Recess Week 6 - 10 August
Recess from Parliamentary sitting has enabled Maggie to enjoy the opportunity to be engaging with people on the Shore this week.
The week started with the scheduled "Mondays with Maggie" constituent clinics, and Maggie met with a number of people to hear their views on the proposed Marriage Amendment Bill (a conscience vote that was recently drawn out of the ballot of Members Bills). The North Shore electorate office has received a number of phone calls and emails from constituents regarding this issue.
The break from Wellington provided an opportunity for Maggie to speak to the Takapuna Probus Club, meet with the President of the Auckland Justices of the Peace Association, and also met with Roz Mexted, Principal of Westlake Girls High School.
Meeting at Westlake Girls School provided a Maggie and Roz with a useful opportunity to discuss the issues and exciting future opportunities for the school, who will be celebrating their 50th Jubilee in October. The School had recently defended its title in the NZCT Chamber Music Competition.
Maggie also visited the recently opened McKenzies Development. This is a significant commercial development that has transformed seven adjoining building structures into a stunning retail and hospitality precinct. The design has successfully merged the exisiting raw building elements and a contemporary retail feel.
One of the highlights of the week was the opportunity for Maggie to be on the beat with the North Shore Police Tactical Response Team on Thursday night. Her facebook post reads:
"Well done to the boys in blue - it was an eyeopener being on the beat on thurs night from 11pm - 2am with North Shore's Tactical Response Team. I'm told it was a fairly quiet night with a couple of arrests at a Takapuna bar and on the whole good natured crowds and a very fair & reasonable police attitude to the odd larrikinish behaviour. I was impressed with the high level of cooperation between the police & the bar owners & staff. No one was out to cause trouble & a highly visible Police team was an effective deterrent to the few who might've been tempted to look for trouble.
It was obvious to me that the designated team of young and reasonable police were very well received by bar patrons who were relaxed about the police being there in their role of keeping our community safe. North Shore Area Commander Inspector Les Patterson and his team are to be congratulated for well executed community initiatives that have contributed so much towards the North Shore having one of the lowest crime rates in NZ and the lowest level of reported crime in 15 years."
