Milford is finally getting a new playground down on the Milford beachfront reserve. The business association has been part of a working party that included local resident associations, local board members and council staff. As with all these things, there have been a number of years of planning and discussions. We think linking the playground to Milford’s roots and using a pirate ship theme will set it apart and preserve our identity.

At a meeting earlier this year, agreement was finally reached about adding a half-court basketball court to the reserve. This will give the youth of Milford somewhere they can meet and enjoy each other's company – something that our area has lacked. It’s going to be sited beside the volleyball court, so this will get used much more than it currently is, if my hunch is correct.
The playground is part of a review of the whole beachfront area that was undertaken by the working parties. This included creating a board walk along the beachfront to halt the erosion of the grass bank in front of the car park. We will keeping liasing with the local board to ensure this part of the project is carried out with these other developments.
We see this as a minor victory in our desire to have more of the rates that people of Milford pay to Auckland Council being spent in Milford. In the time I have been managing the business association, there has been no major capital expenditure in Milford – that’s seven years – so we are pushing to correct this imbalance. Devonport has had a new magnificent library built and all the development around the wharf area, which has transformed the appearance of the area. Takapuna has had it’s Village Green project, but we have been left out in the cold.
If you read the minutes of the last Devonport-Takapuna Local Board meeting, you would see where the members were voting on a new playground in Devonport costing $435,000. It is themed on the Bean Rock lighthouse and will mean that in our local board area we will have some lovely playgrounds for our children – but the 30 Year Plan for the Milford Town Centre that some of the local board members applauded when it was produced has never got any traction.
Well that’s going to change. The business association has formed a working group to ensure that elements of the Milford Town Centre 30 Year Plan will be worked on each year. Our initial focus will be on ensuring that the streetscape of Milford is upgraded in time for the opening of the enlarged NZRPG shopping centre within the next two to three years. They are investing heavily in Milford and we want to ensure that council does the same.
There is also the proposed boardwalk through the Wairau Estuary that we think will be an asset to Milford and create a much needed link between the shopping centre and the beach. We would like to see this project moving forward much more quickly than it currently is. The concept to make this happen is to get local people to donate towards the cost of planks, etc, as per the wharf in Warkworth. Our belief is that using a public-private type project like this will endear the council to get involved in the project earlier, plus give locals an opportunity to leave a legacy showing they were part of the project. To test the waters, we would like to get an idea of the local support for the project – so if you think you would like to sponsor a plank or two, send me an email at manager@milfordshops.co.nz

New Businesses – adding vibrancy to Milford
In recent months we have had a number of new businesses decide that Milford is the place they want to be. These include:
Shore-Footed Podiatry
Kara café
Flying Saucers
Stitch Ministry

Mothers Day
Mothers Day is on the 14th of May – have you got your mum a present yet? Well, don’t worry, because here in Milford we have lots of great shops with plenty of choices for the special person in our family. Plus, you can enter not one but two Mother's Day competitions. The Milford Centre has an exclusive competition for its stores and in the main street we also have another with lots of neat prizes to be won!

See you in Milford

Murray

Manager – Milford Business Association
manager@milfordshops.co.nz  021 950 463
www.milfordshops.co.nz  FB: milfordshops Inst: milfordnz