Month: April 2013

Karaka Unitary Plan Meeting

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From Karaka On The Unitary Plan

 

Monday night I trundled over to the Karaka Unitary Plan community meeting to listen up on what was in store for the folk over to the west of me. Karaka is only 15 minutes away from where I live and is also affected by the Southern Rural Urban Boundary decisions. So for me it was of particular interest to hear what the residents had to say. Of note most that were there do oppose the Karaka-Weymouth bridge, a point I will cover on Friday.

 

The Karaka meeting was a bit different to most that I have been to. This was their second meeting on the Unitary Plan and this time round they had pre-written questions and answers gathered from the first meeting. Thus the presentation and any subsequent questions from the floor were framed around the written material. Of note that the Karaka Residents Association has invited the Karaka Collective to speak on their submission to Karaka North and West being developed, and the building of the multi million dollar bridge. As of now, no word has been received from the Collective on that invitation although I do have their submission over in my KARAKA COLLECTIVE SHARES post.

 

Below is the combined written questions and answers as well as the presentation given to the Karaka Residents;

 

A reminder that there is consultation in May on the Rural Urban Boundary. BR:AKL will keep tabs on that specific consultation as it happens.

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

Council is Watching

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Council Watching Digital and Social Media

 

On Unitary Plan Commentary and Feedback

 

I saw this from the Auckland Unitary Plan – Submit Now Facebook page this morning and took a rather particular interest in it. Not that BR:AKL has been linked (although I send thanks for the link (and further advertisement of where I will be this week with Unitary Plan community meetings)) but rather what Council is up to. I shall let the page do the explaining:

From Character Coalition:
Last week, as part of the Coalition’s action plan in the weeks to the end of May, we focused on encouraging your organisation’s members to contact your local MPs about the Government’s RMA changes, which will embed the whole Unitary Plan submission/panel hearings process.

Some feedback on your actions last week would be very welcome.

ACTIONS FOR WEEK TWO
This week we need to concentrate on getting involved in the public conversations about the Unitary Plan – they are happening in several important arenas and are gathering momentum.

It’s important the Coalition’s perspective gets out there for two reasons:
1. The Council has stated that comment on blogs and social media will be counted as an official part of the Unitary Plan feedback process.
2. There are some very organised forces at work trying to influence the debate their way.
3. Council staff are constant participants/contributors to these blogs/tweets etc…

There are a number of ways you can get your members to jump in and become part of the ongoing debate:

Do you go online to look at media coverage of the debates about the plan? The Herald site in particular has a very active comments section. After each article is published, please comment and give your groups’ perspective. Encourage your members to do the same. You need to register to participate, but it is easy to do.

Some important blog sites –

Auckland Transport Blog http://saveourstheliers.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8c1a4f3e43d639102ebf718c&id=220a4e61e3&e=c50f52d98b. Geoff Houtman has just posted an article about trams!

Cities Matter, at http://saveourstheliers.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8c1a4f3e43d639102ebf718c&id=25c582b7cf&e=c50f52d98b

Ben Ross: Auckland at http://saveourstheliers.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8c1a4f3e43d639102ebf718c&id=8267307aec&e=c50f52d98b – he’s attending UP meetings all over Auckland and spreading his message

One to watch is Eye on Auckland http://saveourstheliers.us4.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=d8c1a4f3e43d639102ebf718c&id=6630d4584c&e=c50f52d98b. It has a rant about NIMBYs and some very vitriolic material on the St Heliers meeting. We can’t let this sort of misinformation go unchallenged so get on there and have your say.

If any of you are talkback fans it would be great to start some conversations on radio as well.

Keep local issues alive by writing to your local paper – letters to the editor generate debate

YOUR EFFORTS NOW ARE CRUCIAL
This “feedback/submissions” stage, finishing at the end of May, is extremely important.
Because it’s easier to try and influence a draft plan than to get changes made once it’s notified.

I cannot stress to you enough that this battle will be won only if we mobilise right across the Coalition.
The Council must be made to feel the heat all over the region.

Feel confident that your action makes a difference, get your members into gear and make the Coalition message visible across Auckland.

MAIN POINTS TO STRESS
• The timetable is far too rushed, given size and complexity of UP, remaining 6 weeks too short for informed public input.
• The plan will not protect heritage and character – lack of notification, scale and placement of intensification.
• Communities are still shut out of the process – no local plans, this is a ‘top-down-plan by the Council.
• Auckland’s infrastructure will not cope – where are the environmental impact reports?
• People do not trust the Council to get it right – look at the past.

These particular bold points are the ones to take note of:
  • The Council has stated that comment on blogs and social media will be counted as an official part of the Unitary Plan feedback process.
  • Council staff are constant participants/contributors to these blogs/tweets etc…

I know the last bullet point has been happening with the discussions I get into with Councillors and Planners through the digital outlets floating around. It is how I can convey messages and requests back quickly to the Council and Unitary Plan team, and vice versa from them to me.

As for commenting on blogs and social media, umm yeah well at this rate with that considered feedback then I have well and truly spammed Council with all my commentary on the UP thus far (and we still have 6-weeks to go).

 

 

But the point is rather indicative: Council is paying very wide attention to what is being said around the city with the Unitary Plan. So come on folks, get in there and have your say – this is your city here.

