Pippa Coom takes on Auckland
A driving force behind such lifeenhancing ideas as community gardens, the local farmers’ markets and Frocks on Bikes, Pippa Coom is a change maker for our times
photography Amanda Reelick
Pippa Coom is the sort of person we need to take up political office, but who seldom does. Her passionate belief in good things like sustainable food and transport is backed up with the savvy of a corporate lawyer. Pippa has devoted much of the last few years to helping transform Grey Lynn into Green Lynn. She chairs the Grey Lynn Farmers Market management committee and is on the steering committee for Grey Lynn 2030, preparing locals for the challenges and opportunities of climate change and peak oil. She’s helped introduce local traffic-calming measures and a local water bottle filling station, and is a keen cycling advocate through her hands-on involvement with Cycle Action Auckland and Frocks on Bikes.
Now she’s also the freshly-elected Deputy Chair of the Waitemata Local Board, with transport and community portfolios. Pippa sees it as a great opportunity to pour some official fertiliser on the green shoots popping up all over the city. And as the Waitemata board area includes the CBD and waterfront, there’s plenty for her to do.
“My work is also my hobby,” says Pippa. “It’s not like at 5pm I say ‘that’s it, I’m done’. It’s like the old saying, ‘If you have a job you are passionate about, you never really work another day in your life’.”
Auckland currently ranks around the tenth most liveable city in the world, and Pippa shares mayor Len Brown’s vision of making it the first.
Top of the to-do list?
“I’d like to see some immediate things happening to improve the communities we live in.” says Pippa. “Like our local shops could so easily be made more pedestrian friendly. Then people would be able to see an impact in their day-to-day lives. People interact with community boards much more than central government, so I want to show we’ll actually make a positive difference.”
For more about Frocks on Bikes in your area, check out www.frocksonbikes.wordpress.com
