Corbett Talks about Auckland Council’s Provisional Local Alcohol Policy

Did you think there is an excess of alcohol outlets in the South?

Did you know that Auckland Council has a plan to freeze the number of alcohol outlets in the Manukau Ward?

What is ROCC’s policy on this issue?

Find out more by watching the video and by clicking this link http://tinyurl.com/LocalAlPolicy

Don’t forget to vote! #Corbett4Council #ROCCYourVote

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Press Release: Election campaign to be launched via public transport

For immediate release:

Election campaign to be launched via public transport

Once upon a time Auckland Transport proposed putting a motorway through the heart of Mangere and Otahuhu.  A group was formed to oppose this and after these plans were shelved, the group, known as Respect Our Community Campaign (ROCC) decided to keep the campaign going, and to keep working as advocates for their communities.

Now ROCC is standing a candidate in the Auckland local body elections.  Brendan Corbett is a Mangere resident and has lived in the area for 38 years.  He is a qualified builder and a technology teacher at Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate. He also volunteers his time at Mangere Mountain Education Centre.    A kidney transplant recipient, he helped to start the Transplant Games and has represented New Zealand four times at these.  Brendan is a true community person and is a founding member of Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL) which is currently working to protect Ihumatao for future generations.

The ROCC election campaign to vote Corbett for council will launch this Friday, the 2nd of September, at 7.30am at Manukau Train Station.  Brendan and his fellow ROCC members will ride the train to Westfield listening to commuters in the Manukau Ward and talking about issues that are important to them.

Brendan Corbett will be a strong community voice on Auckland Council and is campaigning on the following issues:

  • Protect Ihumatao: honouring Auckland’s heritage and parks
  • Housing: available and affordable
  • Public transport: free and frequent
  • Rail to the airport: now
  • Democracy: making it work
  • Liquor and gaming: reduce and control
  • Community facilities: build and improve

Media enquiries:

respectourcommunitycampaign@nullgmail.com

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/878889955575962/

Ends

launch

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Vote Brendan Corbett for Council: #ROCCyourvote!

ROCCyourvote

It’s official – ROCC have decided to stand a candidate in the Auckland local body elections. Our nominee for Auckland Council in the Manukau Ward is Brendan Corbett, longtime Mangere resident.

Brendan is a qualified builder and teacher and is currently Acting HOD of Technology at Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate. He has been married to his wife Kahoa for 38 years and together they have raised four daughters and three mokopuna. Brendan is a keen sportsperson and helped to establish the New Zealand Transplant Games Association, following his own successful kidney transplant in 1986. He has represented New Zealand four times at the World Transplant Games and remains a keen cyclist and athlete. Building on his own transplant experience, he is involved in a Counties Manukau District Health Board campaign to increase Maori & Pasefika organ donation. Brendan is also an integral part of the Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL) campaign to stop development on sacred land at Ihumatao. In his spare time, Brendan works at the Mangere Mountain Education Centre in the traditional mara kai growing kumara and taro, or can be found paddling waka on the Manukau Harbour. Brendan is a real community person and will be an excellent representative for Manukau Ward.

Vote Brendan Corbett: a strong community voice on Auckland Council

  • Protect Ihumatao: honour Auckland’s heritage and parks
  • Housing: available and affordable
  • Public transport: free and frequent
  • Rail to the airport: now
  • Democracy: make it work
  • Liquor and gaming: reduce and control
  • Community facilities: build and improve

 

#ROCCyourvote

Campaign Launch:

Friday 2nd September – Manukau Train Station – 7.30am

Ride with Brendan from Manukau Train Station to Westfield and back again!

We’ll be chatting with commuters about the issues that matter to them. Will you jump on the ROCC train?

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Should ROCC stand in the 2016 Local Body Elections?

Respect Our Community Campaign(ROCC) was set up in 2013 in opposition to the East West Link – a motorway proposed to be put through the communities of Mangere and Otahuhu. After we stopped that, we decided to keep our group going.

Now we are exploring the possibility of putting candidates forward for the 2016 local body elections. We feel that this will give ROCC a stronger voice and a better way to advocate for Mangere-Otahuhu.

ROCC have always been about community for community so we’d love to hear your thoughts about this proposal. ROCC is really open to your input. Maybe you’d like to stand as a candidate? Maybe you have some skills and/or time you’d like to contribute to this campaign?

At this stage this is only an idea. If you think it’s a good one – let ROCC know and show your support by:

– Coming to our public meeting on the 11th of February, 2016 at 7pm, Mangere East Community Centre, 372 Massey Road, Mangere East (behind the Mangere East Library)
– Sharing this blog post on social media
– Connecting with ROCC on Facebook and Twitter
– Filling in this quick survey

Thank you for your support!

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The East West Link is back….

ROCC_Onehunga

Yes, you read that right. The East West Link is back! This time it’s been rebranded as East West Connections. It now covers a new road in Onehunga(which all interested parties are keen to point out, is not a motorway – more on that later) and some new bus/truck lanes (we don’t know how those work either) and walking/cycling provisions(i.e: share the footpath, as we do now) in Mangere and Otahuhu.

