NEWS RELEASE

30 March 2001

PANMURE WORKSHOP DEBATE "VIGOROUS AND INTERESTING"

More than 100 people turned out in Panmure this week for the first in a series of workshops organised by Auckland City to discuss growth. It was part of a plan by the Council to work closely with the Panmure community to look at ways of managing growth while protecting the interests of existing residents.

The workshop was attended by Deputy Mayor Dr Bruce Hucker, who described the exchange of views as "vigorous and interesting".

"The comments from people were useful for developing policy together," he says.

Officers from both Auckland City and the Auckland Regional Council provided information on the Regional Growth Forum strategy for the Auckland region, statistics on how Panmure has grown to date and its anticipated future growth and public transport.

A number of topics was discussed, including building heights, the intentions of Housing New Zealand, the demand for housing, environmental impacts and the protection given to the heritage of the area. The issues raised in the first workshops will be used for discussion at the second and third in the series.

The next workshop will be held from 7pm to 9.30pm on Wednesday, April 11 at the Panmure Community Centre, 1 Pilkington Road, Panmure. This workshop aims to identify the opportunities and constraints for growth and look at possible scenarios for how the community may develop in the future. A representative from Housing New Zealand has been invited to attend.

Among the questions to be considered are:
- What areas or features should be protected from more growth?
- What areas would benefit from having more people and businesses?

The third workshop will be on Saturday, April 21, also at the Panmure Community Centre. It will allow the community to develop options to address the issues identified in the previous workshops.

The fourth workshop will bring together all the elements in the series. It will also be a design workshop where Council staff and consultants can draw on community ideas to develop concepts for the future of Panmure. Members of the public will be able to drop in at the Panmure Community Centre to look at the design process between 4pm to 6pm on Wednesday, May 9.

Finally, the fifth workshop will report back to the Panmure community on what has come out of the workshop process and to discuss the way forward. This is planned for Wednesday, May 16.

ENDS

For further information on these workshops, please contact:
Penny Pirrit, Auckland City, tel: 379 2020.

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