NewsletterNewsletter 2424 OctoberOctober 2013 2013 (1/4) (1/4)

www.milford.org.nz . [email protected] PO Box 31 067, Milford , Auckland 0741 Picnic, Milford Beach, 1907. Auckland Museum DU436.1275 M64/1, neg. C9083. In this newsletter PC34 Appeal –––Environment Court hearing from 11 November Milford’s Heritage Day photos Unitary Plan Notified ---Open Day 20 November

PC34 Appeal

The Appeal by Milford Centre Ltd against the decision to decline PC34 is scheduled to be heard in the Environment Court during the week beginning 11 November. The evidence of the various expert witnesses of Milford Centre, and MRA has been circulated between the parties. If MRA members would like to read the Association’s evidence, email [email protected] and we will forward copies.

Hearing arrangements

The hearing is scheduled to commence on Monday morning, 11 November, at the Environment Court in Federal Street, central Auckland. We will advise more details closer to the day.

We encourage Milford people to attend at some stage during the week but do ask you to advise us at [email protected] so we can get a feel for numbers and co-ordinate these with the Court capacity. We understand all evidence will be taken as read and witnesses will be cross-examined, so it should be a faster moving affair than the hearing in Milford in 2012.

SITUATION VACANT Are you interested in working in the local community? A Community Development Co-ordinator is being sought by the Takapuna North Community Trust. The purpose of the role is to increase community participation in local events and volunteering, and encourage community interaction and self-determination (30 hours per week). If you are interested, email [email protected] and we will send you full application details. Newsletter 24 October 2013 (2/4)

Our fundraising efforts continue The Milford community has given a impressive $34,000 to the Appeal fund since April 2013. MRA has applied to the Environment Court Fund for funding and we hope to be successful. However, our local fundraising has to continue as our costs are still rising. We are planning a possible community fundraising event but this will not occur until after the hearing. If you have been waiting to make your donation, NOW is the time to give to our appeal fund. As we noted in our September newsletter, we still hear from people who are confused about the difference between PC34 and the Unitary Plan. Some people think the confirmed Unitary Plan heights have solved the ‘problem’ of PC34. Not so! PC34 is still on the drawing board and, if approved in the Environment Court, the possibility of high rise in the Milford town centre and surrounding residential zones becomes very real. All the good work MRA and the community did to reduce the proposed Unitary Plan heights for Milford could be undone. With high buildings on the Milford Mall site, it becomes very easy for developers to argue that, since Milford already has high rise, the surrounding residential area should also have higher-rise apartments. This is why it is so important that we consolidate our gains in the Unitary Plan with PC34 in the Environment Court. We need to be a strong legal and witness presence in the Court and behind the scenes. Please send your donations to: MRA, PO Box 31 067, Milford, Auckland 0741 or direct to our bank account: MRA, ASB Milford, account 12-3050-0484393-00. Please email our Treasurer with your address and phone number if you are paying by direct credit, [email protected] . The Auckland Unitary Plan is notified at last! What’s the next step for communities? The Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan is now open for submissions until 28 February 2014. MRA will be submitting on the UP and Milford people will also want to submit and support the changes that were made before notification. We will tackle this after the summer holidays in early 2014.

Unitary Plan Open Day at Bruce Mason Centre, Wed, 20 November, 1-8pm Auckland Council is holding open days on the plan which will be useful for residents as background to their eventual submission. These will feature displays on specific issues and areas, printed copies of the plan’s text and maps, access to view the plan online and experts on hand to answer questions. There will also be seminars on a range of topics such as residential zones, heritage and the environment as well as an opportunity to learn how to find your way around the online plan. If you want to register for some of the seminars, please contact us at [email protected] .

Please mark your diaries and plan to attend this local Open Day.

Do you remember (or were you born at) the old Eastern Bays Obstetric Hospital in Beach Road, Castor Bay? Fiona Downes of Castor Bay Residents & Ratepayers Assn is seeking out photographs of this institution. Contact Fiona at [email protected]. Newsletter 24 October 2013 (3/4) Auckland Council election update Our local results have seen the return of plenty of familiar faces, the introduction of a couple of new ones.

North Shore Ward Auckland Councillors MRA congratulates our two successful Councillors, George Wood and Chris Darby. Both are long-standing friends of Milford and we know they will represent the interests of our community energetically and consistently. George Wood is well known as a past Mayor of North Shore City and Councillor in the last term. Chris Darby has made the huge step from Chair of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board to Councillor and we wish him well and hope he enjoys his new role. Chris has worked hard for Milford during his term on the Local Board and we look forward to continuing this relationship. We send our commiserations to former Councillor, , who was an extremely effective advocate for the Milford community during the last term. Ann has been elected to the Kaipatiki Local Board.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board MRA welcomes the re-election to the Board of Mike Cohen, Jan O’Connor, Diane Hale and Joseph Bergin. We also look forward to getting to know new members Allison Roe and Grant Gillon.

MRA is very aware of the need to build strong personal and institutional relationships with Council and our representatives. We will work positively with each of our Councillors and Local Board Members during the next three years.

Local alcohol policy development Do you have an interest in these local policies? Auckland Council is developing a local alcohol policy (LAP) to regulate the sale, supply, and consumption of alcohol within the region. This may include policies on location of licences , number of licences , maximum trading hours and discretionary conditions.

If you have an interest in how these policies develop in the Milford community, you may like to attend the following workshop and then report back to MRA and the wider community.

Auckland Council workshop, Wednesday 30 October, Takapuna War Memorial Hall, 4.30pm-6.30pm . Email [email protected] and we will register your attendance.

Our bouquet of thanks to Prestige Realty Ltd

A heartfelt thanks to Prestige Realty in Milford who kindly gave us a generous cash donation towards our costs for the Milford Heritage Day.

We really appreciate the way Prestige supported our community initiative and helped make the Heritage Day so enjoyable. Newsletter 24 October 2013 (4/4) When Milford was an entertainment magnet Milford’s first -ever Auckland Heritage Festival event All roads led to Milford on Sunday 13 October when MRA held Milford’s first-ever Auckland Heritage Festival event. We estimate about 500 people attended during the afternoon to see our display of historic photographs and listen to the North Shore Brass Academy Band perform a splendid selection of music from the 1920s to the 1940s. It was an occasion for some to reminisce and others to discover the past. Youngsters thought the old steam train and the huge swimming pool in the photos were ‘cool’. Some ‘older’ ones even met people they hadn’t seen since primary school days. Doug Tutill generously displayed his beautiful 1930s cars and they really set the scene. The Milford Cruising Club got with the mood and offered afternoon teas at their Historic Photo Café. The Club and the MRA intend joining forces for the 2014 heritage festival day.

Our thanks go to Aidan Bennett, Chelsea and Ella at Benefitz for their display advice and design and printing work. Our special thanks for funding from the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and for a generous donation from Prestige Realty. Thanks also to Mike Price at StageHireNZ for the supply of the stage and to Milford School for the band’s chairs. Below is a montage of some of the historic photos and Graham White’s photos taken on the day.

MRA now has 48 beautiful photographs of historic Milford. This is just the start of a larger collection and is a community asset for the future. We hope to show the photos again during the year so those who missed out can see them. We have also been offered some lovely personal photos and intend including a ‘Family Photos’ theme in 2014.

All the best from the MRA team, Norma, Debbie, Peter, Glenys, Heather, Helen, Stephen, Murray, Richard & Adrianne