Public meeting: Pylon Pollution - what next?

Where to now in the battle against pylon pollution?

HAVE YOUR SAY AT A PUBLIC MEETING ON SATURDAY 21 NOVEMBER AT 2PM

AT SAINT DAVID'S IN THE FIELDS CHURCH  202 HILLSBOROUGH ROAD

Speakers:            

Hon. Phil Goff - MP For Mt Roskill

Jim Jackson – Chair of the Manukau Harbour Restoration Society, CEO of Jackson Electrical

David Holm - Member of the Puketapapa Local Board

Simon Randall - Chair of the Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board

In August 2013, Roskill Community Voice, a team contesting the Puketapapa Local Board Election,launched a petition aimed at progressing the undergrounding of the high voltage electricity transmission and removal of pylons which blight many areas of Auckland and some other urban areas. This followed from a discussion document by the national electricity grid operator Transpower  in April 2013 on undergrounding.

Two identical petitions, one centred on Onehunga led by Carol Beaumont and the other in Hillsborough and Mt. Roskill led by David Holm, now a Board Member, received widespread support with a total of 2816 signatures verified. It was presented to Parliament's Commerce Committee in December 2013 by Phil Goff , M.P. For Mt. Roskill.

The petitions sought a commitment to “undergrounding high-voltage transmission lines through urban areas over a reasonable period of time having regard to the resources this entails” using money set aside from Transpower's annual dividends to meet the long term costs. It also asked for  investigation of technology, planning requirements and resourcing to achieve cost effective solutions to undergrounding.

The Commerce Committee conducted hearings into the petitions in April 2014 and May and June 2015. Transpower responded to the petition in a letter dated 5 December 2014 which was provided to the petitioners for a response made in April 2015. The Electricity Authority and the  Commerce Commission also presented responses to the petitions.

The Committee Report on the petitions was released in Sepember 2015. The majority stated that “We do not believe that a Government inquiry could add much more value at this point.”  The three Labour members of the Committee provided a minority report stating that “Transpower and the Government majority on the committee ignore the overwhelming views expressed by local people. They do not want transmission lines and pylons over their properties or to damage sensitive environmental areas like Onehunga and Hillsborough Bays.”

WHERE TO NOW?

The recently opened  Onehunga Foreshore restoration and the tunneling of the Waterview Connection shows that concerted public advocacy for environmental restoration can persuade government infrastructure providers to invest in improvements.

Transpower has ceased using pylons for new projects in urban areas.There are opportunities to engage with their Environment Manager and the Transpower Community Care Fund which assists communities affected by Transpower assets or projects.

The petitions were supported by Chairs of five local boards and more are sympathetic.

The 2016 local elections offers opportunities to gain support for undergrounding through pledges from candidates for Mayor, Auckland Council and local boards.

The new Auckland Council development agency Panuku Development Auckland is keen on unlocking opportunities in Onehunga including the port area and may be encouraged to help investigate the benefits from more efficient land use without pylons.

Please come along and give us your responses to these suggestions and any other ideas for future actions. You can also reach us by email at roskillcv@gmail.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/roskillcv

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.

Media release: Bury the Pylons Petition Cracks 1000!

“We have been overwhelmed by the supportive response of the community to our Bury The Pylons campaign and petition,” says Garth Houltham, Roskill Community Voice candidate for the Puketapapa Local Board.

“We never dreamed we would collect over 1000 signatures in just six weeks, for what started as a small local campaign for us in Lynfield, Hillsborough, Roskill South and White Swan.”

Roskill Community Voice launched the Bury the Pylons campaign with local MP Phil Goff, on July 20th, with a packed out public meeting of over 120 concerned locals. Petition signatures have since poured in from around the community and further afield, amassing over 1000 as at the start of September.

“We thought it was a good idea to acknowledge the huge contribution the community has made to get us to the first 1000 signatures, and so we are going to have a celebration at Taylors Bay Reserve on September 21st. We will also outline the next steps in this community campaign at this gathering”, says David Holm, Roskill Community Voice candidate for the Puketapapa Local Board.

“Petition signatures collected to date will be presented to Phil Goff MP at the gathering at 2pm and we hope that other members of the community concerned about this issue will come along to mark the occasion”, says David Holm.

