Auckland Mayor Phil Goff was recently whisked away on a whistle-stop tour of development sites in Old Papatoetoe, led by Panuku Development Auckland CEO Roger MacDonald.
Mayor Goff was first shown plans for four areas identified for redevelopment in Old Papatoetoe before he was taken on a walking tour of the sites, where along the way he met a number of local businesspeople.
Meeting the locals
The tour took in the New World supermarket, where Mayor Goff was introduced to the supermarket operator, Max McDermid. He also stopped at the neighbouring car park on Wallace Road, which will be reconfigured to enhance safety and accessibility for vehicles and pedestrians.
Next was a visit to was Old Papatoetoe Mall, where Aspec Construction is near to completing the first stage of a complete makeover.
Here Mayor Goff was introduced to Lynette O’Brien, owner of City Centre Pharmacy, which has remained open during the reconstruction of the Mall so as to continue to serve the heath needs of the local community.
Coffee from community food truck
The visit ended on George Street outside the Town Hall, where Mayor Goff enjoyed a coffee and a bite to eat from the Cook Islands courtesy of the oneCOOPERATIVE and oneBASKET, a pop-up community food truck.
Loti Fuli, Chairperson of Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board and Ross Robertson, Deputy Chairperson of Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board were also there, along with other Panuku representatives.