Tena Koe Mr McKay
It's not unusual for the relationship
between local communities and local
government to be fraught with tensions,
challenges, niggles and
disappointments. So when the relationship is
going wonderfully well it's
important to savour the achievement and
spread the word.
Last night Mangere Bridge celebrated its
annual Christmas parade and I'd
have to say, as a long-time resident (my
family has lived here nearly 40
years) it was one of the best. But maybe
that's because I was in it and
having so much fun!
I joined the Ambury Farm Junksters, along
with more than
35 others, including our fantastic farm
rangers (now Council employees), our
local cubs, keas and scouts, and the Friends
of the Farm and Foreshore
group, which I and others co-founded.
We dressed up in costumes made of 'rubbish'
and recycled goods, and paraded
through the village wishing everyone Merry
Christmas, our personal pride
sacrificed for a good cause!
The medium was the message - let's
reuse, recycle, reduce the Ambury way,
and become a WasteWaste community :)
The farm rangers - each one of them a
fantastic role model and good human
being - invested time, effort and creativity
to make it a fabulous
experience for everyone involved in our
float; sharing their costumes, their
laughter, their enthusiasm, and their
goodwill. The crowd applauded all our
efforts and gave us beaming smiles. My 12
year old son, James, reckoned our
float was right up there with the Highlander
Band and the Chinese Dragon
Dance - HIGH PRAISE. I got the impression he
was quite proud of his mother,
even though it wasn't one of my 'best look'
days!
Our Friends of the Farm and Foreshore group
is made up of passionate and
generous community volunteers, and is
co-lead by our wonderful farm ranger,
Janine Nillesen, who is also a local
resident and part of a close connected and
very supportive Ambury Team. We received a
Council grant earlier in the year
to drive community-led action towards waste
minimisation through
awareness-raising, collaborative community
action, and a village business
initiative, driven by our hardworking
Village Manager, Carol-Anne Armitage,
who also organised the parade. We're working
closely with the Council's
Waste Minimisation Team, Jenny Chilcott in
particular, who is a huge source
of encouragement and has invested so much
faith in our ability to make a
difference in our community.
Your council employees (our fantastic
Ambury Farm Rangers along with Jenny
Chilcott and her colleagues in the Waste
Minimisation Team) deserve a
special acknowledgement for the work they're
doing - everyday - to build
strong relationships between council and
community. They make it look easy.
But it’s not. Good relationships and
collaborative action, as you know,
require commitment and a willingness to make
the path together by walking
in it.
Last night at our local village Christmas
parade we did just that - we
showed our commitment and made the path by
walking in it together. And I was
reminded of this: it's so important to have
fun...
Nga mihi nui, na
Frances
Frances Hancock
Friends of the Farm and Foreshore (Ambury)
Mangere Bridge Auckland
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