Media release: Roskill Community Voice humbled by historic result

"The Roskill Community Voice (RCV) team is humbled by this weekend's election result which has seen RCV win four of six positions on the Puketapapa Local Board. The mandate that we have received from the community is a clear one, and we are honoured that Mt Roskill people have shown confidence in our values and our people", says Julie Fairey, current Local Board member.

"The four RCV members elected; Harry Doig (new), Julie Fairey (incumbent), David Holm (new), and Michael Wood (incumbent), represent a majority on the new Board. This is the first time in around sixty years that a non-C&R group has had a majority in Mt Roskill local government, and is an historic shift", says Michael Wood, current Board member.

"While we are excited by this election outcome, we also regret that some people of quality were not successful. Both Garth Houltham and Shail Kaushal were fine RCV candidates who have shown great commitment to our community. We also acknowledge outgoing C&R members Richard Barter and Peter Muys. In particular, Richard Barter who has been the inaugural Local Board chair, is an outstanding community leader who has contributed enormously to Mt Roskill. We wish them both well", says Julie Fairey.

"In the new term RCV will be focussed on delivering on its core election platform:

• Winning a Fair Share for Roskill and ending the funding disparity currently faced by our community.
• Advancing our campaign to Bury the Pylons
• Looking after our environment and taking serious action to restore our neglected volcanic cones.
• Acting to reduce the harm caused by liquor and pokies in our community.

"We will also ensure that the Local Board is governed carefully, responsibly, and inclusively. Our approach will be to work collaboratively with all Board members, regardless of political label. We also want to open the Board up more so that the people and groups of Mt Roskill become more engaged in shaping the future of our community", says Michael Wood.

"Once again, we thank local people for delivering this historic result. The Roskill Community Voice team will be working hard for our community from day one", says Julie Fairey.

Election results for 2013 - Puketapapa Local Board

Roskill Community Voice candidates are underlined, elected candidates are in bold.

The results this morning (which include special votes) are:

5095   Richard Barter - Communities & Residents (incumbent)            
5451   Harry Doig - Roskill Community Voice
1832   Peter Eccles - Independent                                                      
6542   Julie Fairey - Roskill Community Voice (incumbent)
5553   David Holm - Roskill Community Voice 
4592   Garth Houltham - Roskill Community Voice 
4970   Shail Kaushal - Roskill Community Voice 
5505   Ella Kumar - Communities & Residents (incumbent)               
4868   Peter Muys - Communities & Residents (incumbent)                
1521   Darren Pigg (no affiliation given)                                              
1615   Joseph Rebello - Conservative                                                
1202   Hari Shankar (no affiliation given)                                            
2110   Paul Sommer - Conservative                                                    
6157   Nigel Turnbull - Communities & Residents (incumbent)      
3833   Matt van Tuinen - Communities & Residents                            
7098   Michael Wood - Roskill Community Voice (incumbent) 
Informal      55
Blank         648

You can read the full results here.

A big big thank you to all our supporters and those who helped out.

Final Campaign Post

There are just 24 hours left to cast your votes in the 2013 Auckland Council elections.

We are urging all local people to make the effort to vote. At this late stage you will need to take your completed voting papers to the Mt Roskill (or any other library) and deposit them in the ballot box before 12noon on Saturday.

The Roskill Community Voice team has thoroughly enjoyed the campaign. We've done everything that we can to engage the local community, focussing on important local issues and running an energetic campaign on the streets of Puketapapa/Mt Roskill.

Our campaign has been focussed on a number of key issues:

1) Winning a Fair Share for Mt Roskill
We say that it is simply unfair that our community receives just 74c of funding from Auckland Council for every $1 spent elsewhere. This legacy of neglect must be turned around and we are the team who will fight for a fair deal.

2) Bury the Pylons
The Pylons that march across our communities and harbour are a blight on our neighbourhoods and Harbour. They would not be accepted in the eastern suburbs and the Waitemata Harbour. We have a responsible plan to underground the pylons and our campaign is building momentum.

3) Looking after our environment and restoring our cones
We are the team who has put real energy into looking after our Foreshore, streams, and maunga over the past term. If re-elected we will have a strong focus on restoring Puketapapa/Mt Roskill and Big King/Te Tatua-a-Riukiuta.

4) Reducing harms in our community
The Roskill Community Voice team has consistently stood up to reduce harms in our community and we will push to reduce the harm caused by pokies and corner liquor stores in our community.

