Super City: Kaipatiki bridges diverse cultures

Devonport is one of the suburbs covered by the new North Shore boards. Photo / NZ Herald

Kaipatiki Board covers suburbs west of the Northern Motorway which are so culturally diverse that under a shady elm tree at a shopping centre you will find residents playing Chinese checkers and chess side by side.

The hills and upper harbour bays house a population of 85,900 - bigger than Whangarei City.

"We are getting some industrial area and they are getting bush areas," said Birkenhead-Northcote Community Board chairwoman Jennifer Yorke about the pending merger of her board with Glenfield's.

"There are things in each to benefit from and transport will be better integrated, perhaps."

On the face of it, Kaipatiki will bring together modest homes in 1960s and 1970s suburbs and heritage villas and bungalows of the leafy streets above Waitemata Harbour.

Bush walks around quiet bays and strolls in the public park at Chelsea Sugar Refinery now come under the same board as the Glenfield Mall and extensive areas zoned for businesses, where a controversial Brazilian Motel set up among the automotive workshops.

Controversy and bitter divisions have rocked either board.

Traffic congestion, particularly on Onewa Rd, has been the top issue for 30 years, with continual attempts to free the passage to work and school.

As works to extend the pioneering city-bound transit lane towards the Northern Motorway near completion, it is being debated whether Onewa Rd should be thrown open to vehicles with two or more occupants instead of three or more.

The Glenfield Rd corridor upgrade needs $20 million to be completed but only $8.6 million is in the budget. Its design, safety and parking are public issues.

One long festering sore healed with the opening, finally, of the new Birkenhead-Northcote Library and civic centre. But cost-cutting on the $9.4 million project left it unable to rehouse the community facilities trust co-ordinator who temporarily shared space in the Northcote War Memorial Hall.

The community is split over whether this should become a permanent home or the council spends $700,000 on a new facility which would also cater for Glenfield residents.

The promised revamp of Highbury Shopping Centre has raised the issue of whether it should extend to building a viewing platform to enjoy one of the best views of Waitemata Harbour across to the Auckland CBD.

In Devonport residents are always able to put up a strong case to save a community amenity, whether it is the Victoria Theatre or the Masonic Tavern.

But the pending merger with Takapuna places new demands on community representatives, says Mike Cohen, a Devonport Community Board member for 12 years.

The board has been the suburb's voice since its borough council was abolished in the 1989 reforms.

Mr Cohen, who has been Devonport chairman for seven years, said the area from Devonport to Castor Bay of 57,000 residents, now served by 12 community board members, will soon be only six.

"They are going to have to think in a different fashion and be fairly energetic if they are going to improve how they engage with communities.

"Devonport has street meetings with residents ... if local boards are going to sit in board meetings and hope people come along then it's going to be a failure.

"Too often, they are busy finding solutions when no one has agreed it's a problem.

"When you hold a meeting of residents, you find out there is something else they have been trying for 10 years to get solved."

As president of the New Zealand Community Boards Association, Mr Cohen pressed the Government to provide for the local voice in the Super City reforms.

People were concerned that otherwise their communities would become dormitory suburbs rather than caring, friendly and vibrant - the ingredients for a safe living environment.

Mr Cohen is joined by 18 others in seeking six places on the new board.

CANDIDATES

KAIPATIKI - 8 SEATS

* Nigel Armstrong, Shore Voice
* Steve Ashby, Independent
* Trevor Courtier, Independent
* James Doleman, Independent
* Janice Dowle
* Harry Fong, Independent
* Grant Gillon, Independent
* John Gillon, Independent
* Ann Hartley, Shore Voice
* Richard Hills, Shore Voice
* Barry Holton, Independent
* Nick Kearney, North Now
* Vivienne Keohane, Independent
* Martin Lawes, Independent
* Chris Marshall, Independent
* Kay McIntyre, Shore Voice
* Keith Salmon, Independent
* Alan Spilhaus, Independent
* David Thornton, Independent
* Gary Thornton, Independent
* Chris Waterman, North Now
* Lindsay Waugh, Shore Voice
* Jennifer Yorke, Shore Voice

DEVONPORT-TAKAPUNA - 6 SEATS

* Mary-Anne Benson-Cooper, Independent
* Joseph Bergin, Shore Voice
* Kevin Brett, Independent
* Robyn Chalmers, Independent
* Mike Cohen, Independent
* Shane Coleman, Independent
* Chris Darby, Shore Voice
* Ivan Dunn, (no ticket stated)
* Fay Freeman, Shore Voice
* Dianne Hale, Shore Voice
* Martin Lawes, Independent
* Ken McKay, Independent
* Wenda Morton, Independent
* Jan O'Connor, Independent
* Gay Richards, Independent
* Kevin Schwass, Shore Voice
* Michael Sheehy, Independent
* Tony Wareham, Independent
* Valerie Winn, North Now

* From the New Zealand Herald feature, 'Super City - Election Guide'