With a splash of publicity recently that you may have spotted, and events coming up in May and June, read on to find out more!
We started April with a flurry with the first Workshop for our sub-group Imagining Te Oneroa ō Kahu (Long Bay) – visioning for the Long Bay area. On Friday 5th April a group of passionate volunteers gathered at the Vaughan Historic Homestead in the Regional Park to connect, discuss and workshop community focused ideas for the betterment of the natural environment of Long Bay. See more at the end of this email.
Following our Community Clean Up day and Cultural Shared Meal + Jenga Competition in March, we managed to make the local magazines including the front page of the Focus on Community!
Last month, we had a number of interactions with local organisations, community groups and residents including:
- Auckland Council and the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board – there were a number of issues we communicated including:
- Rubbish bin removals
- Vaughans Road update
- Graffiti on the “Bridge to nowhere” on Vaughans Stream
- Ongoing updates related to Lot 601 – 1 Te Oneroa Way
- Viranda (Long Bay Village) – on various items relating to the village
- Long Bay Chinese Association – looking forward to collaborations on upcoming events
- Also Restore Hibiscus and Bays, Long Bay Okura Great Park, Te Kawerau a Maki Tiaki Trust
Upcoming events:
- Thursday 16th May, 7pm – 9pm: Mix & Mingle – Neighbourhood Support
Long Bay Sales Suite, 57 Glenvar Ridge Rd, Long Bay
Do you know your neighbours?
你认识你的邻居吗？
Come along to meet local residents and find out how Neighbourhood Support assists our community. And as a bonus, tips from Fire and Emergency NZ!
Drinks + snacks provided. Donations accepted.
RSVP by Sunday 12th May via email to longbayra@gmail.com or respond to the event on our Facebook Group: Long Bay Community.
Further details in the flyer attached.
- Saturday 15th June, 9.30am: Community Cleanup
Meet outside New World and keep an eye out for LBRA board members in our new hi-vis vests, thanks to New World! Coffee afterwards.
Please bring neighbours, friends, gloves and a rubbish bag! - Tuesday 18th June 7 – 8.30pm: Re-greening Long Bay – One backyard at a time
Long Bay College – Staffroom.
Free event, donations accepted.
Are you ready to make a difference right in your own backyard? Join our community workshop and turn your garden into a haven for native wildlife.
In our hands-on seminar the following topics will be covered:
• Biodiversity – Why does it matter?
• How can my garden contribute to environmental health?
• What do I plant, where and when?
• Choosing native plants for your spaces.
• Sources of help and information
• Your questions answered – including control of invasive weeds and pests.
Let’s grow together!
Help re-greening Long Bay and register your interest by emailing longbayra@gmail.com by 14th June.
Imagining Te Oneroa ō Kahu (Long Bay) – Workshop 1 Recap
“Imagine …. a community brought together and connected through a shared sense of ownership of the long-term restoration of the Te Oneroa ō Kahu (Long Bay) ecosystem”
“Imagine …. large numbers of Long Bay residents engaged with a vibrant collection of local groups actively restoring nature in and around the village”
On Friday the 5th of April, residents from the community, and local organisations with interests in Long Bay met to connect and discuss visioning for Long Bay, with the following goals for the initial workshop:
· A warm korero with like-minded local nature supporters
· An opportunity to share who we all are, what we’re doing and what connects us to Long Bay
· Local tangata whenua sharing their stories of this place
· Latest updates on potential land availability once the development is complete
· A discussion about assets and opportunities as we begin to map restoration opportunities
· An invitation to start to imagine what the future environment of Long Bay could look like
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Following a fascinating presentation from Edward Ashby – CEO Te Kawerau Iwi Tiaki Trust, who spoke about Te Kawerau a Maki iwi and its governance and structure and their connection to Te Oneroa ō Kahu (Long Bay), those in attendance worked through the following questions:
- What do we know about the land? (e.g. land status, project boundaries, flora/fauna, SEA’s, other assets)
- Who do we work with? (e.g. target audience – stakeholders, mana whenua, individuals, schools)
- How do we get others involved? (e.g. communications, activations)
- What could we do with the land? (e.g. previous/planned work, type of activity – restoration or other? resources available, approvals, health & safety)
The workshop outputs have been collated and will be utilised going forward, with a second workshop in planning soon!
A series of sentence starters were distributed to inform people developing their own vision for Te Oneroa ō Kahu (Long Bay) – feel free to provide your own responses here and email them back to us!
- The locations/species/activities I’d like to focus on are……
- The end state of the environment I’d like to see for the above is……
- The way I’d like to be involved in making this happen is……..
- The timeframe I’d like to see this done by is………
Hope to see you around Long Bay!
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