Representatives from ROCC attended two of the four open days held by Auckland Transport and NZTA to promote their project and identified several concerns:

– This new motorway will not fix congestion, either on SH1 or SH20, or through Onehunga. Many supporters of this believe it will ease congestion, NZTA themselves say it won’t. It is proven all over the world that more roads don’t mean less traffic. In fact, they encourage it.

– Furthermore, there is no clear plan to decongest the bottleneck at the bottom of Onehunga Mall. More trucks will be getting pulled into this choke point.

– This project will cost in excess of 1.5 billion dollars. Future generations will be paying for this. Research already shows that young people are driving less, and are not as keen on buying cars as previous generations.

– The investigative report commissioned by AT and NZTA clearly states that more could be done with regard to public transport and lessening the number of private vehicles on roads. Why is this not being done first?

– The current safe cycling and walking facility along the foreshore is not part of the NZTA plan – the planned road is between the current path and the foreshore, with multiple road crossings.

– NZTA and AT have said that only 15% of traffic in this area is trucks. In that case, the funds could be better spent on lessening the other 85% of traffic through public transport initiatives. Furthermore, the 15% who will be served by this expensive road could contribute the money themselves, or the road could be tolled to recoup funds.

– The road is being touted as a beneficial thing for the harbour yet NZTA appear to have very little information about the problem they are looking to solve. What is the current water quality like in the Manukau Inlet? What provisions will be made to filter the run-off from this motorway?

– There has been very little effort to engage the public, particularly younger people who will be saddled with this debt.

– Why are we trying to ruin the Manukau Inlet with a major road, when it could be a major entertainment destination? The wharf could be a precinct similar to North Wharf – this will not be possible with various off-ramps and a ‘limited state highway’ surrounding it.

What can you do?

– Submit your feedback by Friday, July 17. You can do this online at http://www.nzta.govt.nz/east-west-connections
– You can also use Generation Zero’s handy and super easy web form: http://transportblog.co.nz/2015/07/16/submit-on-the-east-west-connections/
– You can also give feedback by e-mail – send your submission to eastwest@nullnzta.govt.nz
– You can write to your local representatives:
– Maungakiekie MP Hon Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga: http://www.lotu-iiga.com
– Councillor Denise Krum: Denise.Krum@nullaucklandcouncil.govt.nz
– Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board Chairperson, Simon Randall: simon.randall@nullaucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Connect with ROCC on Facebook or Twitter, and come to our monthly meetings.

We will continue to provide updates on this page, and on Facebook.

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Stop big housing development plans for Ihumatao

green space liveable citySSL21226

Mangere is under attack ……yet again

2015 Foreign owned housing company is seeking approval to build a huge 500 house development on the last remnant of rural land in Mangere in the Ihumatao area …the site of an ancient Pa on the slopes of two volcanos , Otuataua and Puketapapa. This land was previously zoned Public Open Space.
2014 Auckland Council plan to build an East West arterial road through Mangere , removing hundreds of houses, is defeated by a massive community fight back
2013 Special Housing Area designation for 32 hectare block of land on the slopes of Otuataua and Puke Tapapa volcanic cones
2012 The environment Court orders Auckland Council to re zone all rural land west of the Airport to “Future Urban”. This effectively destroys the unique heritage value of this area and permanently ends community plans for the Mangere Gateway Heritage Project
2012 Watercare announces plans to divert huge volumes of sewage and stormwater from central Auckland to the Mangere Treatment Plant. There is ongoing community opposition to this plan on environmental grounds
2009 Auckland Airport Second runway construction bulldozes through a 600 year old Maori cemetery on the Manukau Harbour foreshore unearthing 89 graves.
1960 -2000 Mangere Sewage Treatment plant makes large area of the Mangere foreshore off limits to the public and seriously pollutes the air, water and sea bed.
Historic volcanoes quarried for airport construction and Auckland’s roading network
1863 Foreign owned Land Developers use legal loophole to confiscate all Maori owned land in Mangere and on sell to British settlers.
1840 – 1850 Ongoing dispute over the Fairburn Purchase
1836 The Reverend William Fairburn claims to have purchased from Maori, all the land from Otahuhu to Papakura (83,000 acres)…the entire area of South and East Auckland.
1820 Inter tribal wars with Ngapuhi

Enough Is Enough

Protect what little is left of Mangere Heritage

Stop Housing on Public Open Space

Keep Mangere Liveable for everyone

Action required urgently

Email your views to:
specialhousingarea@nullaucklandcouncil.govt.nz
And cc Lydia Sosene, Chair, Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board:
lydia.sosene@nullaucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Subject: No Housing on Ihumatao

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People’s power prevails

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‘MOTORWAY VICTORY’- A WIN FOR DEMOCRACY AND COMMON SENSE

ROCC’s letter to the editor of the Manukau Courier. Published 23 January 2014

Last week’s announcement that government planners have dropped their proposal to carve an East-West motorway through Mangere, Otahuhu and Wymondley, will be welcomed by all residents.

