The library, community centre and pool promised to Flat Bush are not due to be finished until June 2034, and the pool itself is not funded.
Kai Zeng, the Board’s deputy chair and one of three members elected for the Flat Bush subdivision, set out the problem in his report to the Board in May.
“Growing communities await long-overdue facilities, while older suburbs face ageing infrastructure increasingly in need of repair,” Mr Zeng wrote.
“Flat Bush sits at the sharpest end of this tension.”
“Families are moving into a community where parks, transport, and public facilities are still catching up to growth.”
“I don’t believe that’s acceptable, and I’ve been pushing for the coordination, prioritisation, and creative thinking needed to close that gap, in ways that benefit the whole of Howick.”
Damian Light, who represents Botany, was blunter about the facilities themselves in his written report to the Board on 25 June.
“The Flat Bush facilities (library/community centre, pool/leisure centre) are long overdue and the progress to date has been too slow,” Mr Light wrote.
“I’ve expressed my disappointment at the recent update from staff which lacked substance and made it clear that I expect faster progress towards delivery.”
His report records feedback from residents, particularly in Flat Bush, about a lack of visible investment and outcomes.
The combined centre is the single largest capital commitment in the Howick capital programme.
Council papers put its headline total at $83,484,335, of which $67.2 million falls beyond the current three-year work programme.
Board chair Bruce Kendall drew a line between the two halves of the project in his message in the Local Board Agreement 2026/2027, adopted on 11 June.
“New fully funded projects in the pipeline are on track, including the new permanent Library in Flat Bush,” Mr Kendall wrote.
“Projects without full funding are under investigation, such as the swimming pool in Flat Bush and the Ostrich Park sports facilities.”
A temporary Flat Bush library opened at Ormiston Town Centre on 4 April as a stopgap.
Its running cost rose from $489,000 to $1,080,868 as a result.
In May the Board also redirected a $207,000 underspend from the Flat Bush Library line to other work, by a resolution carried on 28 May.
Mr Light linked a separate delay to a wider problem, saying money needed to repair the Howick Library had held up new toilets at Riverhills Park.
“Delays to provision of toilets in Riverhills (with funds required to repair the Howick Library) are contributing to anti-social behaviour in the park,” he wrote.
The Riverhills toilet is budgeted at $850,000 and is not due until June 2029.
The Council has not responded on the record to Mr Light’s criticism of the staff update.
