We were privileged to be chosen as one of four charities to benefit from ImpactNPO’s November “charity hackathon” – an all-weekend event where volunteer IT professionals give their time and expertise to help out non-profit organisations. The event was held on November 6-8, 2015.
We needed help to migrate our Excel database to a secure, online, cloud-based tool, and our wonderful team achieved that, and more! We now have:
A contacts database
An easy way of tracking paid memberships, given that memberships are paid by household (not per individual)
Easy ways to track our contacts’ organisations and affiliations
The ability to do monthly reporting
An automated ‘Join’ form which automatically populates our database with new member information.
Our sincere and heartfelt thanks go to our awesome team, from left to right: Ruth Mackintosh (MBSJRA Chair), Thomas, Samantha, Amanda (MBSJRA committee member), Jim, Varun, Eugene, Yuri and Paul. Absent from this photo are Barry (MBSJRA Membership Officer) and Grace.
And big thanks to:
ImpactNPO who organised the event and provided the amazing IT professionals and event coordinators, food, drink, stationery and other supplies
GridAKL Innovation Precinct who provided the venue, whiteboards, projectors, and wifi!
A sod-turning ceremony was held on October 21 to mark the beginning of construction on the Eastern Path – a shared walk/cycleway that will pass through unused land between Glen Innes, St Johns and Meadowbank to Tamaki Drive.
UPDATE (November 10, 2015): Section two of the Eastern Path connects St Johns Road (by the Meadowbank Pony Club entrance) to the Meadowbank Train Station. To prepare for construction, ground testing will start November 10, 2015. View a PDF about what residents can expect from this testing.
Meadowbank stands to lose bus services in 11 roads with Auckland Transport’s proposed ‘hub-based’ transport network for Auckland, effective from 2017.
Auckland Transport hopes the new network will work in the same way as subway networks in other countries.
This means locals will have to walk further to main roads to catch the bus.
The Meadowbank roads that will lose bus services are:
Bonnie Brae Rd
Fancourt St
Grand Drive
Harapaki Rd
Meadowbank Rd
Parsons Rd
In St Johns:
Norman Lesser Drive
Felton Mathew Ave
Howard Hunter Ave
Panapa Drive
Grand Drive
Central Auckland is the last area to be consulted. Auckland Transport has modified its plans for other areas based on their feedback, so we must speak up now. You can give feedback on the proposals until 10 December.
Local historian and bird enthusiast Dr. Judy Nicholson gave a fascinating talk about the history of Waiatarua Reserve as part of Auckland’s Heritage Festival.
The event was run by the Meadowbank & St Johns Residents Association, in conjunction with the Waiatarua Reserve Protection Society.
Over 40 people came to hear about the history and take a guided walk through the reserve.
Are you a trustworthy person with an eye for detail, have a bit of tech savvy, and want to help out your local community? We are looking for someone to be a friendly point of contact for our members and take care of all aspects of our membership process.
This is a volunteer role which we estimate will take an average of 2-3 hours per week. In return you’ll get to:
hone your skills in using database and email tools
communicate with other locals who are interested in our community
stay in the know about local news & information
be involved in the inner workings of a very active local organisation
work with a bunch of great people!
If this sounds like you, please read the full Membership Officer document below. For a confidential chat with our Chair, Ruth Mackintosh, please email . We look forward to hearing from you!
Auckland Transport has released proposed designs for the lights at the corner of Abbotts Way and Grand Drive and is seeking feedback from the public.
The intersection has been problematic for cars turning right out of Grand Drive into Abbotts Way, and lights were determined as the solution. (See Orakei Local Board’s Memo about Grand Drive/Abbotts Way from June 2015)
Expect traffic disruption if you normally use Kohi Rd as Auckland Transport are currently reconstructing the road surface. The work is expected to be complete in time for the start of Term 4 (October 11).
For full details including alternate routes, see the below flyer from Auckland Transport.
It’s all go for the Eastern Path! This is a pathway which will eventually link Glen Innes with Tamaki Drive via a shared walkway/cycleway through the Pourewa Valley. Recent updates indicate the official start date for Section 1 (Glen Innes – St Johns Rd section) will be on October 19, and Auckland Transport has promised more links into the pathway for Meadowbank & St Johns residents.
