Waiatarua Community News 850 copies August 2020 ELECTION SPECIAL: Meet the Candidates Hello Waiatarua! Take this opportunity to come along and meet the candidates in our area (New Lynn electorate). Confirmed to attend are Labour Hello everyone (Deborah Russell), National (Lisa Whyte), the Greens (Steve Abel) and NZ First (Rob Gore). My name is Tom Hoey and as I write this I have been the new Association President for a grand total of 3 days. I was born and raised in Ireland. My wife Kari is from Titirangi and we moved to New Zealand in 1985. We have lived in Waiatarua since 1993 and have a 23 year old daughter, Eimhin and 21 year old son, Patrick. I spent close to 35 years in financial ser- vices and was the Group Executive of New Zealand’s largest and most successful statutory Trust Company for 12 years until pulling The format will be a time limited 3 minute speech from each can- back from the corporate world in 2017. One of my main interests didate, followed by a Q&A session. All questions for the candidates is football and I was a coach, manager, board member and chair- must be submitted to the WRRA President, Tom Hoey by 5pm man of Oratia United before spending 12 years on the board of Friday 21 August at [email protected]. Any extra Northern Football Federation, 6 years of which as chairman with questions received after this deadline will be added, time permit- the final year as president. ting. Written questions from the floor will also be accepted, again I am now running my own consulting business and currently with time permitting. working with a couple of local football clubs, in particular Where: Waiatarua Community Hall, 911 West Waitakere City where I manage the Junior and Youth develop- Coast Rd, Waiatarua ment pathways. I now also have some time to focus on other im- portant local issues so here I am. When: 7pm, Monday 24 August (target end time I believe that if you work as a focused team on the important is- 8.30pm—9pm) sues with a clear understanding of the required outcomes, time- Tea/coffee and a light supper will be provided. lines and responsibilities you will achieve results. I hope that I can use my Governance and Management experience to assist the association in what will now be an interesting time in our history Spring Fling update as we emerge from COVID-19 and begin to understand what the new normal will be and how that will affect our community. Thank you for all your emailed suggestions for our upcoming Spring Fling event. We’d love to see some more however—so I look forward to meeting you all over the coming months at the please keep them coming. Email [email protected] various planned events that you will see highlighted in the news- letter. One of these is the opportunity for all residents to meet When: Sunday 13 September with their local candidates standing for the next election. I am sure 2020 you will have some questions about what our local MP’s see as the priorities for our area and the country - so seize the moment! Where: Waiatarua Community Centre, 911 West Coast Rd, Tom Hoey Waiatarua [email protected] Time: 1pm—3.30pm Opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the editor or the Waiatarua Ratepayers and Residents Association Editor: Erin Kingsleigh-Smith Phone: 814 8856 Email: [email protected] Library hours: Thursday 10.00am–12.00pm Contact WRRA President: Thomas Hoey Phone: 027 585 1486 Email: [email protected] Friday 7.00pm–8.00pm Us Community Hall and Library: 911 West Coast Road. Phone: 814 9353 Saturday and Sunday 11.00am–12.00pm Hall hire bookings: Matt Smith Phone: 021 059 3467 Email: [email protected] website: www.waiatarua.org.nz Library News Waitakere Ranges Local Board Plan Here are a few of the new books we have on offer: The consultation on the Waitakere Ranges local board plan opened on 13 July and runs until 13 August, by which date feed- Nora Roberts Hideaway back must be received. The high level themes at which the board Hillary Mantel The Mirror and the Light wants to look are as follows: Stacey Halls The Foundling Clive Cussler Wrath of Poseidon & Journey of the Pharaohs The Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area is protected and enhanced Jo Nesbo Knife and connections with surrounding communities are strengthened; Abi Dare The Girl with the Louding Voice We work closely with mataawaka and mana whenua partners; James Patterson Texas Outlaw We work to respect, protect and restore the environment; Shaun Bythell Confessions of a Bookseller Joanna Trollope Mum and Dad Our communities are resilient and strong; This is just a snippet of the wide range of books available. There Our communities experience wellbeing, belonging and participa- are plenty more to choose from. tion; Are there any small groups that would like to use the Library for People have a range of opportunities to experience arts, culture their meetings, perhaps to learn to play Mahjong etc? and heritage; and Please come on a Thursday 10.00am to 12.00am so that we can We have infrastructure and facilities which support and enhance discuss it with you. Why not join us for a cup of tea or coffee at our neighbourhoods and town centres. the same time? The Library is also running short of volunteers to Example initiatives include: do library duties one day a month for one hour. Can you help? We’d love to see you. Supporting, delivering and advocating for restoration programmes in ecological areas that will improve public places and help private In a recent issue of the NZ Herald, American librarians have asked landowners; members of the public to stop microwaving their books. Some people believe it will help protect them against Covid-19. (it Empowering communities to prepare for disasters, particularly won't). We hope nobody here is doing that! remote coastal and bush communities; Barbara Field Supporting communities to apply for greater protection for sched- uled and notable trees; From the Editor Providing access to year-round affordable or free activities in local parks and facilities; The school holidays are over at the time of writing and it’s back to school for the kids. It has been quite a relief that these holidays Expanding the local arts experience into the wider Glen Eden and have felt a lot more normal than the last ones. Good to see people Swanson area; out and about, experiencing what NZ has to offer and spending Working with Henderson-Massey and Whau Local Boards to in- their tourist dollars locally. crease our understanding of homelessness and housing vulnerabil- The start of the school holidays was for us another very sad time ity in the area, and of our role in supporting initiatives to address with the sudden passing of my father in law in the UK, aged 91. these issues; The distance has made this especially hard to cope with. We are Supporting a breadth of projects and activities to ensure funding hopeful though that at some point in the not too distant future we allocations reflect our wide range of communities, including Māori, will all be able to get back there for a visit, but the way things are Pasifika, and other social and ethnic groups. at the moment it does not look like this will happen any time soon. Thank goodness for technology such as Skype, Zoom, For more information, check out www.akhaveyoursay.nz/ WhatsApp, not to mention email and good old fashioned tele- lovelocal and scroll down to phone calls to help us feel connected with our loved ones so very Waitakere Ranges Local Board. far away. On a lighter note I would like to welcome our new WRRA Presi- dent to the Committee. I think he will be a great asset to the com- munity with his wealth of experience and dynamic attitude. You Quote of the month can meet him at the Meet the Candidates night at the Waiatarua Hall on Monday 24 August, as advertised on page 1. Of course it is “I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness— also a great opportunity to put your questions to the candidates it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practising grati- standing for election in our area! So, as Tom says: seize the mo- tude” - Brene Brown ment! Cheers, Erin Fire Brigade News Advertising & Community Greetings from the team at Waiatarua Volunteer Fire Brigade. We last reported that the Notices station had been driven into, the good news is that our kitchen is nearly done, it is func- Commercial advertisements are welcome and tioning, just waiting on a couple of finishing paint touches, but it is good to have kitchen can be arranged by contacting Erin Kingsleigh- facilities again. We also now have brand new bright yellow bollards, so fingers crossed Smith, [email protected], ph 814 8856. this will be the last time we have to have the kitchen replaced due to vehicular incident. Community Notices are free to current financial We have a great group of new recruits who are working hard towards their recruit train- members. ing course, but we still have room for new members, and we would love to hear from all people in our community who are interested regardless of gender, ethnicity or age (there Doers Networks: local, fast internet provid- are some physical requirements for operational firefighting, but there are other activities ers [email protected] that we need help with).