November 2019 Newsletter

Just a quick update on a couple of developments over the past few days..
In this issue:

• Upcoming events
• Our new Facebook presence
• Update on AT safety measures for Mission Bay
• What's happening at the Nehu St triangle?
• Mission Bay development status

 
Upcoming events
Christmas Carols on the Green
Today (Sunday 1 December) we have the Christmas Carols on the Green event at Vellenoweth Green, St Heliers.  This event starts at 5pm.  For more information, click here.

World Championships 49er and 49er FX classes
You may have noticed a lot more yachts racing off Kohimarama, Mission Bay and Okahu Bay lately. This is because the World Championships for the 49er and 49er FX classes are being held here in a few days. The boats are based at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club at The Landing.
The first real racing starts on Tuesday 3 December, but practice racing has been going on for some time already.
You may remember that Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are the reigning World Champions, and are keen to defend their title.
For further information, click on this link.
 
Our Facebook group and website
We have a Facebook Group,the Mission Bay -Kohimarama Residents Association.  While this has been around for some time, it has not been run by us until very recently.  We intend to use this to post frequent bits of information that might be of interest to our members, and to get the views of residents about a range of issues.  Check it out, join the group, and feel free to post on whatever subject you are interested in.  Membership of the group is of course free, and there are no commitments, so just go ahead and join.

We also continue to upgrade our website.  We have added an Event Calendar which sets out upcoming events in this area.  Feel free to contact us to add events that you think would be of interest to our members.

Another area of interest is the section we have put together on the history of Mission Bay and Kohimarama.  This is a work in progress, but already includes lots of old photos from the 1800s through to the 1980s.  It has a simple timeline of major historical events, going back to pre-European times, and contains links to various historical articles and documents.  Take a look, and let us know anything that should be added (or corrected).

 Auckland Transport safety measures for Mission Bay
The Working Group is making progress on determining what measures will improve safety without unduly compromising traffic flow.

The Residents Association is represented on this group.  In order to decide what options are good or bad, we have a few key principles:

1. We are residents here, and are pedestrians or cyclists in the area more often than we are motorists.  Of course anything which improves pedestrian or cyclist safety is a good thing.
2. Having said that, we also accept that Tamaki Drive is a major commuter thoroughfare, and traffic must continue to flow.
3. Pedestrian crossings make it safer for pedestrians to cross, but also give pedestrians the power to stop traffic anytime they wish, thereby creating severe traffic disruption.  New crossings must therefore be considered very carefully.
4. Conversely, pedestrian refuges make it safer for pedestrians to cross, but because pedestrians still have to give way to traffic, they do not disrupt traffic flow.
5. Restricting speed through the town centre to 30km/h as has already been decided by AT will mean that any accidents should have lower potential for serious injury.
6. To enforce the lower speeds, AT typically puts in speed humps  or raised pedestrian crossings which are difficult to drive or ride over at anything over 10km/h.  We believe that is inappropriate.  However, we note that the speed humps by Kelly Tarltons allow comfortable driving at 30km/h and so would not be averse to this kind of speed enforcement device in Mission Bay.

Based on these principles, we are working with the rest of the Working group to come up with a sensible solution that will balance the goal of keeping pedestrians safer while keeping traffic flowing.  We hope to have some options ready to go out to the public for their comments early in the new year.
 
What's happening at the Nehu St Triangle in Orakei?
There has been a lot of construction activity on this small reserve, and I am sure many people are wondering what is going on.

It is quite simple.  This area is being temporarily converted into a staging area for the Okahu Bay waste water separation project.  This project aims to dramatically improve the water quality of Okahu Bay by separating the storm water from waste water so as to not overflow the system every time it rains.

You can read more about the project here.

Latest update on Mission Bay development
As previously reported, the resource consent application for the Mission Bay 8 storey development has been declined by a panel of commissioners, and the applicant has appealed against this decision to the Environment Court.

The Council must now defend their decision.  In addition, four groups have registered as parties to the proceedings, to ensure that their views and concerns are recognised.  One of those parties is the Mission Bay Kohimarama Residents Association.  We intend to take this right through to the Environment Court to ensure that our expectations for our suburbs as defined in the Unitary Plan are not undermined by some kind of deal on the way through.

The first major milestone is that all parties will shortly be invited to participate in mediation.  This is likely to be scheduled around February.  Prior to that, we will try to gauge the feeling of the community on this project so that we can speak with authority when representing the community interests.
 

Best regards

Don Stock
Chair
Mission Bay Kohimarama Residents Association
 



Contact us
Mail: PO Box 133050, Eastridge, Auckland 1146
Website:  www.missionbaykohi.co.nz
Email:  [email protected]