Well advertised
I am responding to Kath Gray ( Central Leader, December 24), who speaks of her neighbours not knowing that the consultation about Chamberlain Park was happening.
I have to challenge the point Ms Gray makes about the consultation session being hastily arranged – did she not see how many board members, staff and consultants were there?
It was in fact well-planned and advertised in many different ways.
Neighbourly.co.nz (Mt Albert and surrounding areas)
Facebook (the Albert-Eden Local Board’s Facebook page)
Email (to those who had signed up with the board’s emailing list - contact mary.tolich@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz)
Central Leader and the Auckland City Harbour News had notices of the sessions
Nearby areas had leaflets in their letterboxes
MARA will probably have advised their members.
Is there another way that Ms Gray or her neighbour would like to be told about the local board’s consultations and other activities?
I agree that it’s hard to know what council things are going on, if that’s not something you usually follow.
The board would be very happy to take up any reasonable suggestions to make it easier for community members to know what we are working on and need the community’s input upon.
How clearly I remember regularly driving up with three children under 3, getting out of the car for five minutes and letting the wind blow away their crying squabbling-ness and letting us the grown-ups look out at the ‘bigger picture’.
All sorts of people go up the mountain at all sorts of times, and that is what is so wonderful about it – everyone shares it, sometimes for five minutes after a busy day in the office, to look at the city lights, sometimes at dawn, sometimes walking up, but sometimes whirling up in the car for a gulp of that wonderful view of the curve of the earth.
Let’s not shut out the busy, the tired, those with dependents who can’t manage the walk.
Let’s all keep sharing this lovely mountain, day or night, for an hour or for five minutes, in the middle of our fabulous city!