Happy New Year to all! I hope everyone had a good break and enjoyed the sunshine.

Do you have any plans or ambitions for the new year? My personal plan is to be more involved in art and music. I’ve noted that Auckland Council’s free Music in Parks is back for 2025. Featuring some of the best talent Tāmaki Makaurau has to offer, the concerts are taking place at various outdoor venues until April and no tickets are required. I’m looking forward to packing a picnic rug, water, sunblock and hat and going along to one or two to soak up the atmosphere. You can check which events are on near you at: ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/music-in-parks/music-events/. There are also free community choirs and art classes around the city. If you’d like to give these a go, your Community Manager can advise what’s available in your area.

The Haumaru team are well rested and full of energy to support tenants with their tenancy, repairs and maintenance needs, and our gardening contractors are ready to tackle any rapid growth areas that have cropped up. As a team, we’re also keeping an ever watchful eye on the quarterly progress of our annual business plan, and the Haumaru Board’s working on a solution as to how we’ll respond to the recent changes in the availability of Government-subsidised rent funding. These funding changes don’t affect any of our current tenants, but may impact future tenants who choose to make a Haumaru village their home.

We continue to hold true to our Haumaru Values and welcome calls to our Helpdesk with your examples of kindness, respect, accountability and responsibility in action.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2025.

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Ngā mihi nui

Gillian Schweizer,

Chief Executive Officer

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Focus on Accountability

One of our Haumaru Values, the Māori term for accountability is ‘whakaaetanga’. This refers to clarity of purpose, decision-making, collective participation and systems of redress.

All our staff members are accountable for carrying out their roles as set out in their job descriptions, and they value the importance of being accountable. We appreciate feedback on this particular Value from tenants who observe our staff demonstrating accountability in their duties and general interactions. Please do let us know about your experiences of our accountability in action, by calling the Helpdesk on 0800 430 101 at any time.

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Caring for our village environments

To keep our villages tidy and looking good, please would tenants always make sure they use the correct disposal bins. There should be no dumping at any time, unless it’s for your annual inorganic collection by Auckland Council. As a reminder:

• All food scraps go into the smaller food scrap bins for kerbside collection by the Council (green bin lid).

• Soft plastics go into the grey/black bins clearly labelled.

• Other packaging, clean tin cans, bottles, cardboard, paper, etc, that can be recycled should be placed in the recycling bins (yellow bin lid).

• All other household waste goes into the general rubbish bins (red bin lid).

• Garden weeds, trimmings, etc, go into the Green Gorilla bins.

Dumping of rubbish is a blight on our community environments. If dumping is starting to happen in your village, please speak to your Community Manager or call the Helpdesk.

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Good to know

Emergency TXT service: People who are deaf or who have hearing or speech difficulties can register with Police to join the 111 TXT service. This is a nationwide service available to registered users wherever there’s cell phone coverage. Registered users can contact the emergency services (Police, Fire and Ambulance) via text messaging on their cell phones. Please note that this service is only to be used in an emergency. Visit www.police.govt.nz/111-txt for more information.

Save with SuperGold: SuperGold cardholders can access a range of savings and special offers available from many participating businesses. When you use your SuperGold card often, the savings add up over time. For the latest offers, visit supergold.govt.nz/spotlights/january-offers. Don’t forget to also check out the SuperGold Information Hub at supergold.govt.nz/support. This digital platform is designed to streamline access to essential support and services for SuperGold cardholders. It’s a helpful resource and is also available on the SuperGold app which can be downloaded free for your smartphone from the Apple App Store (iOS, iPhone) or Google Play (Android).

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