When the Helensville Museum sought to locate a container on the property they lease from the Council, to house items currently deteriorating outside, Auckland Council awoke to the reality of the Museum being sited on an old tip. It took several months and numerous communications to obtain consent for the container to be placed on the grounds. Now Council has prohibited the placing of any new structures thus ending any plans for expansion. As storage facilities are desperately required this has presented some new challenges. During the process of obtaining consent they were also told that they could not plant trees and even that they should restrict gardening activities.
So the Museum is now battling bugs and bureaucracy, a two-edged sword.
The second issue highlighted by this stance of the Council is that of the Museum’s boundary fence. The Museum Committee has known for some time that the northern boundary fence should be extended out a further 10 metres to fully encompass the area they are leasing. There was no need in the past to do it but the option is now no longer open to them because it involves digging holes on a former tip site, now prohibited.
The Museum is joining forces with Te Awaroa Residents and Ratepayers Association (TARRA) to form a two-edged sword to battle Council.
