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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Playground upgrades

Over the last six years Roskill Community Voice has pushed for playground upgrades through-out Puketapapa.  Some of the old playgrounds were around thirty years old, others had been vandalised repeatedly, and many were of a similar design.  With 13 new playgrounds, and 5 more to come, Puketapapa has become a much better place to play.

puketapapa-playgrounds-sep16

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Fighting for Three Kings

Since receiving a majority on the Puketapapa Local Board in 2016, the Roskill Community Voice team has stood up for Three Kings.

We are the only Local Board team that has consistently stood up to Fletchers and Council, and we now need your support at the Auckland Council Elections.

  • The only Board team who has voted to oppose Fletchers’ plans for the quarry and surrounding areas.
  • The only Board team who has voted to oppose the Council/Fletchers land exchange, giving away Western Park.
  • The only Board team who has backed the community and given evidence in the Environment Court against the Fletchers proposal.
  • The only Board team who funded development of the Richard Reid alternative plan.

We have backed the Three Kings community against the Fletchers/Council/Nick Smith attempt to force through the quarry development, while our opponents have supported Fletchers and called for the Board to be “neutral by-standers”.

We need your vote at the 2016 Auckland Council elections to continue being a voice for Three Kings on the Puketapapa Local Board.

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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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Three Kings Land Exchange decision Nov 2015 media coverage

Links covering the debate and decision of the Auckland Development Committee yesterday in relation to the Three Kings Land Exchange proposal.