Be safe during summer

By Sergeant Jane Field – Howick Police Office

I am in my first week in the role of Community Sergeant at Howick Police Station and really looking forward to the challenges of this role and especially getting out and about and meeting the community.

I have worked in the Counties Manukau East Police area for the past 12 years and have a real love of this area. I have worked in various roles including frontline, the tactical crime unit, and family violence and I hope that my experience and knowledge of the local area will help me in this new role.

Read the full article here Lock up your houses

Welcome to the February Stakeholder Update!

At ‘Have your say’ events you have the opportunity to give feedback directly to council’s decisions makers.
We wanted to let you know about further ‘Have your say’ events coming up next week.
Find out more about these ‘Have your say’ events below.
In the meantime if you have any queries, please contact us at
Consultation@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Kind regards
Auckland Council’s Engagement and Consultation team

Click here to read the update in full.

Good afternoon,

Auckland Council continues to support the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in responding to the fruit fly incident.

We have around 75 staff and volunteers continuing to assist with specialist biosecurity advice, survey work, public education and logistics support.

There will also be a mix of MPI, Auckland Council staff and volunteers carrying out public education at the Cricket World Cup game at Eden Park on Saturday.

The latest information from MPI is as follows; Information sheet issued by Civil Defence 26th Feb 2015   The size and scope of this operation is escalating rapidly.

The Auckland Council Civil Defence and Emergency Management team have updated the Fruit Fly erradication status to ‘Low’.

You can view the page here and also read the rules and requirements regarding the transport of fruit out of the affected zone. Essentially it mean you cannot.

But you can buy fruit in the zone and transport fruit into the zone without concern.

News release from Ministry of Primary Industries

“Chief Operations Officer Andrew Coleman says thanks must go to the resident who captured and reported the fly, allowing MPI to act swiftly to scope the problem.

“Our investigators immediately visited the property concerned where they found lemons and plums containing Queensland fruit fly larvae,” Mr Coleman says. “In total, at close of operations last night, MPI confirmed that one fly, 39 larvae and one pupa had been found at the property.”

The Ministry and its response partners, including GIA signatories KVH and PipfruitNZ, are now deploying significant resources to respond to this localised detection.”

For the full release from Civil Defence and Emergency Management click Fruit fly – Ministry of Primary Industries.

Just a reminder re:  the next Auckland King Tide event is this Saturday.  As with previous events, please help us spread the word by forwarding this email and liking us on facebook etc and don’t forget to get down to the coast to take some pictures and enter the competition to win a Go-Pro HERO camera (see attached).

Auckland East Coast: Approximately 10:00am Saturday               Auckland West Coast: Approximately 12:00pm Saturday

As with previous events, there will be a public  photo point and related activities set up at Moana Reserve, Orewa Beach this Saturday (adjacent to the main beach access). Auckland Civil Defence and Emergency Management are also participating during Saturday morning’s king tide. Between 9 and 11am Civil Defence will be opening the doors to the Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre. The public can see how Civil Defence responds to coastal storm events while viewing live streams of the king tide from around Auckland. If you would like to attend a free tour of the emergency centre this Saturday please e-mail civildefence.info@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz to register. Tours will happen every 15 minutes between 9am and 11am, please nominate your preferred time and be quick as places are limited.

Criteria for taking the best possible pictures and uploading them are available on the website.  Auckland Council staff photos can still be downloaded to U:\CityWide\Permanent\Coastal Group\Sea Level Rise Initiative under the respective area folders or via the following:

http://auckland.kingtides.org.nz/       https://www.facebook.com/kingtidesakl       https://twitter.com/kingtidesakl        http://instagram.com/kingtidesakl#

Just a reminder that any area or beach to be surveyed/photographed should be publicly accessible (public spaces) with care taken to preserve personal/public safety. Have fun and be creative when taking your photos but most importantly, be safe! Remember, water levels during these King Tide events will be higher than normal, so take extra precautions when walking along the coast and plan your exit points. Always be aware of the additional dangers posed by bad weather, slippery surfaces and swell. Make sure you remain safe and let someone know where you are going!

If you are out and about please forward photos to me for inclusion in the next Connections Newsletter due out to Community Response Groups end March. If you have any questions or queries in the interim, please let me know.
Regards
Donna Murray
Senior Emergency Management Advisor North/West
Civil Defence & Emergency Management / Auckland Council )
Phone: 09 427 3488 / Extn: 44 3488 / Mobile 021 357 435
Email: donna.murray@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Auckland Council, 50 Centreway Road, Orewa 0931

Tamaki River Festival
Farm Cove Reserve

(Pakuranga Sailing Club location) Bramley Drive, Pakuranga

This free afternoon festival is being organized by the Howick Local Board as a community celebration and has all the hall marks of a winner.

Over 40 different community based clubs and organisations have registered to attend and some such as Dance Schools will be displaying their skills during the afternoon.

Fancy trying out sailing, rowing and kayaking?  Buckland Beach Sea Scouts will take you out free of charge.
Would your children like to make a personalized badge they can wear? Drop in to the SCOUTS New Zealand site near the beach.
Always wanted to try paddling an outrigger canoe – You’ve come to the right place.
Interested in the environment? See the Auckland Council Wai Care program site.
Being safe on the water a concern? – Pop in and see the Water Safe New Zealand people.and the Howick Coast Guard
Need some advice from the NZ Police? – they will be there, and Neighbourhood Support as well.
Refreshment available for sale from various suppliers and organisations.

The event starts at 12 noon and ends at 5:30pm.
There is a large ‘passenger drop off point’ at the front gates in Bramley Drive.  Parking will have to be on the road side, so drop off your passengers and then go off and park.  Hint:  If you live locally, why not walk along the Rotary Walkway and skip the parking experience.

Want to know more?  Check out the “Our Auckland story” publications for February and March or the Council Events website.

Some twenty members of the Howick Crime Watch Patrols and the Pakuranga Buckland Beach and Howick Neighbourhood Support Committees gathered at the Howick Police Station this morning (16th Feb2015) to say farewell to Sergeant Paul Devane.  Paul has been transferred to the Manukau District and will be based at the Ormiston Police HQ in future.

Many of the committee members have been working with and been guided by Paul for over six years and we all are going to miss his calm demeanour and good sound advice.  We wish Paul all the best in his new role and hope to meet up with and work with him again in the future.

The committees also took the opportunity to warmly welcome Sergeant Jane Field who has replaced Paul and who started work this week. Jane lives in our community and we look forward to her guidance and support in the coming period.

Read Paul’s last “On the Beat’ column  “Of Burglaries and Swimming Pools”

Half Moon Bay Pontoon confirmed

A collaborative approach between the NZTA, Howick Local Board and Auckland Transport, will see the construction of the new Half Moon Bay Pontoon, with additional improvements to the area around it. This project will have similar features to the design of the Hobsonville ferry facility.

Estimated timelines are as follows:

 Stage 1 – Pontoon and gangway December 2014 – June 2015

 Stage 2 – Wharf and landside works June 2015 – September 2016

 Consenting and AEE/Environmental Considerations May 2015 – May 2016

 Consultation with Iwi/local board/stakeholders January 2015 – project

Also covered are:

The Tamaki River Festival March 15th
Pigeon Mt Road monitoring signals to be installed
Shelter proposed for Barry Curtis Park
Historic Heritage Funding grants available
Pakuranga Rotary Carnival Day Sun March 1st
Pakuranga Public Library toilets being refurbishmed.

Read the full newsletter here