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.

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.

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.

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.