Grey Lynn 2030 Annual Report 2013

On a lovely summer day before Christmas we gathered in the Wilton Street Gardens for our annual meeting and Christmas lunch. Here is the report given by Grey Lynn 2030 Chair, Suzanne Kendrick

ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 2013

Message from the Chair

I am pleased to present the annual report for the Grey Lynn 2030 Trust (“GREY LYNN 2030”) for the year ended 31 December 2013.

At 31 December 2013, GREY LYNN 2030 has $ 6,693.08 accumulated funds. This comes from the $3,200 of opening cash subsumed from GL2030 prior to creating the trust. And a  grant from the Waitemata Local Board of $3,500 in June 2013 for community engagement. Colinda our Treasurer is going to present the accounts for our first full year to December 2012.

We have 7 Trustees committed to fulfilling the purpose of the Trust in working towards a vision of a self –reliant, positive, resilient, vibrant, connected and sustainable community. Our “membership” is a wide support base via our newsletter database (approx 1200 subscribers ), 4700 friends on FB and the thousands who visit our website each year.

Early in the year we put on a Transition Town event. This was the first ever TT event in Auckland, supported by Auckland Council Environmental Services. There was lots of interest in forming new groups around Auckland but we were unable to secure any funding sources from the Council to make this happen. We have hoped to be able to drive the growth of Transition Towns in Auckland with some centralised resource.  We were invited to take part in the Sustainable City Showcase in November which was a great opportunity to connect with other TT groups.

Earlier in 2013 we were also very busy with submissions to the Unitary Plan. We formed a new group Grey Lynn Urban Environment which looked at the issues for local retailers, residents and the wider community with the Unitary Plan proposal. A new Grey Lynn Residents Association group formed at this time which Grey Lynn 2030 have promoted and supported.

At the beginning of the year we supported locals who were making a stand about local development behind the houses in William Denny Ave. This led to much unpleasantness and heavy handedness from the Property Developers as they used GL2030 as a scapegoat for their own irritations with objections to the project. We learnt many lessons about how to what issues we publicise.

We received funding from Auckland Council for community communications. In December 2013 a newsletter was produced by Charlotte Gordon and delivered to 5,000 householders in the Grey Lynn area. We worked with the Grey Lynn Farmers Market jointly on this.

We have continued to run the Grey Lynn 2030 Car Boot Market as part of our commitment to recycling.  This regular event is a good way to stay in touch with new member. The winter months were challenging but we managed to stay afloat as we have some cash reserves. We are spending money each month advertising the event and have tried a number of different advertising vehicles. To be viable we need to sell all of the spaces each month.We have not received any start up funding from external sources and have paid for signage, brand work and advertising to get the market off the ground. It now has good traction and a regular following.

The Wilton St Community Garden has been able to continue thanks to the new owners. Although slightly reduced in size – as you can see – it continues to flourish. Thank you for hosting us today.

Waste Away continues to be a very active group recently taking part in the Grey Lynn Festival and with a weekly stall at the Grey Lynn Farmers Market. Waste Away and the Trust sent Charlotte to the Community Waste Hui in November in Wellington. Charlotte came back excited about the opportunities arising from community-led waste initiatives (and I’ll invite Charlotte to say a few words about this).

Marketing – we continue to have a good presence on Facebook and send out the occasional newsletter. We are able to support other groups that emerge, for example the Arch Hill group fighting the Bunnings Warehouse application for a big development on Great North Rd.

Pippa Coom continued the Grey Lynn 2030 column in the Ponsonby News  this year which gives us good profile. Thanks to Martin Leach for publicising our initiatives. Pippa was re-elected to the Waitemata Local Board. Congratulations to Pippa. Being involved in Local politics is very much part of the TT model.

We have had some changes during the year to our Trust, and we wish to note our special thanks to Lynn Green for her contribution to GREY LYNN 2030, as a founder and with her work particularly the Waste Away group stepping down as an active board member. Diana Tawherau, also a founder of Grey Lynn 2030 handed in her resignation in January. Thanks Lynn and Dianna and to those who stay on the Trust and continue to support our initiatives.

In the coming year we look forward to renewed energy growth, new trustees (!) and interesting events, with interesting local initiatives around Waste Recovery. We will upgrade our website which now needs some work – 5 years is a long time in the web world.

After 5 years of involvement with GL2030 I am now standing down as Chair. I will continue to be on the Trust.

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GREY LYNN 2030  Chair of the Trust, Suzanne Kendrick