Green light to lease notification
An Upper Harbour sports club shuffle-up due to a motorway project, including an amalgamation of local pony clubs, is a step closer following the decision to publicly notify new community leases.
At a meeting on May 18, the Upper Harbour Local Board moved to approve public notification of Auckland Council’s intention to grant community leases to Harbour Hockey, North Harbour BMX and Rosedale Pony Club at their respective new locations.
The new community lease would grant Harbour Hockey land at Rosedale Park West, the current site of the Rosedale Pony Club and North Harbour BMX.
For Rosedale Pony Club, the proposed solution is to move to Wainoni Park, the present location of Greenhithe Pony Club and Greenhithe Riding For The Disabled, to form an equestrian hub.
North Harbour BMX would move to Hooton Reserve in Oteha Valley Rd.
Harbour Hockey is losing land from their site at Constellation Reserve due to the new motorway flyovers as part of the Northern Corridor Improvements (NCI) project.
The decision to approve the relocation of Harbour Hockey, subject to the satisfactory conclusion of a lease hearing process, was carried four votes to two.
However, approval to publicly notify of the intention to grant the relevant new community leases was split equally between board members - three to three.
The motion was passed by Upper Harbour Local Board chairwoman Lisa Whyte, who exercised a casting vote, as was the motion to appoint an independent hearings panel to hear submissions on the proposed leases.
Whyte said in moving the resolutions she did so with a view to ‘‘certainty for all groups, that the opinions of the public will be sought’’.
‘‘This notification process enables every member of the public that has an interest - whether they’re a resident, a business owner, a sports member or just an interested party - to have the opportunity to make a submission,’’ she said at the meeting.
Whyte said the issue was difficult, however there was ‘‘overwhelming support’’ in the community for NCI.
The proposed lease term would be 10 years, followed by two 10-year rights of renewal.