Roskill Community Voice

News From Roskill Community Voice

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Media statement: Renewed mandate in Puketapapa

Roskill Community Voice welcomes renewed mandate in Puketapapa

 

“The Roskill Community Voice team is delighted to have received a renewed mandate to lead the Puketapapa Local Board over the next three years” says re-elected RCV candidate and 2013-16 Board Chair, Julie Fairey.

“With the provisional results now confirmed Roskill Community Voice has definitely retained four out of six positions on the Board (incumbent members Julie Fairey, David Holm, and Harry Doig; and new member Anne-Marie Coury). We are also hopeful that Shail Kaushal will also join us as a fifth RCV member of the Board once Special votes are confirmed later this week”.  Shail is currently nearly 200 votes ahead of the seventh ranked candidate, and results are confirmed on Thursday 13th October.

“We believe in active leadership and have worked hard to build a Roskill that is proud, progressive, and prosperous over the past three years. Sometimes that means that we have had to make difficult decisions to move our community forward. Even when people haven’t always agreed, we believe that we have won respect for showing leadership and governing from a strong set of progressive values”

“At this election we say goodbye to retiring RCV Board member Michael Wood who is now campaigning to replace Phil Goff as the next Labour MP for Mt Roskill. We wish him well. We also acknowledge our RCV colleage Ofisa Tonu’u who did not make it on to the Board this time – we are sure that his service to the community will continue in many ways.”

“In 2013, Roskill Community Voice team was the first progressive team to win a majority at the local government level in Mt Roskill since the Second World War. We are proud of the work we have been able to do with our community since then, we are honoured to receive people’s trust and confidence at this election, and we will work every day to make our community an even better place”, says Julie Fairey.

 

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Media statement: Local Board candidates make 24 hour pledge

In an Auckland first, Roskill Community Voice candidates standing for the Puketapapa Local Board are making a pledge to work at least twenty four hours per week if elected to the Board.

“The Local Board role is an important community governance position, yet there is little in the way of formal accountability for whether elected members put the time in that is required. The Remuneration Authority has based its decision on the appropriate pay for Local Board members on an assessment that at least twenty four hours per week is required to perform the role adequately”, says Roskill Community Voice candidate Julie Fairey, the current Board Chair.

“While most Board members work hard, some continue to take remuneration from Council while holding down other weighty positions, resulting in limited attendance and participation. That isn’t good enough.”

“Of course, just working the hours isn’t sufficient. It is important to be engaged and open minded, effective in decision making, and financially savvy. However, a starting point should be that elected members do the hours they are paid for”

“At the same time as making the pledge, we are also releasing attendance and accountability records (graph attached) for the 2013-16 term which show that Roskill Community Voice members of the Board have all had high rates of meeting attendance (from 93% to 100% for formal meetings) and accountability.”

“We’re proud of our record and the progress we have made building a proud, progressive, and prosperous Roskill. We pledge to do the work required in the next term to make even more progress for our community”, says Ms Fairey.

 

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Media statement: Three Kings Cover-up: Council staff refuse to act on Council resolution

On the day of a major community meeting about the Three Kings Quarry case, Roskill Community Voice members of the Puketapapa Local Board are expressing grave concerns after the Council organisation refused to act on a legitimate Local Board resolution seeking planning advice about the Three Kings quarry case.

“In a democracy, it is fundamental that staff follow the properly constituted decisions of elected members. It is utterly extraordinary in this case that Auckland Council staff have closed ranks to try and shut down the Puketapapa Local Board’s advocacy over Three Kings” says Roskill Community Voice representative Harry Doig, who is also Deputy Chair of the Puketapapa Local Board and holds the Three Kings Planning portfolio.

The Puketapapa Local Board requested planning advice on the interaction of the Three Kings Plan and the interim Environment Court decision on Plan Modification 372 (the Fletchers Plan to redevelop Three Kings Quarry). After initially being told internal planning advice could not be provided in the necessary timeframe, the Local Board has now been blocked from seeking external advice, despite having a validly made resolution seeking the advice, and a Local Board budget line to pay for it.

“Once again we feel that the Council organisation is lining up against the community on the future of Three Kings. The community worked with the Local Board to come up with the Three Kings Plan and the Local Board has invested in further work to progress the outcomes agreed in that Plan. Yet the Local Board is continually stymied by officers who seem determined to block local input even after Fletchers themselves have backed down from their original position in the court,” says Mr Doig.

 “Auckland Council was embarrassed in the Environment Court when key points such as the depth of the development, that had been raised by the Board and community, but ignored by Fletchers and Council, were affirmed by the Court. To now have Council officers decide to simply not implement a legitimate Local Board decision feels like an organisation closing ranks to protect itself. The actions appear to breach basic democratic norms and we reserve our options to progress matters” says Julie Fairey, Chair of the Puketapapa Local Board.
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