I also better work on my “message” too, can’t go to mush here and go contradicting myself in all this (or doing David Shearer’s favourite game of umm, ooo, and ahh)

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

 

 

The Clunker and Me

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Where Ben is for the next round of Unitary Plan Community Meetings

 

One thing that I have been doing with the Unitary Plan is that I have been travelling as much as I can around the city attending the Unitary Plan community meetings. At these community meetings I will usually take a seat and take notes while observing the meeting quietly. Once the meeting is done I will often go one to one with either: planners, councillors, Local Board members, the Deputy Mayor (no luck there yet 😛 ), and/or residents and discuss aspects of the Unitary Plan at both local and regional level. Sometimes I might put forward my alternative to get the creative juices flowing in which the residents will have a very good yarn (a productive one at that) on what they like to see both local and regional, as well as concerns (often transport and over-intensification in the centres).

The following day I will usually follow-up with BR:AKL commentary and a round of “spam” on social media depending on what is going on with The Clunker.

Next week I return back to my home in Southern Auckland with the next round of community meetings focusing in the Manurewa and Papakura Local Board areas. Between now and May 1 I have four meetings to attend to here in the south followed by a presentation that I am going to be giving in Orakei next month on – yep The Unitary Plan. Also I have my usual Transport Committee and Auckland Transport Board meetings I trundle along too as well as I keep the spotlight still shining in that particular direction

So this is where I will be between April 15 and May 1

  • April 15 – Monday: Karaka Hall on most likely the RUB, existing urban development, and transport. With the Karaka Collective from this area and in support of the Karaka North and West RUB development option, and the Weymouth-Karaka Bridge; we should be hearing from them in putting their argument forward why those options should happen. 
  • April 16 – Tuesday: Council Transport Committee at Town Hall. Some developments and going-ons need to be kept tabs of especially around the Manukau South (Rail) Link and our flagging rail patronage. While I am not speaking this time around I will be sure to remind AT and the Committee of the situations.
  • April 17 – Wednesday:  Telstra Clear Events Centre (now Vodafone Events Centre) with the topics on intensification and transport. Manurewa town centre being classed as a Town Centre (so up to eight storeys) in the Unitary Plan is bound to stir the over-intensification debate there. As for transport – well getting reliable and accessible public transport would be a nice start for most of the community. 
  • April 18 – Thursday: Weymouth Primary School on round two of the Unitary Plan and transport – more to the point that Karaka-Weymouth Bridge. I will be in attendance for that one as I have commented on this very extensively here at BR:AKL previously and gone one to one with planners and residents over this. Now I do have an alternative to stave off this bridge for 30 years while still getting RUB development and even a bonus regional park if Council pulls finger. I have also been receiving documents and comments from both sides of the bridge debate either putting their case forward or clarifying a point. It is of note to the Karaka Collective at this point and time I can not support the development of Karaka North and West, nor the bridge due to both have greater detrimental affect to the wider sub-region of Southern Auckland than the benefits supposedly received if this particular option and bridge went through. However you can still state your case and try to convince me on how the benefits would out-weight the costs.
  • May 1 – Wednesday: Alfriston Hall on zoning. Oh those residential and business zones are causing so much grief and debate across Auckland through the draft Unitary Plan it is not funny. Time to have a good thrashing analysis of these zones and get some sense and sanity back into them so that we can truly get a more liveable city
  • May 2 – Orakei (confirmed): Presentation on Special Character Zones – how the one size fits all brush in regards to centres will not work and the introduction of The Special Character Zone.

 

 

Unitary Plan commentary continues as does my actual submission to this part of the Unitary Plan feedback process as the plan draws closer to be coming operative (whenever that might be).

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

Figures on Auckland Land Use

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What Percentage is Our Land Used For

 

I sent a question to Auckland Council on what proportion of our land was used in what per Unitary Plan definitions. After the council geo-spatial specialists crunched some numbers this is what was sent back to me:

From Shape Auckland (shapeauckland.co.nz)

 

Our Geospatial specialists have looked into this for you. I’ve included the breakdown of all the zones since it makes quite interesting reading.
Unitary Plan Zone (%)

 

  • Single House 2.89
  • Mixed Housing 3.52
  • Terrace Housing and Apartment Building 0.49
  • Large lot 0.77
  • Rural and Coastal Settlement 0.39
  • Neighbourhood Centre 0.03
  • Local Centre 0.04
  • Town Centre 0.09
  • Metropolitan Centre 0.08
  • City Centre 0.11
  • Mixed Use 0.20
  • Business Park 0.02
  • General Business 0.05
  • Light Industry 0.94
  • Heavy Industry 0.37
  • Rural Coastal 16.66
  • Rural Conservation 2.52
  • Rural Production 47.41
  • Mixed Rural 1.79
  • Countryside Living 5.84
  • Marina 0.04
  • Minor Port 0.01
  • Mooring 0.30
  • Public Open Space – Conservation 7.24
  • Public Open Space – Informal Recreation 1.76
  • Public Open Space – Civic & Community 0.02
  • Public Open Space – Sport & Active Recreation 0.64
  • Special Purpose 1.08
  • Future Urban 0.28
  • Strategic Transport Corridor 0.59
  • Road 3.84

 

A thank you and appreciation to Auckland Council and their geo-spatial specialists for compiling that data. And yes it does make for an interesting read, especially when road dwarfs out quite a bit of the individual urban zones.

 

I shall tell a look at these numbers some more and ponder over them but for the most part, well over of 60% of our land is not urbanised.