The guest speaker for the evening was Ken Scott President of the Howick Village Association (HVA).
Before making his presentation Ken expressed the appreciation of the association for the support and contribution we make as a club to the Howick Community.
Ken gave us a background to the HVA from when it started life as The Howick Business Association through to the current time as Howick Village Association. As the local Business Improvement and Development (BID) member the HVA is accountable to the Local Board for the development and growth of business in the Village business area.
The key public events managed by the HVA include the Christmas Fair, Howick Village Hop, ECO Day, Food and Culture Day, Fun in the Sun and of course the very popular Howick Village Market on Saturday mornings which draws people from all over Auckland. Surprisingly we learnt that Panuku Developments (Auckland Council’s property management CCO) charges a substantial fee for use of the land.
Some of the challenges facing the Association include: Bureaucracy, competition from the Malls. Online shopping, Howick as a destination not en-route to anywhere and is viewed as being out of the way with poor transport links.
A very interesting presentation generating some good questions and discussion.