Your Council

New Harbour Bridge: Another piece in the Auckland region’s transport jigsaw was completed early this morning (Thursday December 5). The State Highway 18 Greenhithe Deviation and Upper Harbour Bridge were officially opened, with Prime Minister Helen Clark, North Shore City Mayor Andrew Williams, and Waitakere City Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse officiating. It forms a part of the Western Ring Route, a key transport link between Waitakere City and North Shore City, and an important alternative to State Highway 1 and the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The new 5.5 kilometre section of motorway, to be opened to traffic in both directions tomorrow, Friday, runs east west from Albany Highway to the Greenhithe Bridge. It will ease pressure on the two lane Upper Harbour Drive, which has been a choke point for east west traffic with the more recent build up of housing and businesses in both Waitakere and North Shore Cities.

This morning’s opening event involved the Prime Minister Helen Clark in a ribbon cutting on the motorway, and the unveiling of plaques commemorating the opening of the additional bridge and lanes on the Greenhithe Bridge. More Information

Pictured is Mayor Andrew Williams with a stone which forms a part of the plaque by the bridge – a similar stone was placed under the bottom of the first bridge pile, to bring good luck and safe passage to all the project workers and the eventual bridge and road users.

Did you Know: North Shore City is now a designated World Health Organisation Safe City. Our beach patrol officers will be hitting the city’s beaches and major events over summer to spread the word about water safety and to police our bylaws. Keep an eye out for them to receive some great giveaways.
Also, do your part and report graffiti and the dumping of rubbish to Actionline on 486 8600, no matter what the time is or how small the mess.

What's On in North Shore City

Beach Series Going Strong: The North Shore City Beach Series is proving a great hit with local athletes this year with numbers doubling from this time last season. It’s a unique event that features three disciplines - a 1 km ocean swim, a 5 km beach run and a 5 km surf ski paddle. The series attracts all types of athletes, from the elite to the casual fitness keen folk. There is a fun “can do” atmosphere and a lot of support for first timers. Races kick-off simultaneously over 16 consecutive Tuesday evenings at 6.15pm. Competitors can participate in one discipline on race night but can swap and change to participate in all three disciplines throughout the season. More Information

Outdoor Cinema: A great line-up of free movies has been announced for the city’s open air Moonlight Movies programme over the summer months. The evening movies will screen in eight North Shore City parks and reserves between January 31 and April 5, 2008. There will be films for everyone - from art-house and cult classics, to family friendly movies. Included are Casino Royale, The Bourne Ultimatum, Blades of Glory, Oceans 13, King Kong, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Piano and the Simpsons Movie. A full schedule will be listed on the city website during December.

Get in2 Summer Fun: In2it is celebrating summer with some pre-Christmas action-packed events for teenagers. The final Cheapskates skate demo will be on tomorrow (December 8) in the Killarney St car park and there will be a premier screening of the demo DVD. Beach cricket bowls off on December 9 at Takapuna Beach Reserve. Beach cricket is great because it can be enjoyed by all ages as individuals or families. Before the Christmas and New Year holiday break, come and farewell the year in style with some extreme action on our 30 meter slip and slide at Stafford Park on December 16. To find out about upcoming events and to register check out www.in2it.org.nz

Your Neighbourhood

Busway Poster Winner: Rhys Kingaby, aged 12, of Northcote Intermediate is the winner of the Northern Busway Poster competition. Rhys got a pleasant surprise when Mayor Andrew Williams arrived at the school assembly last week to present the prize. Rhys’ won a $1000 cheque for his school, a free bus charter for his class and a $50 book voucher for his design, soon to be displayed throughout the city on Adshel bus shelters. Rhys’ poster was picked from 22 entries from four intermediate schools, impressing judges Elaine Venter of Mairangi Arts Centre, Kim Boyd of The Lake House, and Mayor Andrew Williams, with his use of colour and catchy slogan, ‘Use the bus, much less fuss’. More information

Northern Busway Opening Celebration: The Northern Busway public opening celebration will be held on Saturday February 2, 2008. The public are encouraged to arrive at Smales Farm station at 9am, to join the fun walk to Akoranga Station, where speeches, the official opening and entertainment will be held. Entertainment includes world famous in New Zealand band the Spacifix, The Coshercot Honeys, and White Birds and Lemons, who have just been signed up for the Big Day Out 08. Food, drink and ice cream will be available along with plenty of free fun for the family including daylight fireworks, a bouncy bus castle, Thomas the Tank Engine, Fairy Clare and Juggles the clown. More Information

City Road Works: Work has begun on the Lake Rd / Esmonde Rd intersection and detours will be in place from January 7 through to early February. This project involves widening Lake Rd to make room for an additional left-turn lane into Esmonde Rd, and adding a bus priority lane northbound on Lake Rd. This is the first stage of a full upgrade of Lake Rd to improve traffic flow for buses, cars, cyclists and pedestrians. Residents directly affected by these works will be further informed via mail. More Information

Make it another Safe Summer: With 140km of unbroken coastline, numerous public parks and thousands of private swimming and spa pools, North Shore City is a haven for summer fun. But to enjoy everything that summer has to offer, please help us make it another safe summer:

• Drowning is silent…supervise! Stay alert around the swimming pool, spa pool and at the beach this summer.
• Look out for beaches manned by Mairangi Bay Surf Life Saving Club life savers.
• Summer street smarts – drive to the conditions and look out for cyclists, kids and pedestrians.
• Play it safe with dogs – ask first, before you pat.
• Sober boats stay afloat – don’t drink and boat.

More Information

Beach water quality: North Shore City’s Safeswim programme is under way and early checks have shown pretty good water conditions at the city’s beaches. The benefit of the system is that when high rainfalls cause occasional localised incidents the public can easily confirm the status of their beach and swim with confidence. If results show water quality is not within national health guidelines, warning signs on red posts advising the public of the potential health risks are temporarily put up at affected sites. The source of the pollution is investigated and water retested until results fall within national health guidelines.The programme is now into its ninth year and tests water quality at 33 sites around North Shore City. Samples are taken on a weekly basis over summer until 23 April 2008. More Information

Holiday rubbish collections: There will be some minor changes in the rubbish collection schedule over the holiday period. Christmas Week: Rubbish, recycling, and paper collections are delayed by one day. New Year Week: Rubbish, recycling, paper and cardboard collections are delayed by one day. So expect one day to be added to your usual collection schedule over the holiday period. More information

Hazmobile this Weekend: The next Hazmobile collection will take place this Saturday, December 8 at Oteha Valley Road, Albany. The HazMobile accepts household materials that may be harmful to your health or the environment including chemicals, batteries, gas cylinders, oil, solvents, fluorecsent light bulbs and paint strippers. From January 2008 HazMobile will no longer accept paint. Householders now have the year round option of returning unwanted paint to Resene PaintWise stores. Other brand paints will incur a small fee, however other paint suppliers are expected to offer a similar service shortly. More Information

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