The Chair of the Community-Led Design Group, Mr. Chris Bailey, presented a request for designation as a key stakeholder relating to Te Rimutahi’s future decision-making. Below is his presentation.
Our volunteer Community-Led Design Group (CLDG) has held the Community’s vision for Te Rimutahi for the past 13 years. Even now, a year after the formal opening on 17 May 2025, we have continued our work to present the Community’s vision for the site.
The initiation of the CLD process by the Waitematā Local Board (WLB) in 2015 was a bold and innovative move, as it engaged the community directly in decision-making for the project. This resulted in a clear vision of what the Community required from the site.
And the process worked, not only by creating trust, engagement, and a GREAT RESULT – just look how good Te Rimutahi is – but also by assuring the community that their voice was heard when they engaged. Now that a clear vision of the described outcomes has been created, it would be foolish to undermine the success to date.
I am here to request that the WLB continue our inclusion in the ongoing decision-making for Te Rimutahi, using the proven existing communication pathways and existing needs assessment data gathered through the CLD project.
We understand Council has a set of ‘Business As Usual’ processes, but we are finding those processes are somewhat inflexible and, in our experience, are progressively sidelining connection to any other points of view. No other parties understand the slowly revealed vision of the community, as the CLDG does.
Since the opening of Te Rimutahi, the CLDG has continued to advocate for and to look after this civic space, pulling weeds, picking up litter, removing graffiti ourselves, or connecting to Council when something needs expert attention. We continue to manage social media connections through the Facebook and Instagram pages to enhance activation of the site. We respond to inquiries and queries, direct people to the Council website for permits, and field complaints and concerns, and yet we have not been formally recognised as key stakeholders, and so the rest of Council seems a bit unsure about how to relate to our group, or how seriously to take our advice.
We ask that you change this situation.
For years, the volunteer CLDG has reliably, accurately, and cost-effectively reported to both the Waitematā Local Board and the Community. We continue to do so through our social media platforms, the monthly updates in the Ponsonby News, and the regular updates in the Ponsonby community noticeboards.
So when we saw a shed being constructed in the garden, and that the Rimu tree was about to be removed, we were dismayed that such alterations were being progressed outside of the decision-making systems we had maintained throughout our work to date.
We have worked with many iterations of the WLB to ensure historical feedback from residents, businesses, and visitors to the space was properly considered before significant changes to the site were initiated. This work has been done with respect and dedication, and an understanding that some ‘give and take’ is required to meet the various stakeholder needs. It would appear an assumption has been made somewhere within Council that now that the site is operational, our group’s role is completed.
We disagree with this assumption.
We are deeply concerned by this unexpected disengagement. Our expectation is that the CLD group remains a recognised stakeholder group, and our role is to continue to “hold the vision” for the site. We know that for most other park holdings, Council Officers take over the day-to-day running and strategic planning. But this example does not respect the huge connection the Community has developed over the past 13 years of being included in the Te Rimutahi site development, through their expressed vision and preferences. Te Rimutahi is being treated “just like any other Council park”, yet unlike other spaces, Te Rimutahi has a body of guidance material that has been presented to this and several previous iterations of the WLB and acknowledged by them as valid and important.
Other stakeholder interest groups can never and will never have the clarity of the Community’s vision, which has been developed through the long, collaborative, and successful CLD process. Nor do they have the established and existing communication pathways that we have developed over the past 14 years.
We therefore seek the WLB’s support to continue our role in ensuring the Community’s expressed desires for the site are always included in future decision-making. The criteria we uphold are the distillation of 13 years’ worth of meaningful engagement with the residents, businesses, and visitors to the site.
We have demonstrably acted with integrity and collegial collaboration throughout our years of service through the CLD process, and we believe we deserve the same in return from Council. We formally request recognition of our position as a key stakeholder on behalf of the Community and for our inclusion in any future decision-making regarding the award-winning Te Rimutahi. We are open to discussion about how this stakeholder position may be integrated into day-to-day issues, such as relaying new community feedback, suggestions, and concerns, and any longer-term planning.
As the WLB is the decision-maker for the site, only you can formalise and support our role as community representatives going forward.
We ask the Waitematā Local Board to formally resolve to recognise the CLDG as a key stakeholder on behalf of the wider community, and to request the wider Council to proactively keep us involved in the management of the Te Rimutahi site.
Nga mihi
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