Aucklanders have been craving the opportunity to get near their waterfront and appreciate the harbour from the city centre. Finally it has happened with the opening of the Wynyard Quarter on Saturday 6 August. It was fabulous to be at the opening ceremony and see it all come to life.
Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make it happen and especially Mike Lee who was instrumental in bringing trams back to Auckland.
(Paul bought a stylish new bike especially for the opening)
What an awesome result. Auckland is so lucky to have Len Brown as the first mayor of the Super City. He has a positive vision, he is an inclusive leader and has a real committment to working with local communities. I support his goal 100% to make Auckland the most liveable city in the world.
In the “capital” of Auckland – the Waitemata Ward area- Mike Lee won decisively on a commitment to work for regional cohesion and vision in the new Council. He brings heaps of experience and skills to the role and will be a huge asset to Len particularly in moving ahead with long overdue transport projects.
I am really thrilled to have been elected on to the Waitemata Local Board together with my City Vision colleagues Shale Chambers, Jesse Chalmers, Christopher Dempsey and Tricia Reade. We will get sworn in at our first public meeting on 3 November at 6.30pm in the Auckland Town Hall.
Thank you for voting for the go ahead, community- focused team. We have a really good balance of experience and skills and I’m confident we will be able to work together effectively. It is exciting times in Auckland and I’m looking forward to working hard for the community and ensuring we have a strong local board that can deliver on local issues.
Personally I also owe a huge amount of thanks for all the support I have received, especially from Grey Lynn 2030 , the Cycle Action Auckland Committee and the whole City Vision team who have worked so well together over the campaign.
With voting starting today in Auckland’s first Supercity election, it is hard not to feel positive about the prospects for a progressive Council led by Mayor Len Brown. It all depends on getting people out to vote – this is hard in a postal ballot when most people under 30 have never used snail mail and voters generally being very apathetic about local government elections (only 38% voted last time).
The City Vision team has been working hard getting the message out there to vote and sharing our vision for Auckland. Our values and policies are clear. We believe in public ownership, major public transport improvements, and giving real powers to local boards.
I’m impressed with all our candidates. They are real, hard-working community campaigners with a strong track record of service to ratepayers and our communities.
Campaigning with the City Vision Waitemata Local Board team and Mike Lee has been fun. I’ve particularly enjoyed the candidates meetings. Last week we were invited to meetings in Parnell and Grey Lynn (hosted by Grey Lynn 2030) and today St Stephen’s church hosted a meeting with local personality John Elliott as chair.
At the Parnell meeting Hinu Te Hau spoke eloquently on behalf of the C&R team. However, it was clear something was up the next night in Grey Lynn as Hinu was clearly frustrated with the poor showing from her team. One C&R candidate arriving direct from the supermarket apologized for wearing his motorcycle jacket because he didn’t realize he was going to be at the meeting until he got called up! Two days later Hinu took the unprecedented step of deserting the old boys to stand as an independent in support of Tenby Powell.
At each meeting Mike Lee has shone as the man to be the Waitemata and Gulf ward’s first councillor. The other big guns, Tenby and Alex are very likeable and have many valid ideas but Mike clearly has the experience and track record of public service that make him ideal to take a leadership role in the new Auckland Council.
The future of Auckland is at stake – please vote.
City Vision and City Vision supported candidates:
Waitemata and Gulf Ward:
Endorsing Independent Mike Lee for Council
City Vision team for Waitemata Local Board
Albert-Eden-Roskill Ward:
City Vision candidates Cathy Casey and Glenda Fryer for Council
City Vision team for Albert-Eden Local Board
Roskill Community Voice team for Puketapapa Local Board
Whau Ward:
Future Whau team for Whau Local Board
Maungakiekie-Tamaki Ward:
Labour candidate Richard Northey for Council
Labour team for Tamaki Local Board
Maungakiekie Team for Maungakiekie Local Board
Auckland District Health Board:
City Vision Health Team
Portage Licensing Trust:
City Vision team
Shed 1, (ex Team NZ shed) was the perfect place for Cycle Style Auckland last week. In organising the event, we were concerned that it might be too cold and lacking in facilities but on a clear winter’s night, crammed with 400 plus people and hundreds of bikes the shed was inviting and hot with excitement created by this unique event. It was also special to be so close to the Harbour when so often we are cut off from Auckland’s best feature. We look forward to working again with Keith William’s the event manager and hosting another event at the Sheds.
So as a big fan of organising events in Sheds I am really relieved to hear that Shed 10 on Queens Wharf is going to be saved (Joel Cayford writes a good blog about the events leading up to the ARC decision). Well done Mike Lee for recognising the historical value of the sheds before it was too late.