Further to this we are the only team to produce comprehensive policy so that voters have transparency ahead of the election. We've also run high energy local campaigns to engage with local people and involve community in local issues, including Bury the Pylons, A Vision for Three Kings, and Fairness for Wesley.

We have been able to achieve a lot with two RCV members on the Board over the past term and we know that a full RCV Board will have the skills and vision to provide Puketapapa/Mt Roskill with real leadership in the next term if voters give us that mandate.

Stand up for a Fair Share for Mt Roskill: Vote Roskill Community Voice for Puketapapa Local Board and City Vision for Ward Councillors.

Last chance to vote - take it to the library!

Postal voting has now closed, but you can still vote by taking your papers in to your local library (or a council service centre).

In our area your closest library is most likely to be the wonderful Mt Roskill Library (pictured right), refurbished in 2011/12 and a great place to spend some time, not just vote.

You have until 12noon on Saturday to drop your vote in, after that it is definitely too late.

Results will start to come out on Saturday afternoon.  Thanks for all your support and help.

Championing the Manukau Foreshore

The Manukau Foreshore is an ecological and recreational gem. We love the native bush, the picnic spots, the track network, the hidden beaches, and the wonderful bird life.

On the Puketapapa Local Board we have been champions for the Foreshore, Michael has overseeen

work in this area as the Board's Parks and Open Spaces Portfolio-holder. He has also been a keen rat and possum trapper along the foreshore over the past eight years. 

We've been able to achieve a lot over the past three years, including:

• Overseeing extensions to the track network at Waikowhai, Hillsborough Cemetery, and Cape Horn.
•  Leading the project to develop a new coastal walkway linking Onehunga to Taylors Bay.
•  Developing a community-led vision for the Foreshore to guide our priorities in the years to come.
•  Securing a ten year funding programme to control weeds along the coastal reserves, now in action.
•  Pushing for the development of the new walkway through Lynfield Reserve (under construction).
•  Taking action to protect and preserve the historic Waikowhai changing sheds.
•  Launching the campaign to Bury the Pylons that blight our Foreshore and neighbourhoods.

In the next term we want to build on this work, and in particular we are keen to help support the newly formed Waikowhai Forest Restoration Network, and to make further progress on completing the track network, including the provision of useful, integrated signage, and appropriate facilities.

With your support we can further enhance this very special place in our community.

Bury the Pylons campaign marches on

Following on from reaching our first 1000 signatures on the Bury the Pylons petition, the campaign is

pushing on to build  even greater momentum.

At last week's gathering at Taylor's Bay, the Roskill Community Voice team handed over the first 1000 petition signatures to Phil Goff MP. The petition will be formally tabled for consideration in Parliament - an important part of getting our case heard. At the gathering we announced the next steps in the campaign:

1) We are aiming for 5000 petition signatures by the end of 2013. We have a solid start and a lot of community interest. Achieving 5000+ signatures will make it much harder for the issue to be ignored.

2) Establishing a community working group to oversee out campaign and petition collecting. This will simply be a small group of local people who will work together to ensure we reach our goals and plan our activities. If you are interested please contact us.

3) Setting up a Facebook page as a source of promotion and contact for the campaign. Coming soon!

The Bury the Pylons campaign has generated huge community interest. The pylons need to go, but it will take a strong campaign that combines community pressure with political leadership to achieve our objective. We have made a great start - let's keep going!

Bury the Pylons - First 1000 signatures handed over!

David Holm has written a short update on the Bury The Pylons campaign, reporting on the handover of the first 1000 signatures on the petition on Sautrday 21st Sept.  

The first 1000 signatures on the Bury the Pylons petition were presented last week to Phil Goff , M.P. for Mt. Roskill, at Taylors Bay near some of the most unsightly pylons in the Manukau Harbour. 

Phil told a group of local supporters about how his father, now aged over 90 had swum in the area when young. He pointed out that the $20 million plus improvements to the Onehunga foreshore would be hugely enhanced if the adjacent pylons were removed. All new Transpower lines in urban areas in New Zealand are now undergrounded.

At the latest count, petition signatures are well past halfway to the second thousand. The offer for places to display  "Bury the Pylons" signs is well in excess of the number of signs available. 

At a public meeting in Onehunga, Transpower representatives stated that they are receptive to opportunities to underground lines, provided funds are available from government or other sources. The petition points to the dividends being paid by Transpower to the Government which this year reached $295 million.

