It’s a real pleasure to announce that the Wairau Estuary Boardwalk, that is part of the Milford Town Centre Plan 2015 to 2045, has received funding from the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board to enable the project to proceed to the next stage, which is detailed design and consenting.

This is a major milestone for the project that the Milford Business Association and the Milford Residents Association have been working on after the latter received some seed funding from the local board for the project a few years ago.

The project is now a reality rather than a pipe dream, but there is still much to do. Thanks to the support of the entire Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and their Senior Advisor, Tristam Coulson, who has guided us through the council processes. The project has been allocated a project manager to ensure it moves forward efficiently.

This project will go down in history as a victory for community power and involvement. It would not be at this stage if the two community organisations had not been passionate and persisted in overcoming obstacles along the way. Thanks to the tremendous support we have had from those we have spoken to about the project – it seems that there is overwhelming support in the community for the walkway.

During the process we have had excellent technical support from two local businesses, Sentinel Planning and Sola Landscape Architects, without whose help I do not think we would be making this announcement now.

Sentinel Planning Ltd in Milford – and more specifically the energetic owner Simon O’Connor – has provided his expert planning services pro-bono so that we were able to get it to the 'Pre-Application Hearing' stage. Simon’s planning knowledge was a major reason the this hearing went without a hitch. Simon is well-known for his community involvement, having also been a leading player with pro-bono work for the popular Takapuna Beach Playground.

Sola Landscape Architects is a Takapuna business, run by Mike Rogan, a former pupil of our local secondary school. Mike and Nick Regal, another local, have been responsible for the design concept for the boardwalk, having had experience in similar projects. Sola gave us significantly reduced rates to assist in the project.

On behalf of the local Milford community, I would like to thank both these businesses for their generous support and thoroughly recommend them to you if you need the services they provide.

I’ll keep you up-to-date with other news about this exciting project as we continue the journey. Start saving, because part of our plan is to show community support through the sale of planks – details in a later issue.

Enjoy the concept designs shown here. A full set of the plans are on the Milford Business Association website: www.milfordshops.co.nz