Meeting for the first time together this week the champions were addressed by London planning and regeneration expert Dr Richard Simmons, former chief executive of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), which advised the UK government on architecture, urban design and public space.

Local board champions are the idea of Ludo Campbell-Reid, the city’s urban design champion and the head of the council’s environmental strategy and policy department. Urban design champions will contribute to the drive toward creating the world’s most liveable city. This network of design champions will be supported by the built environment unit of the department, led by Tim Watts.

Mr Campbell-Reid set up a similar network in London, which brought together 33 champions across the city’s boroughs to lift the quality of design in London.

The local board champions are:
Albert-Eden, Helga Arlington
Franklin, Magan Ranchhod
Great Barrier, Richard Somerville-Ryan
Henderson-Massey, Assid Corban
Hibiscus and Bays, David Cooper
Howick, David Collings
Kaipatiki, Lindsay Waugh
Mangere-Otahuhu, Lydia Sosene
Manurewa, Colleen Brown
Maungakiekie-Tamaki, Simon Randall
Orakei, Mark Thomas
Otara-Papataoetoe, Tunumafono Fa’amoe
Papakura, Graham Purdy
Puketepapa, Nigel Turnbull
Rodney, Brenda Steele
Takapuna-Devonport, Chris Darby
Upper Harbour, Margaret Miles
Waiheke, Faye Storer
Waitakere, Mark Brickell
Waitemata, Christopher Dempsey
Whau, Duncan MacDonal