New Beat to Te Atatū South’s Heart

On Tuesday night, Te Atatū South Community Association held its first AGM, formalising a commitment to get the community’s heart pumping again.

Chairperson Russell Clark, 29, says, "When I heard the local bank was closing, I thought we must take action. We can’t just let our community become dormant."

"I organised a public meeting in December to pull the community together and talk about our issues. What resonated was that people felt that our community had been in decline since our library’s closure in 2006."

From that meeting a working group was formed to get the ball rolling, resulting in the formation of the Te Atatū South Community Association. Joining Mr Clark on the Association’s committee are Elizabeth Grimmer, Tracy Kirkley, Zooey Neumann, Vicki Nuualiitia, Dee Ren, John Riddel and Christine Troy-West.

"I am really excited that we now have an experienced team of all ages willing to get their hands dirty on delivering exciting things for Te Atatū South such as establishing a community hub, celebrating community fun days, and working towards reopening the library," adds Mr Clark.

The Association also wants to ensure that the proposed widening of Te Atatu Road doesn’t split up the community.

" Te Atatū is very special to me,” says Mr Clark. “I went to Rangeview School — even contributed to the mural on the back of the ASB building, and also worked at our Foodtown supermarket."

"We want everyone who is involved with Te Atatū South to feel like they are apart of our community, whether they work or live here."

The Association plans to meet 7pm Tuesday 27 August. You can get in touch with them heartofteatatusouth@gmail.com www.facebook.com\heartofteatatusouth

ENDS

© Scoop Media