Your Council

Double Celebration: The Mayor of North Shore City, Mr Andrew Williams shared a public birthday celebration this year with the Chairman of the Korean Society Mr Paul Yoo. The double celebration of the Mayor's 50th birthday and Mr Yoo’s 60th was an unexpected addition to the Annual Mayoral Cup Golf Tournament at Takapuna Golf Club. It was a spirited day which raised $19,000 for the Mayoral Youth Trust Fund established by Mr Willliams. A great many North Shore and Auckland companies and organisations generously donated funds and items to be auctioned. The Mayoral Cup was awarded to a mixed team of Simpson Grierson representatives and Takapuna Golf Course members Simon Ha, John Sohn, Greg Allen and Man Sum Chiu. More

Pak ‘n Save Decision Applauded: The Mayor has welcomed a decision by the High Court that will open the way for the Wairau Road Pak ‘n Save to open. Justice Venning has dismissed an appeal by Progressive Enterprises which sought to overturn an Environmental Court decision to allow the supermarket to go ahead. Mr Williams says the decision will be a huge boost to the economic rebirth of the Wairau Valley. More

Draft City Plan in final stages: The draft North Shore City Plan is nearly ready for public discussion. The document looks at the next 15 years planning for North Shore City and will include key priorities and costs associated with developing the type of city residents and ratepayers have indicated they want. More

Councillors vote for zero pay rise: North Shore City Councillors are requesting the Remuneration Authority to refrain from offering pay rises to elected members (on council and community boards) and to retain salaries at their current levels in its current review. Chairman of the council Strategy and Finance Committee Mr Grant Gillon says its prudent for the council to lead by example in these tough economic times. More

Kaumatua Retires: The North Shore City council chambers echoed with song in a moving tribute to the retiring Kaumatua Matua Arnold at the last council meeting. Matua Arnold Wilson and his wife, Whaea Rangitiinia Wilson were honoured by the City Council and Mayor Andrew Williams who recalled the many occasions Matua Wilson had conducted blessings on behalf of the council. More

What's On in North Shore City

Tennis Bash on Takapuna Beach: The inaugural North Shore City Beach Tennis Bash was a great success recently, attracting some of the country's top hard court players. Aotea Maori mixed doubles champions Tracy O’Connor and Eru Lyndon were the eventual winners. They defeated NZ number one and Davis Cup player Rubin Statham, and his partner Tracy Hall in the final, which was watched by hundreds of people on Takapuna Beach. The Beach Tennis Bash is part of the North Shore City Festival of Tennis which continues with the Davis Cup tie NZ vs Malaysia on March 6 – 8 and the ITF Futures event, the ASB Pro Circuit at the Albany Tennis Park. More

Shore to Shore Walk: On March 22 Harbour Sport is hosting the annual Shore to Shore 5km/10km Fun Run/Walk 2009. The Shore to Shore Fun Run/Walk is an opportunity for family and friends to get active on Takapuna and Milford Beaches. Throughout its 24 year history the Shore to Shore has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for sports equipment for North Shore Schools. More

Chelsea Park Gala Opening Sunday 8th March: A family celebration with a historical flavour is planned for next Sunday’s opening of the new Chelsea Estate Heritage Park at Birkenhead. There will be on-stage activity, farm animals, a ferris wheel and merry-go-round, a children’s art competition, and old fashioned games like egg and spoon races and sugar sack races. Among other activities will be vintage vehicles, a competition for best heritage style attire and horse and cart rides. More

Earth Hour is supported on the North Shore: As an official partner city of Earth Hour, the Council is encouraging North Shore residents, businesses and organisations to turn off their lights for one hour in a bid to raise awareness about climate change. It is estimated North Shore City will be joined by approximately 1000 other cities and around one billion people in sending a powerful message that people support action on this urgent issue. Around 37 New Zealand cities and towns have signed up to support the awareness campaign and, on the North Shore, our tallest building The Sentinel will be turning off the lights for one hour. More

Annual Bike Day a great success: The annual Go By Bike Day was held on 18th February and was a huge success with 500 people cycling to a free breakfast in Takapuna. The breakfast was held as part of national Bike Wise Month which ran for the whole of February. With widespread interest from beginners, the North Shore City Council held a series of basic skill sessions covering basic road rules, bike safety, practical skills and on-road riding skills. More

Walk2Work Day: North Shore City’s first annual Walk2Work Day is taking place on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 and you’re invited to participate! Walk2Work Day, an initiative coordinated by Living Streets Aotearoa, is all about encouraging people out of their cars and into their walking shoes. We want to reward those people who are already walking but also encourage others to take part too. Walking is a great mode of transport that is not only good for our environment and health, but also a good way of saving money too.” More

Your Neighbourhood

Journey into the earth: The underground tunnel boring machine especially built and imported for the Rosedale wastewater project was recently lowered into the 45 metre access shaft and has started working from the Rosedale Wastewater Treatment Plant ponds near the northern motorway. It has already burrowed more than 15 metres and is expected to work 24 hours a day to complete the task by the end of this year. Meanwhile, last weekend’s strong winds and rain cost a couple of days at the other end of the tunnel - but an area off the city’s Mairangi Bay is busy again now as contractors continue the complex task of installing 2.1 kilometres of outfall pipes into the seabed. They’re using a technically difficult but highly efficient method for laying the semi-flexible plastic outfall pipe which has never before been used in New Zealand. It relies on accurate weather forecasting, highly accurate GPS positioning of tugs and huge barges, and a close eye on equipment. More