{"id":337468,"date":"2026-03-19T13:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/337468\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:38:11","slug":"tyler-porter-auckland-mum-petitions-for-memorial-bench-for-son-council-may-reassess-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/337468\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyler Porter: Auckland mum petitions for memorial bench for son, council may \u2018reassess\u2019 decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Porter believes her son\u2019s death<\/a> and the community response met that criteria. <\/p>\n

She said a local board member told her the council was willing to \u201creassess\u201d its decision if she had a large community backing, so she launched a petition. <\/a><\/p>\n

Her petition has so far garnered about 700 signatures.<\/p>\n

Council head of specialist operations, parks and community facilities, Martin van Jaarsveld, said it had declined Porter\u2019s request. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand this decision may be upsetting for the family, and we empathise with them. We acknowledge community interest in this matter, including the online petition,\u201d Jaarsveld said. <\/p>\n

He said her request was not consistent with the guidelines outlined in the Local Parks Management Plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we understand that not everyone will agree with the approach set out in the plan, we feel it is one that the majority of park users support and is also consistent with the approach being adopted in other local board areas,\u201d Jaarsveld said. <\/p>\n

He said the council rarely allows such memorials to be put in council-owned public spaces.<\/p>\n

The exceptions are for historically or culturally significant people, events or community contributions relating to the park. These require approval from the local board.<\/p>\n

He said \u201csignificance\u201d takes a variety of forms, but generally relates to a lasting and well-recognised contribution to the local community, the park itself, or wider cultural or historical values.<\/p>\n

\"TylerTyler Porter, 20, died in July last year. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u2018This event defined our local identity\u2019<\/p>\n

Porter said \u201cTyler\u2019s tree\u201d was decorated by the community before she could even bring herself to visit the site shortly after his death. <\/p>\n

She said Arkles Bay and the tree had become a place of reflection for many people. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are simply asking for the council to recognise what the community has already decided is a location of deep significance,\u201d the petition<\/a> said. <\/p>\n

Porter said the site was a landmark of community resilience, especially during the 11-day search, when hundreds of strangers became neighbours.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event defined our local identity,\u201d Porter said. <\/p>\n

\u201cA modest memorial serves as a quiet, respectful reminder of the importance of site safety and the preciousness of life in our shared public spaces. <\/p>\n

\u201cI go sit there with my coffee, my husband, our younger child, and we just sit there, and we talk to Tyler, we watch the ocean, we try to keep it a peaceful feeling there,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"AA tree at Arkles Bay has become a memorial for Tyler Porter and been decorated with lights, flowers and photos. Photo \/ Supplied\"TylerTyler Porter died aged 20 and his family went to install a memorial bench in his honour near the spot where his body was found. Photo \/ Supplied <\/p>\n

\u2018I lost all my identity\u2019<\/p>\n

Porter said after her son\u2019s \u201cheartbreaking accident\u201d, she started a Facebook blog called What Happens After to share his story and clear up the rumours she was hearing. <\/p>\n

Porter said her son was the kindest and gentlest kid she had ever known. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe just gave and gave and gave, but he never took,\u201d Porter said. <\/p>\n

She has shared emotional moments, such as the dream South Island road trip Tyler and his younger brother were planning for when he got his full driver\u2019s licence. <\/p>\n

She said the family still intended to undertake such a journey in his honour. <\/p>\n

Porter said the blog was also a way to show people the raw side of what happens when you lose a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really struggling. I look really strong on the outside. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also got another child who I have to show up for daily and keep going for,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"TylerTyler Porter died weeks before his 21st birthday. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Porter said she was messaged \u201creally unkind things\u201d about her son and his death, without people realising the impact it had on her. <\/p>\n

\u201cI lost all my identity because like a part of me is literally gone,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Porter said people who were involved in the search still reached out and spent time at his tree, including the man who found her son. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know a lot of these people, but now, like hundreds and hundreds of people have just become a big part of our family,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Porter believes her son\u2019s death and the community response met that criteria. She said a local board member…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[164052,51,9218,31867,6325,5205,7558,14134,6179,180715,18791,2082,7810,19872,6805,6178,2721,111,43,139,69,31946,25057,170408,22639,24465,4518],"class_list":["post-337468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-21st","tag-auckland","tag-before","tag-bench","tag-birthday","tag-council","tag-councils","tag-decision","tag-died","tag-disapprove","tag-fighting","tag-for","tag-may","tag-memorial","tag-memory","tag-mother","tag-mum","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-petitions","tag-porter","tag-reassess","tag-son","tag-tyler","tag-weeks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}