RCV Policy on Reducing harms

Our families deserve an environment in which social harms are reduced. We have advocated fearlessly on behalf of our community and will continue to push for a safe and healthy community environment.

• We will launch a drive towards making Mt Roskill/Puketapapa Auckland’s first pokie-free community. 
• Building on the success of smokefree playgrounds we commit to delivering smokefree parks in Puketapapa/Mt Roskill over the next three year term.  
• We support a sinking-lid approach to the number of off-license liquor stores in our community and more effective controls to prevent abuse of the rules. 
• Work to build relationships with Pacific and Maori wardens to develop a presence in Roskill. 
• Tackling graffiti by ensuring that it is removed immediately, and prevented by the installation of high quality anti-graffiti murals. Work with local community on mural design.  
• Work to make Roskill a synthetic-cannabis free zone. 
• We know that poverty and inequality are the root cause of many issues in our community. We will work to ensure that all of our people receive a fair go through policies such as the Living Wage and provision of good quality affordable and social housing.

Campaign shifts up a gear

The Roskill Community Voice team has been hitting the streets across Mt Roskill to encourage local

people to stand up for a Fair Share for Mt Roskill by voting in the Auckland Council elections.

We've done it all this weekend - streetcorner meetings, doorknocking, leafleting, sign waving, and even a cavalcade!

Politics can seem distant to many people so we believe it important to front up to local residents face to face to win their support.

We are especially grateful for the support of local MP Phil Goff this weekend who has been out with us endorsing the Roskill Community Voice team for Local Board and City Vision for Council.

There are now under two weeks until voting closes. We will be out there at any opportunity to speak with the community and encourage people to get their votes in!

RCV Policy on Transport

We must ensure that people are able to move around our community safely and efficiently. There must be a greater focus on public transport, safe walk and cycle routes, and making existing roads safer for all users.

Specific local policy includes:

• Ongoing support for better public transport including better bus stop facilities along the successful Dominion Rd and Mt Eden Rd routes, and advocacy for improved cross-town routes. 
• Investigation into local park and ride facilities 
• Ongoing support for advancing the Puketapapa Greenways Network so that people have safe and pleasant routes to walk and cycle around the community. 
• Strong advocacy for Rail to Roskill to be the next major regional project after the Central Rail Link as part of building a congestion free network. 
• Work to review pedestrian safety issues, particularly around known problem areas such as Mt Roskill Campus and Mt Albert Rd at Three Kings.

Fairness For Wesley

The below is from our Fairness For Wesley campaign - a leaflet we have been sharing around Wesley for the last fortnight.

We are speaking up for fairness, for the whole Mt Roskill community, and especially here in Wesley.

Fairness means that people in our community have equal opportunities, support when it is needed, and a fair go.

Unfortunately, over a long period of time we have not been treated fairly. Did you know that for every $1 that Council spends in other communities on facilities and services for people, only 74 cents gets spent in Puketapapa/Mt Roskill? That isn’t right and we are here to fight for a fair deal.

Roskill Community Voice is your local team standing for the Puketapapa Local Board, working with City Vision candidates for Ward Councillor positions, at the Council elections. We are running a ‘Fairness for Wesley’ campaign to ensure that local people get a fair go.

Below you will find our policies to win Fairness for Wesley. We are the only team presenting a complete set of policies about local issues to the people of Wesley this election.

Our campaign to win Fairness for Wesley means a Local Board and Ward Councillors who will work with the community to achieve:

• Better library services - We need to instill a love of reading and learning in our young people, but Wesley has some of the poorest access to library services in Auckland. We will fight to bring better library services to Wesley. 
• Education and jobs for our people - We believe that Council can play a more active role in helping our young people into education, training and work. We will work actively to try and attract a tertiary education provider into our community, and develop pathways for young people to move through into apprenticeships, training, and good paying jobs. 
• A Living Wage - It is a matter of justice that people get paid enough to live on. With good incomes we can ensure that our families can afford good food, healthy housing, and adequate healthcare. We are the only team in Mt Roskill that is fully committed to the Living Wage. 
• Upgrading our Parks - We will take action to advance the upgrade of Walmsley/Underwood Park to better meet community needs. Members of the Roskill Community Voice team are also leading work to upgrade the Mt Roskill War Memorial. 
• Fair treatment for Housing - New Zealand tenants and neighbours Housing New Zealand is looking to make major changes to its housing stock and may look to intensify Wesley. We need to ensure that the voice of the local community is heard and that we retain public housing in our community for local people. 
• Rail to Roskill - We are the team who is leading the charge to bring Rail to Roskill. A train line from Avondale to Dominion Rd, with a station at Stoddard Rd would bring huge convenience and opportunity for our local community. 
• Traffic safety - It is time to take action on traffic safety issues in Wesley. We will back the local community and push for changes to improve safety on Sandringham Rd, O’Donnell St, and other areas of concern.

