Committee adopts plan for zero-waste

Auckland Council’s Environment and Community Committee has today adopted the Auckland Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2018: Working Together for Zero Waste.

Councillor Penny Hulse, Chair of the Environment and Community Committee and the Hearings Panel, says Auckland’s goal is to be a zero-waste city by 2040 and this ambitious vision remains the driver of the plan adopted today.

“Waste is everyone’s business, and this plan sets out how we can all work together to deliver the zero-waste future that Auckland deserves.

“The adoption of this plan comes after an extensive public consultation process. Feedback was diverse and came from ratepayers, community groups, business, the waste and recycling industry, young people and Māori.

“Many common themes came through including focussing on food scraps collection, illegal dumping, plastic in our marine environment, community recycling centres, hazardous waste and how the council works together with the commercial waste management sector,”

Read more on OurAuckland

Other decisions made at the Environment and Community Committee were:

Litter (Increased Infringement Fee) Amendment Bill – Draft Auckland Council Submission

Auckland Council’s submission to the Environment Select Committee on the Litter (Increase Infringement Fee) Amendment Bill was approved. The bill proposes to increase the maximum infringement fee for littering from $400 to $1,000.

The submission supports the intent of the bill but notes that increasing fines alone will not result in an increased number of infringements being issued and therefore recommends the scope of the bill be extended.

Sport and Recreation Community Access Scheme rollover of grants to Auckland Netball and Sovereign Stadium

The Community Access Scheme provides access to non-council operated facilities to support increased levels of participation in sport and recreation across the region.

The committee approved the extension of the following funding under this scheme:

• $60,000 per annum to AUT Millennium ownership Trust to provide community access to Sovereign Stadium from 1 July to 30 June 2020.

• $150,000 per annum to Auckland Netball Centre to provide community access to the Auckland Netball Centre from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2020.

A separate recommendation for the remaining budget was also approved:

• $28,000 per annum to Netball North Harbour to contribute to operational funding to support community access to Netball North Harbour Courts from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2020.

Draft Facilities Partnerships Policy

The committee approved a new draft Facility Partnerships Policy which focuses on delivering more community facilities and building stronger partnerships with community organisations.

While the council already supports around 300 partner-run facilities across the Auckland region, many of these arrangements were established by the former Auckland councils, and there is currently no consistent regional policy to guide the selection and management of new facility partnerships.

The new draft policy proposes several different ways the council can partner with other organisations to deliver facilities, as well as eligibility criteria, investment priorities and a high-level process for considering community proposals.

Consultation with the public, community organisations and local boards on this policy opens on the 25th June and will continue until mid-August, and subject to this, a final policy will be considered by the committee before the end of 2018.

Investing in Aucklanders – Belonging and inclusion pilots

The ‘Investing in Aucklanders’ project looks at what can be done to make Auckland a more inclusive and friendly city. This is aligned with the Belonging and Participation outcome in the refreshed Auckland Plan 2050.

As part of this project, Auckland Council staff have engaged with 650 diverse Aucklanders to understand what makes them feel like they belong in the city, and what barriers to inclusion currently exist.

The committee approved five inclusion pilots to implement the engagement findings, especially for those most in need. These pilots will be designed and implemented over the next 18 months.

Thriving Communities Action Plan Status Report

The committee was given a progress update on the Thriving Communities Action Plan. This is council’s strategic action plan for community-led development and social change.

As a result of this update, four key improvement areas were also approved: building leadership for and awareness of the plan, focus on improving outcomes for those most in need, further embed community-led ways of working across the council and improve evaluation through the delivery of an evaluation framework.

240A Bethells Beach, Te Henga

Auckland Council has been working on options to facilitate the development of a marae and papakāinga by Te Kawerau ā Maki at Te Henga.

The committee agreed today that it will recommend to the Minister of Conservation to revoke the reserve classification of 240A Bethells Road, Te Henga to enable Te Kawerau ā Maki to develop a marae and papakāinga.

The revocation of reserve status on this land would remove compliance costs and enable Te Kawerau ā Maki to obtain commercial funding, if this was needed.

Staff will now prepare a report to the 19 June Finance and Performance Committee to consider the disposal of the land to Te Kawerau ā Maki.

Auckland’s waters strategy: Proposed scope, timeframe and budget

The proposed scope, timeframe and budget for the development of an Auckland waters strategy was approved.

The strategy will focus on outcomes needed for Auckland’s waters across five draft themes:

• water resources,

• water and recreation,

• water and ecosystem health,

• water and cultural health

• water resilience and natural hazards.

It will also identify the issues, opportunities and challenges to achieving these.

Feedback from the recent public consultation on the 10-year-Budget and Auckland Plan will feed into the draft.

A draft strategy for adoption for consultation will come back to the committee by December 2018.

Investment into sport field lighting at Pulman Park

A total of $200,000 was approved for the installation of permanent flood-lights on up to two sports fields at Pulman Park, Papakura. The park currently has temporary, portable lights in place.

This investment comes from the Parks, Sport and Recreation budget.

Petitions and Public Input

Lynn Usmani presented a petition to the committee, expressing opposition to the use of 1080 insecticide in the Hunua Ranges.

Public input was received from Ellie Craft, Generation Zero, who spoke to the committee regarding the Zero Carbon Act.

Tony Gyde also presented to the committee on the use of 1080 insecticide in the Hunua Ranges.

Today’s Environment and Community Committee agenda is available on Auckland Council’s website and minutes will be added once confirmed. This meeting was also webcast on the council’s website and items are available on demand.

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