That’s what Jo Zervos, a long time campaigner for New Brighton, said about being re-elected on to the new Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board.
After the 2019 local body elections, Zervos was the only board member living in New Brighton until city councillor Celeste Donovan won the Coastal Ward by-election in October last year.
“So I was pretty much alone trying to push the barrel and get things done. But it’s hard to do it yourself,” Zervos said.
She said she believed the city council has ignored her ideas to improve New Brighton.
“It probably was heard but probably was ignored. This is one of the reasons why the residents are dissatisfied with the council.”
She cited the lack of improvements to the Pages Rd bridge leading into New Brighton as an example.
Zervos also said residents were not consulted over a regeneration plan, which proposed changing the route of New Brighton Rd.
“The consultation was supposed to be in February but then got delayed until June. And now they (council) delayed it to after the election. That’s a whole year wasted on delaying the process.
“The residents still don’t know what is going to be happening.”
The top of her to-do list also includes repairing infrastructure, coastal hazards and the stormwater system.
She said the New Brighton community has been waiting 11 years for some earthquake-related work to start.
“We received $2 million funding for the community-led developments from the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust, but that money could have been used for some of the roads, repairing the broken ones and our stormwater.”
With the Linwood Ward joining Coastal-Burwood to form one community board, Zervos said negotiations with other board members will be vital.
“I’m hoping that we can leave politics out of the equation and do what’s best for our community.”
Said Donovan: “I’ll work hard to make progress to fix and upgrade our basic infrastructure, including fixing roads and footpaths, completion of estuary edge repairs, and progress on Pages Rd bridge and New Brighton mall,” she said.
Donovan said she will also continue to advocate for investment in community spaces, council parks and recreational facilities.
Creating climate change-resilient communities with healthy natural environments and providing a strong voice at the council table are some of Donovan’s top priorities.
She also wants to ensure each area in the ward has strong representation.
“I’ll be working with each of those communities so they can feel like they have input into council’s decisions. It’s important that each community feels like they’re being heard and they’re being supported. What issues facing the community in Brooklands might be different to those in New Brighton.”
Donovan received 443 votes more than rival Kim Money, who was the Coastal-Burwood Community Board chair from 2016-19.