The ‘Respect Our Community Campaign’ (ROCC) grew from a series of huge public meetings after the motorway options were first revealed in the Manukau Courier last September.

This campaign gave a strong, united voice to the widespread community outrage against these destructive proposals that threatened hundreds of homes plus many schools, pre-schools, churches and medical centres.

ROCC published two campaign newspapers that were letterboxed throughout the area by a vast army of volunteers. Our 4240-signature petition was tabled in parliament by Mangere MP Su’a William Sio in November. Follow-up petitions have since gathered nearly 2000 more names.

Over 320 prominent community leaders also stepped forward to publicly oppose the motorway plans. (View our website for the full list: www.rocc.org.nz)

Faced with this massive, unprecedented community backlash, the planners have finally backed-down, and now say they will instead try to engage with the community to seek agreeable traffic solutions in the industrial belt north of Manukau harbour.

‘People’s power’ has forced this dramatic U-turn. The previous $2billion motorway options for south Auckland (that transport minister Gerry Brownlee and John Key had demanded be ‘fast-tracked’), has fallen from being a major ‘priority project’, to zero. Democracy and common sense have prevailed over ‘motorway madness.’

ROCC thanks all those who came together to defend our community, especially our MPs, Local Boards, MANA Movement and Green Party members, schools and residents. ROCC will continue to promote sensible mobility solutions that enhance, and not destroy, our community.

Roger Fowler,
Spokesperson,
Respect Our Community Campaign (ROCC)

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ROCC Supporters

We would like to thank over 300 prominent community leaders of Mangere, Otahuhu & Wymondley who have come forward to voice their opposition to an East-West motorway:

  • Rennie Siakimotu, assistant Principal, Kingsford Primary, Mangere East.
  • Sir Peter Leitch, ‘Mad Butcher’ Mangere East.
  • Ciska Buitendijk, Literacy & numeracy tutor, Mangere East
  • Sarah-Marie Tupuaga, teacher, Mangere.
  • Meli Molesi, nurse, Middlemore Hospital.
  • Sioe Patumaka, customer service, Mangere.
  • Tuaine Nerio, coordinator, Wymondley Rd Early Childhood Learning Centre.
  • Sally Ikinofo, CEO Niuean Sports Federation, Mangere.
  • Ekepati Va, Administrator, Taeaofou Preschool, Mangere.
  • Tyrone Laurenson, English language tutor in Mangere.
  • Edwina Crese, preacher, Pacific Island Presbyterian Church.
  • Mereana Peka, manager Nga Whare Waatea Marae, Mangere
  • Fou Alene Tumataiki, manager, Niuean preschool, Mangere.
  • Koia Tenakore, President, Onehunga-Mangere United Softball Club
  • Kei Laupa, teacher, Mangere.
  • Faimai Tuimauga, Education consultant, Mangere East.
  • John Roache, president, Otahuhu Rugby Club & Auckland Samoan Rugby Club.
  • Pastor Lute Sefesi, Tongan Community Church, Mangere East
  • Hana AhoTaha QSM, Chair of Board, Niuean pre-school, Mangere.
  • Rosie Leota, secretary, Manukau City Assoc Football Club, Mangere.
  • Carol Poa, education support, Mangere.
  • Pastor Faupula Vaka, Tongan Community Church, Mangere East.
  • Fa’atamoe Salapo-Tuaimalo, Secretary Samoa Atia’e, Mangere.
  • Cathy Casey, Auckland City Councillor
  • Arvind Dharamsi, manager, Mangere East Post Office/Kiwibank
  • Ethni Snell, Literacy & Numeracy Tutor, Mangere.
  • Esteban Espinoza, Senior Social Worker, Mangere East.
  • Reverend Robati, minister, PIPC, Mangere.
  • Sergio Opazo, Coordinator, House of Friends, Mangere.
  • James Papalii, Mangere social worker, founder Waka Ama club, Mangere Bridge.
  • Ailafo Taliai, pastor, Kerisiano Fa’afouina Church, Mangere East.
  • Rev Peter Sykes, director, Mangere East Family Service Centre
  • Sione Kumitau, leader Pulefakamotu, Niue Okalana
  • Lekei Laupa, Preacher, Niuean Presbyterian Church, & Leader of Christian Women’s Fellowship, Mangere.
  • Rev Roy Christian, Mangere Presbyterian Church.
  • Jan Lambert, teaches English in Mangere, English Language Partners Auckland South.
  • Lynaire Doherty, Psychologist, Ohomairagi Trust, Mangere.
  • Fa’asaulala Leota, programme manager, AUT Manukau Campus.
  • Faimalo Timoteo, cultural coordinator, Samoa Atia’e, Mangere.
  • Saubree Edinberry, Chairman, Manukau City Assoc Football Club, Mangere East.
  • Roger Fowler QSM, manager Mangere East Community Learning Centre, Mana candidate for Manukau Councillor.
  • Piripi McLean, Social Worker, Mangere.
  • Glenis Allen, Positive Parenting facilitator in Mangere.
  • Naomi Lange, long time Mangere resident

Continue reading ROCC Supporters

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