RCV Policy on Community Development and Facilities

Council can play a key role in bringing our community together, providing facilities, resourcing, and expertise to help our community develop and grow. We support an active and engaging approach in which grassroots community determines local priorities.

Specific local policy includes:

• Heightened support for local community groups through better access to funding streams, appropriate and timely advice, provision of appropriate space, and creating functional partnerships with Council.
• Development of ‘Garden web’ type networks that bring people together around community projects
• Creation of new community space at Hillsborough/Monte Cecilia and in the restored Mt Roskill Municipal Chambers.
• Advocacy for library services to be provided in the Wesley area, which currently has some of the poorest library access on the isthmus.
• Advocacy for a Living Wage so that work is rewarded, local people can live with dignity, and spending power in our local economy is increased.
• Establishing a local children’s panel to ensure that we receive input from our youngest citizens.
• Provide more small scale community notice boards at local shopping areas to help keep the community connected.
• Supporting local events that fit with community priorities and support local groups to deliver them.

RCV Policy on Environment and Parks

We treasure our local environment. Our maunga, foreshore, streams, and network of parks give us space to roam, a sense of identity, and recreational opportunities. We will work to protect and enhance our environment and open space.

Specific local policy includes:

• A strong focus on environmental restoration including: 
• The Manukau foreshore 
• Our local streams particularly Oakley Creek and Wairaki Stream 
• Our maunga – Puketapapa/Pukewiwi/Mt Roskill and Te Tatua-a-Riukiuta/Big King. 
• Establishment of a dedicated Local Board budget line to undertake restoration initiatives on our maunga. We will work with iwi and community to ensure that the mana of our cones is restored. 
• Driving forward the vision for an Onehunga to Blockhouse Bay continuous walkway network and ongoing stewardship of foreshore, working with the newly formed ‘Friends of the Foreshore’ group. 
• Our campaign to Bury the Pylons. We will continue our advocacy to remove these unsightly lines that blight our neighbourhoods and harbour. 
• Development of a playground strategy that gives local communities the opportunity to help shape their local parks and provides a comprehensive approach to renewing our local playgrounds. 
• A strong focus on restoration of the Manukau Harbour including advocacy to keep Watercare honest, continuing to remove Pacific Oyster shells from our beaches, and resolving stormwater run-off issues. 
• Oppose further wasteful acquisitions around Monte Cecilia Park, and instead focus resources on quality development of the existing park. 
• Advancing stream naturalisation projects, and ensuring that naturalised areas have ongoing budgeted maintenance to ensure they are kept in good condition.

RCV Policy on Town Centres and Economic Development

We need a focused local policy on economic development issues that provides jobs, supports local enterprises, and revitalises our run-down town centres.

Specific policy includes:

• Bringing a greater focus on to the development of an integrated high quality town centre at Stoddard Rd, including development of a Precinct Plan. 
• The development of retail strategy for local and town centres to support the development of a clear retail identity for each area, and a strategic approach to growth. 
• Working with the Mt Roskill Business & Community Groups Association on initiatives to encourage local people to ‘buy local’. 
• A strong focus on improvements to Roskill Main Street, including establishment of a trial dollar for dollar subsidy scheme to improve the appearance of shops. 
• Development of a local economic development plan that builds on Roskill’s strengths and focusses on local high-wage jobs. 
• Support for the Living Wage, which will put more money into the pockets of local people to spend in our community. 
• Fostering local young people into training and apprenticeships, and advocating for a tertiary education provider to provide services in Roskill

A full index of our policy can be found here, updated regularly as we release policy throughout the election campaign.

RCV Policy on Planning

Our community has been the victim of a lack of planning and vision for too long. We want to see thriving neighbourhoods, exciting town centres, quality urban environments, and appropriate affordable housing for our families. This will only happen through wide-ranging community involvement and strong local leadership.

