Letter to Manukau – Issue 82

Scouts and Brownies
It has been a busy and enjoyable week where I had the opportunity to attend events with the boy scouts and girl guides, as well as openings for a new pre-school in Mangere and AUT Business Innovation Centre.

It started off on Saturday night with the Gang Show held at the Auckland Boys Grammar Theatre. The Gang Show is a performance of songs, skits and dance by guides and scouts from around the region, including Manukau. The performers were great and we had an enjoyable time.

I also had a chance to catch up with the Captain Musik Air Scouts in Bucklands Beach and the Brownies Fantails in Manurewa which was wonderful. I enjoyed talking to the young people about their respective passions and I was humbled by their enthusiasm and "can do" attitude. They are an example of what we can achieve when we set a goal and go for it. It was a fantastic experience.

Openings
This was also a week of openings. I attended the opening of a new early childhood care unit by a private organisation, Kiwicare Pre-school in Mangere. This new facility provides the potential to cater for 250 children. The Prime Minister was there and it was great to see the private sector investing in the establishment of early childhood care facilities in our city. We know there is a shortfall in attendance of our Pacific and Maori young children in early childhood care facilities. It is essential our children get off to the best start in life - early childhood care centres are critical for our communities to ensure this happens.

I also had the pleasure of attending the opening of the AUT Business Innovation Centre at AUT's campus in Manukau. This is hugely important for our City. This centre, led by Jonathan Kirkpatrick, is an incubator for new ideas and provides an opportunity for businesses to develop and establish their ideas. AUT has 23 businesses that it is nurturing at the centre. It is important we take advantage of technology, design, innovation and creativity in order to ensure we compete globally. The AUT Business Innovation Centre and its work, is essential for our entrepreneurs to hone their ideas and ensure greater economic development in the Pacific and on the global scene.

Tertiary Campus and Manukau Rail Line
The council also made one of the most important decisions in our city's history last week. We approved a land deal to allow the creation of a tertiary campus for 25,000 students in Manukau city centre.

It will be on the same site as where the new Manukau rail line arrives in the city centre. The decision means that the new Manukau rail and bus station will be part of a tertiary campus building.

The station and first tertiary campus building will be on the eastern perimeter of Hayman Park, on the corner of Wiri Station Road and Davies Ave – just opposite the bottom of the council car park.

The station and campus development is the first stage in a long term plan to lift the city centre to a new level. It will open up opportunities for the city centre and wider Manukau, encouraging greater investment.

Manukau Institute of Technology will be the primary partner in the development of the tertiary campus. Other tertiary providers are also expected to work with MIT and offer courses from this campus.

Manukau Institute of Technology under the leadership of Peter Brothers have been very proactive in wanting to head this project and invest in establishing their part of the campus on the same site as the rail station.

As a commitment to the educational future of our young people our city is providing approximately three hectares of land to MIT and future tertiary providers on a 99 year peppercorn rental. This was a hotly debated decision, but one that I never had any doubts in, as did most of our council.

We see the great aspirational benefits of having MIT and other tertiary providers within the Manukau City Centre. But there is also potential for economic gain that will occur from development in and around the campus and as a benefit of those coming out of the campus. These types of decisions are visionary decisions that set cities apart, that build great communities and are harbingers of great hope for our future.

Have a good week!

Len Brown
Mayor of Manukau

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