Residents and HPRS have been asking AC for many months to trim dead fronds from the double row of phoenix palms that run north from the corner of Squadron and Buckley. They have now done it (hooray!) and those landmark palms are looking magnificent. There are more than 30 towering trees along that stretch, and it costs about $800 to tackle each one, so that’s where some of your rates go! They may be expensive to maintain but are worth preserving for their heritage value. The palms were planted many years ago to line Buckley Ave, which was then the main access road into the Air Force base.
Thanks to all those residents who have kept on making calls to AC’s complaints number at 301 0101 – your constant requests may have helped make this work happen. Meanwhile, contractors working for HPRS have been tidying long-neglected berms in Meteor, Harvard and Corsair, and thinning out the messy flax bushes in berms alongside de Havilland Rd between Buckley Ave and Hobsonville Point Rd. Next up is the cleaning up of the very overgrown planted area on the corner of Harvard St and Kittyhawk Lane.
We know that many of you will be saying, ‘but what about our area?’. HPRS is very aware of the need to set up a long-term maintenance plan to keep our streets looking good into the future. We have now committed all of the budget set aside at our last AGM for streetscape maintenance this year (which was some $50,000), and much more will need to be added to the kitty in the next budget.
Expect to hear more from us about this as we work jointly with HLC and AC staff to sort out who is responsible for various areas in terms of streetside maintenance and put a plan in place.
By the way, if you’re confused by all the acronyms above, such as HLC and AC, check out our Who Does What guide.