Email from Auckland Transport
We received an email from Aaron Hutching – the Public Affairs Advisor from Auckland Transport – on September 9. The full email is below, but key points are:
Section 1 (Merton Rd – St Johns Rd) expected to begin in October 2015
Feedback indicated that more connections to the pathway are required, particularly in Section 2 (Meadowbank & St Johns section between St Johns Rd and Meadowbank Station)
Auckland Transport will showcase potential designs (with linkages into the pathway from surrounding areas) for Section 2 at a public open day to be held later this year.
Notes from Stakeholder Meeting
Our Transport Subcommittee Co-chair Carmel Claridge attended at Stakeholder Meeting on September 21. Key points from this meeting include:
Official start date for Section 1: October 19, subject to consents but anticipated to be no delay
Ongoing consultation for links from Glen Innes into Section 1
Section 2 construction expected end of 2016. Currently in survey phase
Auckland Transport will engage will community regarding links into Section 2 of pathway. Funding for links will be responsibility of Local Board.
In November 2014 Auckland Transport (AT) and The NZ Transport Agency sought public feedback on the Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive shared path. Thank you for taking part in this process and telling us your thoughts. To find out more about the project, visit www.AT.govt.nz/projects. Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive shared path is listed within with the eastern area projects.
Since then, we have further developed the path route and design for section one (Merton Road to St Johns Road) and are awaiting a decision on the consents needed to begin construction later this year. We expect that construction could get underway in mid-October.
We are also developing a preferred route and path design for section two (St Johns Road to Orakei Basin) and investigating what links into the path might be built, in order to provide better access for surrounding communities.
During the feedback period, we received 127 submissions, with a majority providing positive feedback on the project. A summary of the responses is attached, providing an overview of what you told us.
In particular, comments focussed on the way in which the path improves connectivity to the city and links with public transport along the way. People liked the route the path takes and commented on its scenic nature. Also popular was the way the path lets people walk, run, or cycle, away from roads and traffic.
Some feedback indicated a view that people on foot and on bike should be separated, whether by a physical structure or painted symbols. We do not have sufficient budget to create a path wide enough to incorporate raised kerb separators of the type we are using on cycleways such as Beach Road and Nelson Street within the city centre. Our intention is that the path will not be marked and that the path design will discourage high speeds. It will be an environment in which we ask people to “share with care”, consistent with other shared paths across Auckland.
We have not found markings to be effective at keeping people to one side of a path, particularly when dogs and children are included in the mix. They can encourage conflict by creating the expectation that one person has a right of way over another. Acknowledging the different ways in which people of all ages and abilities will use the path, we want to create an environment in which people engage with and look out for each other.
A key concern expressed by submitters was in relation to the number of connections into the path from adjacent communities. Around 57% of submissions requested more connections, particularly within section two which runs between the suburbs of Meadowbank and St Johns.
Since consultation, the project team have investigated potential links into the section two and have begun concept designs on several options, with a view to providing better connectivity between Meadowbank and St Johns. A key driver for these links is to make it safer and easier for children to walk or cycle to school.
Our investigations will determine what costs and construction challenges are associated with these potential links. We will share these with the community at an open day later this year, by which stage we expect to have reached a decision on what links can be built as part of this project and what might be constructed later. The open day will also be an opportunity for us to share path designs for section two and three and to seek further public feedback.
Thank you for your interest in the project. Please get in touch if you have any questions or feedback.
An enthusiastic team of 30 volunteers removed old ovens, fridges, fences, stereos, lawnmowers and more from the Pourewa Valley on September 19.
Our residents association joined forces with the newly-created Friends of Pourewa Valley to do the cleanup event, which was organised as part of ‘Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week’ (September 14-20, 2015).
The Pourewa Valley lies between Meadowbank and Mission Bay. The cleanup event was held mainly in the area behind the ASB Stadium on Kohimarama Rd, which has clearly been used as an unofficial rubbish dump in times gone by.
For years Roy Clements (see his work in this clip from TV One’s ‘Good Sorts’ segment) and other people passionate about the valley have been clearing weeds, trapping pests and planting natives. Until now they’ve not had the manpower or disposal resources to clear the rubbish.
Waste Management kindly provided two skips to supplement the rubbish bags supplied by Keep New Zealand Beautiful.
The valley will soon be home to the Eastern Path – a shared walkway and cycleway that stretches from Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive. Friends of Pourewa Valley hope that the valley can be protected from development, and perhaps one day be opened up as a recreational reserve for all to use.
