left, or the left in general. At least not at local board level. You can’t argue over parks maintenance, or library upgrades, on philosophical bases. That stuff belongs in academic writings, not at the coalface. There are some issues where an ideological view can proceed over pragmatism, but not many. Mostly, you need to get on at local board level at least, to get things done. These are the reasons I believe I was voted in as deputy chairman of the Kaipatiki Local Board in 2013, even though those

You're right, left or right doesn't matter if local board budgets are going into parks and libraries as they should. But for some boards increasingly the funding goes into Trusts. And those trusts are stacked by the local board members. Issues with deliverables, transparency, declarations of interest, accounts,decisions made inside the trust outside of the public process of public agendas and minutes. Not all local boards are created equal. Best system is one of checks and balances with a mix of candidates left right and independent keeping it honest.

There's heaps of underutilised land along the railway tracks and stations in West Auckland. The whole land shortage thing is a complete mystery to me as I drive past massive empty lots next to the Sunnyvale Station covered in gorse. Glen Eden waste of space carpark which had plans to be retail /with apartments and a double carpark elsewhere and massive underutilised industrial truck yards with scrub and open space. A huge flat ugly one story square winz office in the centre of Glen Eden with no apartments on top (i thought we had a social housing problem) We don't need to move the urban boundary. But it's much easier for developers to have a big piece of empty land far away from existing urban social problems. They should utilise and renovate the suburbs the land they have along the tracks first. .

@ William Blake. Well exactly. The whole obsession with weeds is created by the local boards because they hold the contracts for weeding. So there budget lines have doubled as have their salaries. Check the mid-eskdale stream enhancement project on the north shore and the weedbags given to all the households. Those are designed by weedfree trust. If people in the West actually neede money for Weeding then they should have applied to the regionally available Environmental Initiatives fund like everyone else. There were only a couple of applicants from the West. But if people are too lazy or don't want to be transparent and apply for the environmental fund, then I don't think we should be supporting a "partnership fund" with a board member who has non transparent outcomes. And how do you apply. And is it legal under the members interest act for a board member to have a $250k contract where the salary line is $137k and the Cash assets are $114k. Time to put a stop to the weeding boondoggle.

@ Swan and Sacha / Educate yourselves. West pays millions for “environmental programmes" yet the environmental programmes on the council website earlier this year were described as North Shore only. Did Upper Harbour pay for the Mid Eskdale stream enhancement project which has it’s own thomas and civil contracting staff, and materials and events ? No it didn’t. What about sustainable neighbourhoods that was advertised as a north shore programme? Nope North Shore didn’t pay. What about the ecoparties that council provide with free hostess gifts. North Shore. Waitakere pay $1.4 million for environmental programmes. Kaipatiki paid $0. Upper Harbour paid $0. The waitakere money goes into trusts of which the board member and council staff have significant conflicts of interests and few specific outcomes . As for the original comment, they said “The North Shore, already flush with public pools, got a brand new National Aquatics Center right next to the existing Olympic sized pool at the Millennium Institute, and I understand another is planned for near North Harbour Stadium. Council owns I think 25 pools across Auckland, and ONE of them serves West Auckland.” This is not to be blamed on historical spending this is a current issue. @William Blake – cap in hand for $30k for weed maintenance?. Weedfree Trust (Neil Henderson local board member) got $250k last year. And Gecko Trust (council staff member) got $90k from Waitakere board budgets . There has been all kinds of unaccountable shenanigans with this money. Movie productions, free parties, djs and bands free dinners, cash of $4500 eah for 10 groups all int he same neighbourhood – nonspecific unnamed outcomes, can’t apply- shoulder tap , website has now been taken down after these complaints have been made. Council’s well aware of it. It’s a funding model Waitakere called honeypot funding a model for devloved funding into the community.

Google council pools and they show recreation facilities by area. They've amended it since complaints were published. They've now got 9 council owned recreation facilities including pools on the Shore. Including a new one about to be built in albany. 2 pools in the west. Again. They've amended it to add the trusts stadium although haven't added stadiums elsewhere. But the elephant in the room is the 18 in South Auckland. Not including Souths new performance centre. ASo it's just quite inconsistent what we get across the regions for our rates. Our local pool is privately owned on parks land grotty building that offers lessons but not open to the public.

@George. On the economic budget there are about 5 breakdowns of local board budgets, Pools and Recreation centre is a key measure. And council decided to make them free. So the imbalance is significant. I don't mind having more rates if we get more service. But if west have one pool and North has 10 and they build them 2 more then it's hard to escape the fact that West rates are subsidising the other suburbs. $0 economic streetscaping for most West towns. No undergrounding powerlines. Many places without footpaths. West pay $1.4 millions for a barely existent environmental programme, that resulted in no hard outcomes, Kaipatiki paid $0 and has Auckland's biggest environmental programme and centre. Last year West Auckland paid for the north shores environmental programmes - from their minutes the west paid $285k for the 3 x Ecofestivals , 2 of which were on the North Shore. North Shore didn't pay. West Auckland has been paying for "environmental education " via various programmes and staff to the rest of the auckland for years. Hence our rundown infrastructure and lack of assets. . Local Roads upgrades out west nope. No bus lanes or fancy depots like the rest of Auckland. Most community buildings out west are managed by the community for $0. West did get new electric trains. I would acknowledge that.

Lack of pools and recreation centres,in the west particularly in our poorest areas. I think there are 2 public pools/ recreation centres in the west, and 10 on the shore and 14 in the south, as well South's brand new performance arts centre. We have got 1 new arts centre in the West but we paid for a large share of that through the pokies and trusts. Add to that the West gives a complete monopoly to liquor with the revenue supposed to go to public good, we should be swimming in swimming pools. Alas, no. All is not well. Central and South have also enjoyed millions of investment from the power companies undergrounding their power poles. Council has said North Shore is next inline. Once again West Auckland is the poor cousin. They’ve had a rough run.