Council will soon find itself short on support unless it does change tack

I am not the only one warning the Council on the perceptions (and realities) of investment towards the City Centre versus suburban rural Auckland. Initially I sent a written question to Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse who is also Chair of the Auckland Development Committee, and Urban Design Champion Ludo Campbell-Reid at the fist Downtown Auckland Update (something that is meant to be a regular occurrence) which stated:

Context Question: Are these downtown development projects part of the City Centre Master Plan being implemented? (the answer was yes)

Substantive Question: When will wider Auckland see similar dedication and focus that the City Centre, Downtown and Waterfront are all getting in terms of plans and development projects.

That is when will we see public announcements and media briefings like the one today for Downtown on something like the launch of the Manukau City Centre Master Plan, or the Henderson Metropolitan Centre Plan or any one of the other but often forgotten about Metropolitan Centres which play inaugural part of binding wider Auckland together.

Yes the City Centre is the heart of the Auckland Region but  it can be argued Auckland has a few hearts. Such as Manukau as the heart for South Auckland, Henderson for the West, and in the future Albany for the north. So  quoting the Deputy Mayor in that Manukau needs loving, when will that love come out the Metropolitan Centres (the Town Centres I believed are going to be covered in the Area Plans that are on their way so not particular interested in the Town Centres in this question) especially as it seeming resentment is growing against a perceived pro CBD policy at the expense of the wider region.

The West Auckland recent issues have given further stress and emphasis to getting places like our Metropolitan Centres up to spec so that local communities have thriving hubs that would mitigate (but not entirely eliminate and I know that as a Geographer) deprivation issues the South and West are facing.

So maybe we might see yourselves (Penny and Ludo) outside a Metropolitan Centre in the near future doing an announcement like the briefing today for Downtown before the end of the year?

—ends—

I am still awaiting a reply from both of them on that question.

After the written question I followed up with a presentation to the July Auckland Development Committee (hmm it says June ah well was given in July) which can be seen below:

Just recently I gave an interview on the All About Auckland show about the Southern Initiative in which again I raised concerns on information availability and so on. You can see the 15 minute interview HERE (need to register but it is free).

Fast forward to July 16 and we now have other active residents of Auckland asking the exact same questions I have over the City Centre versus the rest of Auckland.

From Facebook (was a public mode post)

The comments

Further comments with my warning again

• Ben Ross Penny it is coming back down to perceptions again, something I have warned multiple times since November with the Southern Initiative as an example as well as just recently in my presentation with the Metro Centres. As I told Labour: When the Spin is wide of the mark (the truth) it is important to get on top of the spin control otherwise regardless of the truth is it wont matter.You have seen what happens when BernardOrsman writes something totally to the contrary of the actual situation and it takes the blogs and CouncilComms ages to get the situation back on track. We saw that with the Unitary Plan and are beginning to see it over the Long Term Plan (mind you the CEO delivered apearler in reply)Now we now the City Centre pays a targeted rate and a heavy one at that.
  Maybe in the next City Centre update (due August?) that I hope is with the media again maybe CFO can release some hard numbers on the targeted rate and how it works in paying towards improvements like Quay Street. An easy way to put it as Quay Street would be CAPEX is how much % of the Quay Street project would come from the targeted rate and how much from general rates.

  Like · Reply · 3 · Yesterday at 08:34
• Andy Cawston Agree. I’m happy to see the CBD looking nice. I’ll be properly ecstatic when our suburban towns like Henderson and Glen Eden are properly revitalized and become vibrant once again. Ever since Amalgamation they have been largely ignored and left to rot.

  Like · Reply · 1 · 21 hours ago · Edited

It is coming back down to perceptions again, something I have warned multiple times since November with the Southern Initiative as an example as well as just recently in my presentation with the Metro Centres. 

As I told Labour: When the Spin is wide of the mark (the truth) it is important to get on top of the spin control otherwise regardless of the truth is it wont matter.

Perception! If that perception begins to run away because the Council has not dealt to it (and no Planner Penny Pirrit’s answer at the Committee was not dealing with it as all those projects mention are legacy era plans and we should be winding up all legacy era projects and beginning plans that match the new era post 2010 when the Council and Super City was born) then as I said in regards to Orsman the truth wont matter in the end.

From the murmurings going around that perception is beginning to take hold. First as isolated pockets around the City but once dots start joining (social media is a good way of doing that quickly) and you get the snowball effect the Council will find itself very quickly offside.

And regardless of the actual truth it wont matter as that perception takes hold (especially if more allied media is also put offside thus no countenance available).

So again: When maybe we might see yourselves (Penny and Ludo) outside a Metropolitan Centre in the near future doing an announcement (that is not legacy era related) like the briefing for Downtown before the end of the year?

The clock is ticking