Specific local policy on planning issues includes: 

Three Kings Issues The implementation of our comprehensive ‘Vision for Three Kings’ policy platform, including: 

• Creation of a dedicated 3 Kings planning spokesperson on the Board. 
• Removal of the reservoir on Big King to return our maunga to a more natural state. Prior to this, the restoration of an attractive mural on the reservoir such as ‘Grumpy Cat’ 
• Advocating for the quarry development to include: 
• Restoration of Maunga and better open space as priorities 
• Affordable housing and social housing 
• High quality housing integrated into open space and town centre 
• A reduction in the proposed 8 storey height limit. 
• Protection and promotion of Three Kings heritage. 

Unitary Plan Issues 

• Providing appropriate capacity for growth around our town centres and key transport routes, while ensuring quality development and protection of open space and heritage. 
• A stronger focus on affordable and social housing for our community. 
• Advocating for well-considered intensification in Wesley, and Roskill South, with more distribution along main transport routes. 
• Strongly advocating for community input and better notification of developments. 
• Dealing with flooding. Advocacy for improved stormwater infrastructure, and better planning rules to prevent inappropriate development. 
• Strong protections for our local environment, heritage, and volcanic cones (including viewshafts)

An index of our released policy can be found here, we are continuing to release policy through-out the campaign.

Media release: Time to vote says young candidate

"With critical decisions about Auckland’s future to be made over the next few years, it is essential that Aucklanders of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds come out to vote in the Auckland Council elections", says Shail Kaushal, Roskill Community Voice candidate for the Puketapapa Local Board, one day ahead of voting papers being mailed out on Friday 20 September.

"We live in a democracy which is a great privilege - but it is also a responsibility. We only get the best decisions and the best representatives when the whole community participates. In Auckland we are at a critical juncture with major decisions about transport, growth, and the shape of our communities being made. People need to be involved".

"As one of New Zealand’s youngest candidates for election I make a special plea to our young people to participate. This is the city that we will inherit. The decisions being made now will affect the lives we build in the future. Let’s speak up to get the Auckland we deserve!"

"I am also pleased today to release Roskill Community Voice's Youth policy ahead of the election. We are committed to providing our young people with opportunity so that their full potential can be realised. Our policy includes measures such as advocating for a tertiary education provider in Roskill, support for Council cadetships, and investigating subsidised sports club memberships for young people". The full policy is here.

"Here in Puketapapa/Mt Roskill I have loved every minute of the campaign. Our Roskill Community Voice campaign has focussed on meeting people one to one to talk about the importance of our community having a strong voice. We will be working hard until election day to encourage people to exercise their democratic voice", says Mr Kaushal.

RCV Policy on Young People

Shail Kaushal, one of Auckland's youngest candidates for election has launched Roskill Community

Shail Kaushal

Voice's policy on young people today. We believe strongly in the need to positively support our young people. Roskill's young people are smart, creative, and community minded. We just need to create the right environment and supports to see them flourish. 

Our full policy follows and can be viewed along with other policy released to date here.

RCV Policy: Young People   
Our young people need to be seen as a strength in our community, not a problem to be ‘solved’. We need to provide support and resourcing to ensure that local young people have the opportunities they need to grow, develop, and contribute back to the community. 

Our 2013 policy on young people includes:

• The ongoing development and support of a comprehensive Youth Action Plan that provides a framework for supporting youth leadership and aspirations.  
• Working to deliver an empowered Puketapapa youth caucus, including joint meetings with the Local Board so that ideas and aspirations are shared.  
•  A strong focus on linking our local young people to training, skill development, and apprenticeships. We must provide the means for our youth to move into productive, high wage jobs.   
•  We will take advocate for a credible tertiary education provider to establish a presence in Roskill.   
• Support a Living Wage so that local young people and their families can live in dignity and plan for the future
• Actively support an expansion of the Council cadetship scheme that provides young people with opportunities to develop skills and careers in the Council organisation.
•  Investigate the barriers to local young people participating in organised sport, and investigate a subsidised sports club membership scheme.

Media release:Huge Heritage Win for Roskill: Borough Council Chambers Saved

“After a strong community campaign to save the old Mt Roskill Borough Council Chambers, we are thrilled by the unanimous vote of the Strategy & Finance Committee on Friday to support a $3.6 million restoration of this local heritage landmark”, says Garth Houltham, a Roskill Community Voice candidate and Chair of the Mt Roskill (Puketapapa) Historical Society.

