1st March 2024. A long-time Whangaparāoa resident has written to Keep Whangaparāoa’s Green Spaces (name withheld by the Executive):
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Auckland Council must defend the Gulf Harbour Community
" Let's just keep driving until we come to the end of the world ".
And we did. In 1994 my husband, four year old son and myself moved from the other side of the world to New Zealand. When we arrived in Auckland we searched for somewhere to start our adventure and make our home.
Completely by accident we found the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and drove until we literally came to the end. There we found the start of a development of what was to become a thriving community and home for hundreds of families.
My husband got a job as Foreman on the Marina Development and we moved into rental accommodation in the town centre.
The Gulf Harbour Country Club (GHCC) was so magnificent standing proud at the centre of what was to develop around it.
A couple of years after our arrival I became the Food and Beverage Manager at GHCC and we proudly opened in 1997.
Over the next two years we held the World Cup of Golf, the APEC ministers Conference, welcomed Royalty and so much more. The membership grew, the Community loved the Course, the Cafe and the lifestyle. The vision for Gulf Harbour was centred around the Course and Country Club. This would be the place where sport was celebrated, weddings were held, employment would be available and the environment protected and celebrated.
Despite all the naysayers, many families came to Gulf Harbour. My son became a foundation student at the wonderful Gulf Harbour School and I left the Country Club to be the Principal’s PA for the next seven years. We bought a section and built our home. This may be my story but it is also the story of so many in our Gulf Harbour community.
Through the years that I supported our families at the school, I personally heard and saw the importance of this whole community development to those that joined us. Children grew and flourished . More shops opened as did Wentworth College and the community grew. Our community was prepared to face the long commute into the City for work because they bought into a community and lifestyle that they felt confident would remain.
Gulf Harbour is unique. It is bordered by Shakespear Regional Park, built around a purpose-built Marina and a world class golf course. We all held onto the vision of it becoming a community for individuals and families who would build their lives around the infrastructure that they believed was secure.
People invested in more than just a house. They invested in the security of knowing that the land and GHCC was there safely for 1000 years. The homes, schools, businesses and indeed the people are there because of that. No one could have envisaged a time when this would be at risk. Yet now we see a golf course that has been left to deteriorate. A club house that is being vandalised and employees and contractors left unpaid.
We see a greedy and unscrupulous property developer who seems to have a mission to destroy the very core of our community and devalue what are people's homes and life savings. The environment and vision that was so thoughtfully created is being destroyed. We feel vulnerable and scared. We are hurting as our community is under siege and we feel alone and unsupported.
The covenant that we all relied on must be honoured so that residents and visitors can enjoy the essence of the Gulf Harbour vision that the Council agreed when the development was originally consented.
This may be our battle but it is a battle that affects all New Zealanders. If we cannot place absolute trust in our Councils to honour legal agreements that encourage us to invest our life savings and hearts into a community then what are we to believe or value.
All we ask is that the vision and agreements that were created at Gulf Harbour are honoured and that we are supported whenever that is under threat.
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For more information:
Howard Baldwin: comms@kwgnz.org
Visit our website: www.kwgnz.org