With the successful completion and opening of the Mary MacKillop School Hall it was considered timely to provide an update on the Piazza and Gathering Space at St Michael's. Many parishioners will be aware of the details of this development initiative which seeks to link existing Parish properties and provides other enhancements such as an enclosed gathering space at the front of the church, additional parking and more user friendly drop off and pick-up arrangements for St. Michael’s school at the Beatrice Road entrance. Some may be less familiar with the initiative.

By way of summary the Piazza and Gathering Space project is one element of a range of projects which acknowledge the heritage status of our existing church. Another element was the seismic strengthening of the building and this work has now been completed on time and on budget. The Finance Council at the Parish is overseeing other work needed in relation to the church and its activities including the provision of a new sound system, repairs to the organ and refurbishment work associated with the main church doors.

This work follows the recent internal upgrades to MacKillop House at 4 Beatrice Road. Costs associated with the latter projects (other than the Piazza and Gathering Space project) have or will be paid for from the existing Parish funds and some recent bequests from Parishioners are also assisting in that regard.
Design work associated with Piazza and Gathering Space has been somewhat protracted. This has particularly been the case with the architectural design of the Gathering Space where the Parish has been endeavouring to achieve consensus amongst a number of parties. These delays have subsequently meant that the Parish was unable to progress the resource consent phase of the project before the arrival of the ‘new’ Auckland Council on 1 November 2010. Local government reorganisation has then thrown up a new set of structures and changes in personnel which has necessitated further dialogue before the consent phase can be embarked upon.

This discussion has involved meetings with Auckland Transport in relation to the use of parts of the public road (Beatrice Road) and the new urban design team at the Council. Positive progress is now being made but it has required significant effort on behalf of the project team.

Given the likely scope of the resource consent exercise (to achieve approval for the Piazza and Gathering Space) the Finance Council on behalf of the Parish recently commissioned a review of the project by an experienced Barrister Michael Savage. That review has now been completed. We had wanted to be reassured that the consent quest was likely to be successful given the investment needed to pursue that process and the strong likelihood that the related application will be publicly notified. This means that the application will be open to submissions from a range of parties when it is ultimately lodged with the Auckland Council. On the basis of information available to him at this stage, Mr Savage is confident in the findings of his review that consent should be achievable. This conclusion was predicated on the view that the necessary preliminary discussions with the Auckland Council proved to be productive.

The team at St Michael’s have worked on this project in a collegial way with the Diocese and school to ensure that the end objectives are clear and workable and that ongoing benefits will accrue to the wider Parish and School communities. This process has worked well. We are nonetheless aware that the consent process will be protracted and that the further preliminary work arising from changes in personnel at the Council has led to some additional costs with the associated process. Earlier estimates of costs associated with the implementation of the project once consent is secured have not changed markedly over the intervening period, which is seen as reassuring.

The overall strategy has always been to pursue consent for the project and to fund that exercise, before focussing on the substantive monies needed to implement the subsequent physical works. There is nonetheless a funding plan in place in that regard. Latest estimates associated with the resource consent phase are likely to be in the order of $300,000 assuming the exercise does not advance to the Environment Court for any reason. This is a substantial Parish initiative but the overall situation has been assisted greatly by a generous bequest the Parish has received in the last month. We will nonetheless manage inputs to the overall project prudently by retaining a dedicated project manager in a supervisory capacity.
To round out this update we are always interested in the views of Parishioners and a number of views have been expressed on the Piazza and Gathering space project in the past. Fortunately the overriding sentiment expressed has been one of support.

If you do have any comments you would like to make please do not hesitate to get back to any of the Finance Council members listed below or provide written comments through to the Parish Office by the end of September 2011. Contact details would be appreciated so that we can respond.

At this stage we are looking to advance the resource consent phase of the project from late September/early October 2011 onwards with an initial presentation to the urban design panel at the Auckland Council. Current expectations are that the application and consent process will occupy the greater part of 2012.



St Michael’s Parish Finance Council
4 September 2011