Current Minutes/info: Matakana Community Group Minutes

The MCG meets on the last Tuesday of the Month at 7.30pm
Monthly Meetings are held in the meeting room behind the Hall
Quarterly meetings held in February, May and August also in the meeting room.
The AGM is at the November Meeting.
No meeting in December.

If you need someone to babysit to attend the MCG meeting

My name is Julie Atkinson, I run Matakids at the Primary school. If you have any members that can't make your meeting because of lack of childcare I would like to offer my services so more people can come along to your meetings.
They will need to book their children in with me on 022 3505 687 or matakanakids@gmail.com
A Gold coin donation would be appreciated.
Any questions please let me know.
Cheers Julie Matakids

Matakana Community Group
Annual Report to AGM
Wednesday 25th November

Financial Report

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors our bank balance remains in good shape. Reports attached. Our major expenses in 2020 are the usual upkeep of the Free Community Car Park for which we thank Wharehine for continuing to provide the resurfacing service at cost of materials only plus we have invested in the first set of traps for our first trap lines around the village. Thank you to Fiona who plans to continue to support us in her role of Treasurer.

Covid Response and Impacts

We are blessed to be meeting in person this evening whilst the rest of the world continues to battle the global pandemic. We learnt new ways of meeting this year and had a number of meetings via Zoom. We are considering continuing to use this method for at least some of our meetings in 2021.
We were proud to be involved in the Mahurangi Caremongers initiative and supported this by co-ordinating the Matakana list of volunteers and matching them with requests for help. The major barrier was the pride and resilience of people in this area who were not used to reaching out and many of our requests came from friends and family rather than the people in need.
We were well placed to respond to the crisis due to the social cohesion in the area and it was great to see how many neighbours, streets and smaller communities rallied round.

Communications

One by-product of the first lockdown was in increased uptake of our three communication channels. The reach of our website, Facebook page and Newsletter all increased and we became a trusted source of information. As well as insuring only officially sanctioned, scientifically backed information was to be found in our communications we also became something of a shopping channel as we supported local businesses trying to remain viable in the various levels of lockdown. A big thank you to Liz who as well as her role as secretary continues to keep our website up to date.

Caring in the Community

Our caring in the community page was a key part of the response as we were able to direct people to other agencies as appropriate. We remain committed to keeping this information up to date and promoting the various groups on our communication channels. We are very happy to see the foodbank collection point that has been set up and we continue to promote this.
Locals Lunches have continued at level 1 and the numbers continue to be strong. Christmas will be celebrated at the revamped Bayside café and as usual we thank Janis for organising these.

FOAM Membership

At one of our few face to face meetings in 2020 we were lucky to have a fantastic talk from FOAM. We have joined FOAM as a group and we welcome the team tonight to give an update to us all.

Pest Free Matakana

Our second guest speaker helped us start our own pest-free initiative and we welcome her back to talk to use all on progress in the wider area. Our own plans would not have been possible without the support of Ngaire Wallen from Takatu Landcare Trust. We have a fantastic group of volunteers who have made up the trap boxes and we are ready to lay the first trap lines. We will publish the proposed lines for everyone to see.

Road Safety & Development

Before lockdown, Simon and I had a useful meeting with representatives from Auckland Transport. We still hope to see some of these proceed even with the budgetary restrictions post Covid.
I was lucky to be invited to a meeting that One Warkworth Business Group held with the then Infrastructure Minister, Phil Twyford. We can see the results of the continued strong local lobby who were successful in ensuring the Matakana Link Road not only went ahead but became the four lane rather than two lanes that were required for the traffic load.

Jubilee Park

A big thank you to Neville who co-ordinated a willing and clearly very able group of volunteers who planted over 200 natives in just 90 minutes.
Simon continues to work on renewing the lease on the park and has clarity on the terms of the lease which was always intended to be multi use. We hope that in the future we can use this space or develop others to provide space for sports and play in the centre of the community. Ivan and I are particularly committed to these goals and are the reason why we are standing again as Chair and Deputy as we would like to put in place the actions to achieve these aims.

Groups in Matakana

Matakana continues to be well served by charitable and volunteer groups. Many of us are involved in a number of these and I would like to particularly call out the Community Hall Team for their amazing work improving this fantastic community owned facility, the Community Garden team who once again have not just kept the gardens here productive but have planted and looked after the trees around the village and finally Wastebusters, who we particularly congratulate for their composting initiative which will see compost made and sold locally from the materials collected at the market.
Our monthly agendas always give voice to these groups and any others to report progress and ask for help and volunteers.

2021 and Beyond

We hope that by working together as the team of 5 million we will keep Covid contained at the border so enabling a productive year ahead. Our focus will be on:

Pest-free Matakana – laying and servicing the proposed trap lines
Development of multi-use sport and play facilities

And finally, we will be looking at drought responses. We were disappointed by the lack of interest from Watercare in our approach to discuss reticulated supply where practical in the area. However we will take heart from the governments interest in this area and their understanding that councils can no longer treat water as a commercial resource and that all people have the right to a sustainable clean water supply
At our first meeting in January 2021 we will be welcoming guests to talk to us about continuing road safety initiatives and the extension of trails in the area. All of these continue the aims of this group which has a ‘track’ record (pardon the pun) for improving the accessibility and infrastructure of this beautiful community.
In February we see a major new festival come to Matakana. Developed by Grass and Isabelle we will see The Big Buzz come to the school on Valentine’s Day.
We also hope to host The Daffodil Rally which this year was cancelled due to the second Covid lockdown.

Thank Yous

I have mentioned some people by name in this report but genuinely there are too many people to mention. This group is not just the people who turn up to meetings to everyone who works tirelessly and often quietly in the background. Thank you to everyone who makes this the vibrant community that we are blessed to live in.

Nominations and Election

Chair – Rachel Demler
Deputy – Ivan Wagstaff
Treasurer – Fiona Strathern
Secretary – Liz Sharek

MCG Minutes 2019

mcg_minutes_30th_june_2020..docx
File Size:	15 kb
File Type:	docx

MCG Agendas, Minutes, Financials

If you need someone to babysit to attend the MCG meeting

MCG Minutes 2019

See Archive for other Minutes and Financial Statements

Future Matakana Strategic Plan Feb 18

MCG
Agendas, Minutes, Financials