Article in N Z Herald 29 December 2009 by Mathew Dearnaley

"Landscape designers have raised hope among Onehunga community leaders that beaches broken up by an undulating headland can be restored to the suburb's dilapidated waterfront within a $28 million budget.

The Onehunga Enhancement Society says all of seven concept designs submitted for an ambitious restoration project provide for 11ha of reclamation promised by the Government in the 1970s to mitigate the impact of motorway construction on the waterfront.

Auckland City staff initially estimated such a large reclamation including several beaches would cost at least $40 million, blowing a budget provided by their council and the national Transport Agency, which is duplicating Mangere Bridge and widening its motorway approaches for $230 million.

The city council, which agreed to add $10 million to a pledge of $18 million from the Transport Agency, now says it hopes to award a contract by September for a full restoration project to take until mid-2014.

That follows a decision to short-list three of the seven design and construction groups which submitted concept proposals, and to prepare a detailed design brief for them.

The brief is to be developed by a working group of representatives of the enhancement society and the Maungakiekie Community Board as well as city council and Transport Agency officials.

Enhancement society chairman Jim Jackson said the latest progress was most encouraging, after years of campaigning to persuade the agency and its predecessors to honour the Government's original commitment to rehabilitate Onehunga Bay.

Although he was not at liberty to disclose details of the submitted proposals, his group felt they all displayed "a quality outcome for this much-neglected part of Auckland".

"Two designs in particular absolutely stood out, including beaches and an undulating headland - not just some flat piece of land," he said.

Mr Jackson said that although he understood Auckland Regional Council was generally opposed in principle to reclamations, the winning contractor could be confident of community support at resource hearings for restoring and beautifying an area which had been "absolutely trashed" in the past.

Although the regional council resisted efforts to persuade it to contribute financially to the project, it was represented on a panel which evaluated the seven initial design concepts.

City communications manager Glyn Jones said restoring Onehunga's waterfront was a significant project for his council. Its allocation of $10 million represented a commitment "to delivering enhanced access to a high-quality coastal environment along the foreshore".

Although the council hoped to have the contract awarded by September, that would be subject to endorsement by the Auckland Transition Agency in the lead-up to the creation of the Super City in November.

Once a contract was awarded, the project would enter its developed design, planning and resource consenting phase, which would include public and iwi consultation.

Transport Agency northern highways manager Tommy Parker said it was too soon to tell whether the full 11ha could be reclaimed within the budget, and a final scheme would have to be signed off by his board.

But Mr Parker also disclosed that he had asked the Fletcher Construction-led consortium widening the motorway to suggest a price for replacing the old Mangere Bridge for the use of pedestrians and cyclists and for fishing."

Members Update

Onehunga Bay Foreshore Restoration  

Representatives from TOES are now part of the Onehunga Foreshore Working Group (OFWG) regarding the proposal to restore the Onehunga foreshore stretching between the bottom of Seacliffe Rd and the Onehunga Wharf. 

Auckland City Council received 7 concepts from design and construction groups as to how this part of Onehunga could be restored. Of the 7 designs submitted ACC Council officers have selected 3 concepts to go to the next stage of the process.

The OFWG is working under Auckland City Council and is made up of Jim Jackson and Peter Gibson from TOES Bridget Graham Chair of the Onehunga Community Board and officers from Auckland City, New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and a project manager consultant appointed by ACC. 

TOES had the opportunity to view all seven submitted designs and felt that all displayed a quality outcome for this much neglected part of Auckland. All designs provided for an 11 hectare foreshore restoration and were within the $28 million budget that the NZTA board and ACC politicians have allocated to the project. 

The next part of the project is that the OFWG will develop a design specification for the foreshore and the 3 selected groups will be asked to prepare final costings for the project. 

At this stage it is hoped that ACC will award a contract to the successful bidder to commence the foreshore restoration work August 2010 and it will have a 2 to 3 year duration to obtain the necessary consents and complete the civil work.

Mangere Bridge Replacement Opportunity

There is an opportunity to replace the existing Mangere Pedestrian Bridge. 

NZTA have a concern about the old bridges ongoing maintenance costs its structural integrity and that neither ACC nor MCC wish take responsibility for it in its current state. 

The first bridge was a wooden structure built in 1875 however was attacked by marine worm and was replaced the concrete bridge which still stands today some 95 years old. When this bridge was first opened in 1914 it was considered to be the best structure in the dominion however within a few years some of the piles started to sink which gives the bridges present roller coaster appearance.

Today the underside of the bridge concrete continues to deteriorate and some years ago Transit erected "Danger Falling Debris" signs over each of the spans warning boaties of the danger. 

There have been already number of occasions where quite large chunks of concrete have dropped onto boats when they have been accessing the upper harbour and bridge structure has been lightly nudged by their boats.

TOES representatives and other community stakeholders (from both sides of the Manukau harbour) recently met with the Mangere Harbour Crossing Alliance (MHX) regarding the replacement of the old Mangere Pedestrian bridge.

There is strong support from both the Mangere and Onehunga communities including the Maungakiekie Community Board,  Mangere Community Board, Mangere Bridge Residents and Ratepayers, Onehunga Business Association,  Mangere Bridge Business Association, Te Puea Marae, Ngati Whatua,  Onehunga High School to replace the pedestrian bridge.

