Thursday 14 August 2008

Onehunga Restoration Commitment Welcomed

City Vision-Labour Councillors welcome the commitment shown by the Auckland City Council to restoring the Onehunga foreshore made at the City Development Committee today.

Tamaki-Maungakiekie Ward Councillor Richard Northey says, "I am very pleased the City Development unanimously supported, in principle, the Onehunga Foreshore Restoration Plan put forward by The Onehunga Enhancement Society (TOES) which includes shifting State Highway 20 (SH20) to the west in conjunction with the Manukau Harbour Bridge duplication.

TOES, the Maungakiekie Community Board and local Member of Parliament Hon Phil Goff have all done superb work over a number of years to ensure the best outcome from the SH20 upgrade and its associated mitigation for our community. Given the mess Onehunga was left in following the 1970s motorway construction, it is exciting to finally get Council buy-in to a restoration which will mitigate the harm caused."

Tamaki-Maungakiekie Ward Councillor Leila Boyle says, "I hope the Council, in conjunction with the Maungakiekie Community Board, TOES and the Onehunga community, will be able to work with the Auckland Regional Council and the New Zealand Transport Authority to ensure the enhancement and restoration of the Onehunga foreshore, including sanded beaches, is adequately and fully funded by a three-way partnership.

The New Zealand Transport Authority has recently repeated its commitment of $8-10 million for mitigation of this type in public and I know the Auckland Regional Council is supportive too. I'm hopeful the funding from these two bodies can be obtained."

Councillor Northey concludes with a caution; "Although this proposal had cross party support today, we still do not have guaranteed funding allocated from Auckland City Council. Costs will be reported to the 13 November City Development Committee when I hope Citizens and Ratepayers will take the opportunity to finally support my endeavours to allocate funding for this project into the Council's 2009-2019 Draft Long Term Council Community Plan."

ENDS

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