C&R Howick Announce Local Board Team

C&R Howick, a branch of C&R Auckland, has announced today its Howick Local Board Team.

All of the candidates were selected by the Local Howick Branch of C&R and ratified by the central C&R Executive which has representatives from throughout the Auckland Region.

Howick For the Howick Subdivision, Current Community Board Members Hamish Stevens and Lyn Murphy will be joined by John Spiller, past Chairman of the Howick Community Board.

Hamish Stevens is the Chairman of C&R Howick and an active member of the Howick Ratepayers and Residents Association. Hamish has a background in finance and corporate governance. Lyn Murphy is a Lecturer in Management at MIT and is currently completing a Doctorate Degree.

Lyn is a past School Board of Trustees Chair and has been involved in undergrounding of power lines; the protection of the Emilia Maude Nixon Garden of Memories; the reinstatement of Shamrock Cottage as a local tea rooms, and the restoration of Mangemangeroa Reserve.

“We are very happy to welcome John Spiller to our team”, says Hamish Stevens, “John brings to the team a level head, a depth of local government experience and an understanding of Howick aspirations through his leadership and involvement in a wide range of community groups.”

Botany C&R’s Botany Subdivision candidates will be Manukau City Councillor Michael Williams; Deputy Chair of the Botany Community Board Wayne Huang and Botany Community Board member Lucy Schwaner.

Michael Williams was previously Chairman of the Botany Community Board and comes from a financial background in commerce, where he has held senior financial leadership roles. Michael has successfully led a number of initiatives including the Howick Name Debate, removing the growth centre classification for Howick, roading improvements about to start on Ti Rakau / AMETI and Smale’s Road, protecting heritage buildings at Hawthorne Dene and the Baverstock Schoolhouse, and building a new Community Hall at Botany.

Wayne Huang is a School Principal and recognised Community Leader in the Asian Community. He has focused his attentions during the last term on supporting the integration of Asian people with the mainstream community.

“It is crucial that we have Asian representation on the new Local Board,” says Michael Williams “40% of the Botany population is Asian as is 30% of the Howick and Pakuranga population. Wayne has done a great job of building connections between elected members and the Asian Community through the establishment of the Manukau Asian Forum.”

Lucy Schwaner works for the NZ Police in the Auckland Fingerprint Section and holds a masters degree in Archaeology from the University of Auckland. Lucy brings a fresh face and sensible decision making to community affairs.

Pakuranga The Pakuranga Subdivision will be contested by current Community Board Members Steve Udy (Deputy Chair) and Shirley Warren. They will be joined by C&R Howick Treasurer Barry Parkin. From one of Pakuranga’s oldest families, Steve Udy is determined that our district’s core values are retained in the transition to a super city. Steve brings a no-nonsense, low spending approach to Local Government.

Shirley Warren is a well known Community Leader and has held positions including Founding President of the Tamaki Play Centre Association, Chair of the Ratepayers Associations and Chair of the Musick Point Trust. Shirley brings a focus on environmental matters to the Local Board together with a broad network of community relationships.

Barry Parkin is a Company Director and seasoned finance executive with well honed commercial and governance skills. Barry enjoys fishing and boating and all that Auckland has to offer. His platform is one of good stewardship and financial restraint, keeping rates to a reasonable level. The C&R Howick Team was born out of a merger between People’s Choice, the largest Local Body Ticket in Manukau (winning 14 positions at the last election) with C&R Auckland.

“The C&R Howick Local Board Team brings together a depth of local body experience,” says C&R Howick Chairman Hamish Stevens,” with eight of the nine having served on Community Boards of whom four have held chairman or deputy chairman roles and one is a Manukau City Councillor. In addition, everyone on the team is a recognised leader in commerce, education or the community.”

“Constructive relationships between the Local Board and the Auckland Council will be essential to the proper functioning of the new structure and we hope to provide a seamless, integrated council and local board team to look after the interests of East Aucklanders.

“We will be running a positive campaign,” says Michael Williams “focused on demonstrating how we as a board will bring the community together to collectively determine and articulate our shared vision and aspirations and to put in place plans to harness the many opportunities to make East Auckland a better place to live.”

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