The replacement bridge would be in a similar alignment to the existing one, be of sufficient  width to allow walkers, cyclists and fisherman to jointly use the structure and of a height to allow vessels to pass underneath at high tide and a high level of lighting to ensure a safe environment for all bridge users. 

The issue was discussed at length and it would seem that there is support from MHX to complete the work since they have all the necessary equipment on site, understand the consenting process to secure a consent and are prepared to work in an open manner with both communities and of course it will never be cheaper than today. 

A new pedestrian bridge was always part of the original project's budget until it was removed from the project at the last minute because of concerns there could be heritage issues. The Historic Places Trust has now confirmed that the structure is not subject to any official historic classification. TOES would like to think that there are a number of ways in which the old structure could be remembered which may include some parts being relocated into the adjacent parks at either end of the new bridge.

Retaining and enhancing reclamation under northern bridge abutment

Under the northern bridge abutment of the new high level bridge there is an area of reclaimed land that was used during the original 1970's bridge construction. 

A temporary consent was issued by the ARC to construct the new high level bridge however on completion of the new high level bridge this area of reclaimed land is to be removed and returned to its original state.

TOES would like the temporary reclamation consent currently in the name of MHX be transferred to another party allowing the area to be redeveloped into an area to provide the connections that are currently nonexistent. 

This area will potentially serve as the main connection link between the Onehunga and Mangere Bridge communities, the Onehunga Mall, access to the upper harbor walkway and cycle way and future ferry terminal. 

It would also allow the construction of the Onehunga Town Basin which would form the initial steps in providing access to the Manukau Harbour.

The money saved by not removing the temporary reclamation could be used to further enhance the area and if carried out correctly could be cost neutral to NZTA. 

There have been suggestions that the community may be prepared to provide volunteers to redevelop the area over the next few years if it was able to work with ACC ARC and NZTA in achieving an outcome that all parties can be proud of. 

 All Tide Ramp Update

The redevelopment of the all tide ramp located off the old Mangere Pedestrian Bridge has attracted many local residents to the two public meetings held at the Mangere Bridge School. 

The initial design prepared and presented by BECA's to the last meeting raised a number of issues and there would appear to be strong community support for a structural concrete panel breakwater rather than the mudcrete structure. The structural panel breakwater would allow the passage of water across the ramps and reduce the siltation problem, an additional length of floating pontoons for loading and unloading vessels which could also be used by the harbour ferry could easily be accommodated. 

The outside of the structural concrete panel breakwater would allow a grid system to be built to allow larger vessels to have maintenance carries out below their water line.  There is currently no facility to allow this work to be carried out.

Water Supply Pipe for the existing All tide boat ramp

TOES is working with the Ports of Auckland, Holcim and Metrowater in an effort to provide a water supply to wash down boats using the all tide ramp particularly at low tide when there is a considerable quantity of mud that accumulates at the bottom of the ramp.

There needs to be a water supply to wash the mud from people and boat trailers using the ramp.  Local Mangere resident Mr Bill Kirk has done a great job over many years by using his modified trailer to remove mud from the bottom of the ramp and with a wash down hose available it is another step in providing quality access to the Manukau Harbour.

Lagoon Fence

The Onehunga Lagoon fence has now been completed however there are still concerns from local members of the community regarding the separation between the edge of the motorway and the public walkway along the edge of the lagoon. This issue will be discussed early next year in an effort to gauge the community's response to the current outcome and what further changes are required.

General

It has been an extremely busy year for TOES and we are very hopeful that we are able to secure outcomes for Onehunga and Mangere that are long overdue. 

I wish everyone an enjoyable Christmas with a chance to catch up your families and friends and we look forward to some great outcomes for Onehunga and Mangere in 2010.

Jim Jackson

Chairman

The Maungakiekie Community board is hosting an evening to explain the new Ward boundaries, the relevance of this to Maungakiekie Ward residents and to explain how submissions to this can be written and sent. If you are interested in attending this meeting it will be held:

Date:                Wednesday 9 December

Time:                7.30 p.m.

Place:                Onehunga Community House 83 Selwyn Street Onehunga 

                         House.

This is an important issue for all Aucklanders, and everyone should take the opportunity to have their say on this issue.

Members may be interested in the local events noted below.

We are aiming to have a TOES newsletter out either before Christmas or worse case in the New Year to update members on progress achieved throughout 2009 and to bring everyone up with the current state of play. 

New Ward Boundaries

The Maungakiekie Community board is hosting an evening to explain the new Ward boundaries, the relevance of this to Maungakiekie Ward residents and to explain how submissions to this can be written and sent. If you are interested in attending this meeting it will be held:

Date:                Wednesday 9 December

Time:                7.30 p.m.

Place:                Onehunga Community House 83 Selwyn Street Onehunga 

                         House.

This is an important issue for all Aucklanders, and everyone should take the opportunity to have their say on this issue.

Vigil

St Peters are having a vigil at St Peters, Onehunga (corner of the mall and Church Street) on Saturday December 12 at midday. This is part of a world wide co-ordinated action to achieve "a real deal" at the Copenhagen talks. It is expected to be for a maximum of half an hour. They will have the church bells rung 350 times, a statement of purpose read, a reflection offered and lighting of candles.