Our speakers this week were Jada MacFie and Jo Brain from Tamaki Regeneration Company (TRC) a lively and engaging pair who opened their presentation by joyfully thanking us for inviting them to speak, advising (given Covid restrictions) they were so 'excited to get out' and be treated to such a delicious breakfast which they thoroughly enjoyed whilst madly texting their husbands to ensure the kids were getting out the door for school.

 

These vibrant women were aware we have been presented to before on TRC, so elected instead to just 'talk' and tell us how much they love what they do and why:

 

Jada is the General Manager Connections and People Experience.  She was 'stalked' by TRC current CEO Shelley Katae, to take this role.  Jada is most recently ex-Watercare.  She has a background in HR, Change and Transformation and was the EA to someone in RYLA, so has a good understanding of the some of the great things Rotary does.  Jada's role at TRC is essentially to wrangle Government Ministers and get them 'on board' along with many business partners.

 

Jo is General Manager Strategy and Master Planning and has been with TRC since inception in 2013 and quickly learned to embrace workshops that explored the challenging concepts of White Fragility and Privilege.  She explained that the crown (Council) was a majority shareholder in TRC, but they all have the same objective.

 

Jo recalled when TRC first started in Glen Innes, the new staff had five lines of 'Protestors' to get through to get into the office.  So, she was being signalled loud and clear that she was working in a passionate community, and it was essential to bring them on board to work toward common goals.  Community leaders she met made it very clear time and again that they would keep TRC accountable and would not do so delicately!

 

 

A recap for members/readers who are not aware, edited from their website*:

 

 

The Tamaki Regeneration Company (TRC) is made up of three suburbs (Glen Innes, Point England and Panmure) each featuring green space, proximity to city, sea and places to work, learn and play.

 

 

The three suburbs are divided into seven neighbourhoods each with its own plan and design for homes, streets, the natural environment, infrastructure upgrades and business districts to create more opportunities for current and future residents.

 

 

Currently, 2500 public homes are being transformed into 10,500 homes with a mix of private market, affordable and public homes, and the aim to create new vibrant and mixed-tenure neighbourhoods. 14 vacant sites across the regeneration area enable innovative building trials. Two of these locations will pilot modular buildings using prefabricated panels which assemble on-site. This will test how fast we can build homes.  It also results in a lower cost so that our homes become more affordable.  To date 900 new homes have been built, but it is not nearly enough.

 

 

*https:/tamakiregeneration.co.nz/regen/overview/

 

Jada and Jo went on to explain:  The Housing Minister is TRC's primary 'Boss' and this is a 20-year project.  The priority is public housing.  The Housing Minister's brief is to build as many houses as possible; but the community has said loud and clear, this doesn't work.  This has created tension, which TRC is determined to resolve.  By working closely with the community, TRC has learned that the priority is 'people' not doors e.g. tailored house builds to fit the size and needs of the families in the area, is what the community wants.

 

TRC aims to 'join up the dots' between Jobs, Healthy Homes, Education and Health in the area, and to remain aware of what will make the most impact.  They are very aware of the dynamics of overcrowding Vs living in cars; the importance of connecting buildings with 'green' space; the issue of density Vs accessibility and have done studies to identify what works best this community.

 

Other Interesting titbits gleaned from their talk:

 

 

  *   TRC have a 'Build to Rent' pilot underway as there are currently NO market rentals in Glen Innes.  Households on the threshold of $50K are deemed over the threshold for rental assistance and as such they are also aware of Mum's who have quit their jobs in order to keep their family under the income threshold - essentially to stay in the area they know as 'home' providing school continuity, etc.

 

  *   1000 people have been placed in employment via their Job focus part of the project.  Pastoral care is an important part of all their areas of focus.

  *   24% of ex-Public (State) housing tenants in the area have been assisted into home ownership

  *   Upgrade of Panmure and Glen Innes town centres is taking place

  *   Some land ownership is still a work in progress

  *   TRC recently purchased two buildings in Glen Innes recently which are to be converted into a 'hub' and an 'art gallery' for the community.

 

After fielding some questions from our members, Co-President Penny advised that annoyingly we had run overtime and we would have to wrap-up their hugely informative session; and clearly, we need to ask this team back to keep us updated.

 

Thank you, Jada and Jo for bringing us up to speed with TRC.  Your energy and passion (despite the interruptions of Covid and still recovering from the pain of home schooling your own kids) is inspiring.  We look forward to treating you to another hearty breakfast so you can provide the next update.

 

 

 

 

Beryl has advised that she has registered for the upcoming Rotary Membership Voice webinar, and all members are invited to do likewise.  Rotary International Director Jessie Harman (for Australia, NZ & SW Pacific), is always an excellent facilitator.  She is RI Membership Committee Past Chair, who also wrote a book many years ago about 101 membership ideas.  

 

If you're unable to be online on Tuesday 15th Feb at 9.00pm NZL TIME, the good news is you will be sent the Zoom recording of the webinar to watch when it suits you.