Valley View Column - August 2011

I am so proud of our community. I meet West Aucklanders every day who are working hard, making a difference and getting involved locally.

Recently I attended the Waitakere Police awards and I have to say our local police do a tough, often thankless job and deserve to be recognised for their hard work. Where would we be without them? Our crime rates out West have decreased by 12% over the past year. I’m extremely grateful to the police for all they do.

It was also a real pleasure to be at Henderson Valley School at the end of June as they were first to be connected up with high-speed internet as part of the National Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative. I fought hard to make sure they were in the first tranche, so it was especially gratifying to be there and celebrate that win.

Right now we have technicians running fibre optic cables through rural New Zealand, bringing fast, wireless broadband to a quarter of a million New Zealanders who have been struggling with dial up.

I’m so pleased that our children at Henderson Valley School are a part of that, so they can use the latest online learning tools and have video conferencing with other schools around the world – Henderson goes global!

Waitakere Hospital is on the list for high-speed internet too and I know the medical team will make the most of the technology to help patients.

As your local MP it has been a full on few years. Across the country I’ve been tackling the hard issues around welfare dependency and child abuse. There is no place like home though and helping locals and ensuring we have our share of initiatives like broadband still ranks as my top commitment.

I’m always keen to hear from you, please get in touch on any issue by calling my office on 817 8161 or emailing me at paula.bennett@parliament.govt.nz

I have to say West Auckland - you are looking good!

As winter approaches our luscious Waitakere bush keeps our little patch of paradise a deep green while the rest of the country looks positively autumnal. And as summer retreats I find myself reminiscing about the fantastic hot, sunny summer we’ve just had.

For Westies, summer usually means weekends at Piha beach, enjoying the wild west coast. But you know, we can’t think of Piha without acknowledging the amazing job Piha’s Surf Lifesavers do, keeping an eye on all of us and coming to the rescue when things go wrong as they often do.

This summer surf lifesavers rescued 1,342 New Zealanders at hundreds of beaches around the country - 66 of those rescues happened at Piha. Actually, they did more rescues than at any other beach in New Zealand.

These men and women of all ages, give up their weekends and holidays to patrol the beach and man the inflatable rescue boats, keeping people safe and helping them when they get into trouble.

They do an amazing job and I say go and tell em how proud we are of them next time you’re at the beach!

I’ve just held a constituents clinic at the clubhouse which was a real treat, I’m really grateful to the club for putting me up for the day so that locals could see their Waitakere MP at the beach – if only I could work there every day!

Waitakere put on a proud commemorative service for ANZAC day this year and I was privileged to be involved at Waikumete Cemetary for a beautifully respectful dawn service as well as an 11am service. I visited the Glen Eden RSA for breakfast and talked with the local servicemen who had plenty of good stories to tell.

At Swanson RSA, the march and commemorative service drew a record crowd and again it was humbling to see the way young people treated the day with absolute reverence. Clearly our young people respect the significance of this day for New Zealanders, for our service men and women who serve today and those who served in action.

Finally I visited Hobsonville RSA, where I met yet more colourful characters and found listening to the stories of some of our retired servicemen fascinating, they have so much to teach us about life, their experiences and knowledge enrich us. It is such a special day, I feel privileged to share it with such strong Kiwi characters with real Westie spirit. Hats off to you West Auckland!