Contact me: lettertomanukau@manukau.govt.nz
Friday 13 March 2009 - Issue 62

Skateboarders United

Some of the most enjoyable community building exercises I've been involved with over the years have related to the work we have done with the city's young skateboarders and the construction of skateboard parks.

We have a brilliant park in Otara (beside the Otara Recreation Centre) that was built in two stages, and has proven to be very popular.

It was petitioned for, designed and developed to reflect the aspirations of the young people who use the facility.  The park is well looked after, particularly by its guardian Jayson Mokotupu, who turns up every day to look out for skateboarders, provides guidance and makes sure there's no nonsense behaviour going on.  It's a brilliant park and we're now looking to do something similar in Botany for the young skateboarders of this new and rapidly developing community.

I met with a number of them not long after Christmas and they were an absolute cross-section of the ethnic make up of that community, including three young people from Zimbabwe.  At present, the skateboarders' activities centre around the Chapel Road shopping centres and carparks.   This is causing some consternation with local retailers and the council has decided the sooner we're able to develop and construct a skateboard park at Barry Curtis Park, the better. We have set funding aside in the draft 10 year plan for this and I'll be meeting with the local councillors, the community board and the skateboarders to talk about moving the project forward.

Giving back to the community

Over the years, we've had some outstanding examples of business owners in our community who have been extraordinarily successful in their ventures and have made personal decisions to give something back to the community by sharing their personal and business wealth, knowledge and resources.

They include Peter Leitch (the Mad Butcher) who is of course 'world famous' in Manukau and has been generous with his time and support of our community.

Dick Hubbard is another businessman who continues to give extraordinary resources in and around the community as a part of his ethos. Over the years, the owners of two of Manukau's great firms, William Stevenson of Stevensons and Sir Woolf Fisher and Gary Paykel of Fisher and Paykel, have also been generous in their grants to support our communities.

Another businessman, Bruce Plested of Mainfreight has been particularly active in contributing to the education of our children in the community. Bruce has for many years lent his name in sponsorship to Bairds Primary School, which is known as Mainfreight Bairds Primary. He has also formed a close relationship with the Otara Boards Forum, particularly the leader of that forum, Pat Kake.

Talking about education, I attended Literacy Day at Tangaroa College in Otara last weekend. It was a fabulous occasion with a fantastic crowd.  Many mums and dads attended to support and encourage their children.   Parents didn't miss out though, with adult literacy courses on offer so mum and dad could continue their learning too.   

Also, I recently attended the opening of the 274 Clubhouse project, which Stephen Tindall of The Warehouse fame has strongly supported. The project aims to provide the city's young people the appropriate IT skills to be an active part of the digital revolution that is capturing the employment and business world.

Often the work of these business personalities is unheralded and deliberately so as most don't seek any recognition at all for their civic mindedness.  But I'm proud of them, of their pride in our community and of their continuing commitment to the wellbeing of our place and in particular the young people and their futures.

Have a great week!

Len Brown

Mayor of Manukau

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