“This building is central to Roskill’s identity. It is a local landmark and there were serious concerns about proposals to demolish it after toxic black mould was discovered in the building in 2010. However a strong community campaign led by the Historical Society, including a petition of over 1000 local people, set the scene for a successful outcome”, says Roskill Community Voice candidate and Heritage portfolio holder on the Local Board, Michael Wood who spoke as part of a Board deputation to the Strategy & Finance meeting.

“We now look forward to sympathetic restoration of the building and its return to civic and community usage. Generations of Roskillites used the building to connect with local government services and it is great that this will happen again in the near future”, says Garth Houltham.

“This heritage win caps off three years of great progress on heritage issues led by Roskill Community Voice. On the Board we have won resources to survey Roskill’s heritage, we have secured funding for heritage interpretive signage, we have led development of the new Suffrage Memorial, and under the new Unitary Plan a number of significant heritage sites will receive protection because of our advocacy”, says Michael Wood.

“In the next term of the Board we will continue this work. Roskill Community Voice is the only team to release clear policieson heritage issues in Puketapapa and we commit to implementing them if elected. Roskill’s heritage has been neglected for many years, but as the successful campaign to save the Borough Council Chambers shows, heritage is now a priority in our community”, says Garth Houltham.

Big Heritage wins for Roskill

Roskill’s heritage is rich and interesting. However, for a long time it has been neglected. We have lost

many significant buildings over the years, we have fewer heritage protected buildings than any other part of Auckland, there is paucity of heritage signage in place, and a very senior Roskill councillor was once quoted as saying “Roskill has no heritage”.

Over the last three years we have worked with the local community to turn that around. The achievements are now really stacking up, with Michael Wood leading work in this area as the Local Board’s heritage portfolio holder:

•  Took steps to protect and preserve the historic block changing sheds at Waikowhai
•  Secured $150,000 to advance the first formal survey of Mt Roskill/Puketapapa’s heritage with many key sites identified and proposed for protection under the Unitary Plan
•  Established an annual Heritage Forum to bring together local people with an interest in Roskill’s history
•  Co-ordinated local events for the annual Heritage Festival in Roskill 
• Organised 2012’s Heritage Art competition for local school students 
•   Secured the restoration and return of the much loved ‘Mayor Dick Fickling’ portrait to the Fickling Centre
•  Established a Local Board collection of Heritage images, some of which are displayed in Fickling Centre rooms 
•   Led the upgrade of St Andrews Reserve, ‘the home of local government in Auckland’ including heritage interpretive signage.
•  Secured funding for the installation of heritage interpretive signage around Roskill and ran a public vote to determine the priority sites. Installation commencing in late 2013.
•  Initiated and delivered the Suffrage Memorial in the Rose Gardens (corner Mt Albert Rd & Warren Ave), to be formally unveiled on September 19.

And then there’s the work of the wonderful Mt Roskill (Puketapapa) Historical Society, led by Garth Houltam. The Society was only formed in 2011 but has done a power of work to get heritage on to the local agenda, and provide the Local Board with good information.

Finally, we are thrilled that the community campaign initiated by the Historical Society and supported by the Local Board to save the historic Mt Roskill Council Chambers has succeeded. A delegation of Board representatives including Julie and Michael spoke to the Strategy & Finance Committee of Council on Friday and received the thumbs up for a $3.6 million restoration plan that will see the original 1957 building restored. This came on the back of a 1000 strong petition from the Historical Society. A great win to cap off a great term for Heritage in Roskill!

We are taking a comprehensive policy on local heritage issues into the 2013 election which can be viewed here.

RCV Policy on Heritage

Roskill's heritage deserves protection and recognition. Our heritage reminds us of where we have come from, and provides our community with heart and character.

We have fought hard to bring focus on to Roskill's rich heritage, which has been neglected for many years.

Our 2013 election policy on heritage issues includes:

• Ongoing advocacy to ensure that important local heritage sites are protected and recognised, either through formal scheduling, or the provision of information about the heritage value of the site.
• Development of a network of heritage interpretive signage to inform the public about our natural, cultural, and built heritage.
• Continuing to build a strong relationship with the Mt Roskill (Puketapapa) Historical Society to support their role in researching and publicising Roskill's history.
• Ensuring the sympathetic restoration of the Roskill Borough Council Chambers, ensuring that the heritage value of the site is preserved and enhanced.
• Working to ensure that the Unitary Plan provides adequate protection of local heritage, including scheduling of important local sites, recognition of heritage character zones, and demolition protection of important areas of early settlement.
• Development of a 'Three Kings Heritage Walk' that takes in key sites in this important heritage area.