Affordable and social housing options”.

iii) authorise release of the report to the public and authorise Member Wood to present the report to the Seniors Panel, the Community Development and Safety Committee and any other relevant Council bodies.

CARRIED

A copy of the Liston Village Housing for the Elderly – Stage One: Scoping report will be placed on the official minutes and is available on the Auckland Council website as a minute attachment.

Article “Monte Cecilia Park: Puketāpapa advocates to retain Liston Village“ on Auckland Council news website Our Auckland – October 7th 2015

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Grumpy Cat Update

Great news to report about Grumpy Cat! At last week’s Board meeting, Michael’s resolution to start
the process of getting some art back on the reservoir was successful.

Here’s what will happen now:

1) The Board will go out to the community and key stakeholders to develop an agreed approach. This will be an open process to gather in ideas and come to a community consensus. The result could be that people just want Grumpy Cat back, or it could be something different.

2) The Board will then take that proposal to Watercare for consideration and implementation.

This is an issue that has really been driven along by the community and we have been very happy to support it. Let’s keep working together to get a result we can all feel happy, rather than grumpy about.