Bury The Pylons petition cracks 400 signatures!

Between the online petition and the paper one we now have over 400 signatures supporting Bury The Pylons.  Great stuff! 

The campaign is getting picked up by other areas of Auckland too - there is a Bury The Pylons public meeting in Onehunga, 3pm at St Peters Church, corner Onehunga Mall and Church St, this Saturday, to launch the petition in the Maungakiekie-Tamaki area.

We've also had a lot of donations for Bury The Pylons signs and hope to have those organised soon. Plus coverage in the Central Leader several times now.

Thanks everyone for your support.

Media release: Huge Public Meeting Launches Bury the Pylons Campaign and Petition

Roskill Community Voice Media Release

24 July 2013

Huge Public Meeting Launches Bury the Pylons Campaign and Petition

“Saturday’s Bury the Pylons public meeting in Hillsborough was so overwhelmed by support from the local community that the meeting room had to be changed to accommodate the crowd”, says Roskill Community Voice candidate and Roskill South resident David Holm.

“Over one hundred and twenty people filled St Davids in the Fields Church hall to hear about the campaign and have their say. People spoke up about the fundamental unfairness of our community carrying the burden of massive high voltage power pylons through our nieghbourhoods and across the Manukau Harbour. We know that this simply wouldn’t be accepted in suburbs along the Waitemata Harbour”, says Roskill Community Voice candidate and Hillsborough resident Garth Houltham.

“Working with local MP Phil Goff we have now officially launched the Bury the Pylons petition. It is a formal parliamentary petition that asks all of the relevant stakeholders to come together and develop a responsible plan to bring down the pylons. Over the next three years Transpower will give central government over $500 million in dividends, so we know that it can be done”, says David Holm.

“This campaign is fundamentally about fairness. Our community should have the same right to enjoy our properties and environment as any other. We believe that Roskill has been overlooked in many ways over the years, and we are saying that it is time for our community to get a fair go. We urge people to join the Bury the Pylons campaign and sign the petition”, says Garth Houltham.

ENDS

Contact: Garth Houltham - 09 624 2331 and 027-236-7777 David Holm - 09 620 4434 and 027 627 9433

'Bury the Pylons' Online petition.

Bury the Pylons Online Petition Now Available.

Following on from the launch of the Bury the Pylons petition over the weekend, we have now also
posted the petition online:

http://www.change.org/burythepylons

Please sign the petition and forward on to people who you think also support this issue. Just make sure that you only sign once, on either the paper or online version of the petition.

The huge response at Saturday's public meeting means that it has taken a few days to process all the offers of help. An email has now gone out to all people who offered help, and we will be in touch to provide petition forms, and offers to have Bury the Pylons signs on people's fences.

If you want to support the campaign but are not yet on the Bury the Pylons email list then please let us know at roskillcv@gmail.com.

Bury The Pylons campaign launched!

Today we launched our Bury The Pylons campaign and petition, along with Phil Goff MP, at St Davids in the Fields on Hillsborough Road.

We were quite overwhelmed by the turnout - over 120 people came along and many also volunteered to help further.

We heard from Phil Goff MP about the fairness issue behind it all; that this simply wouldn't be acceptable in St Heliers or on Takapuna Beach, and it shouldn't be in our area either.  He spoke about his intention to approach all the MPs who represent communities with pylons running through them to make this a national issue, but he will not forget that our area should be the priority, as one of the worst affected.

Carol Beaumont MP also spoke about the impact of the pylons on the Onehunga community, and her plans to have a similar public meeting there in support.  Jim Jackson talked about the more technical side of why and how it needs to be done, and his own experiences winning the restoration of the Onehunga foreshore.  Councillor Richard Northey addressed the impact the lines could have on people's ability to build on their own land, if proposed changes are adopted for the Auckland Council Unitary Plan.  Our own Michael Wood MC'ed and outlined the next steps for the campaign.

We'll be back in touch with the 50+ people who offered further help in the next week to make sure they have petition forms, know how to get more, and can return them for collation.  We're also looking into producing simple Bury The Pylons signs, so if you want one for your fence, can help out by sponsoring one, or want to help in other way please email us roskillcv@gmail.com to go on the campaign email list, or contact us in another way if that's easier.


More photos.