I thought they were meant to be talking Precinct Properties and Queen Elizabeth Square?

 

The Auckland Development Committee Agenda for this month is up

 

I see the Precinct Properties and QEII Square debate is not back up on the agenda. According to briefings and comments the issues around Precinct Properties and Queen Elizabeth Square were meant to come back to the Auckland Development Committee (after a resolution back in  ) for further debate and direction.

I have gone back over previous posts and yes the Auckland Development Committee via resolution is meant to be discussing Queen Elizabeth Square after staff were directed to prepare an evaluation of the site.

A recap from May

QE-II Square and What It Means for the Metropolitan Centres

Ben Ross / May 24, 2014

 

…..

More importantly these were the resolutions from the Auckland Development Committee in regards to Queen Elizabeth Square and the potential of it being sold to Prescient Properties:

 

That the Auckland Development Committee:

a) approve in principle the disposal of land on which Queen Elizabeth Square stands as part of the wider redevelopment of the Downtown Shopping Centre block subject to the outcome of associated statutory public processes (road stopping and rezoning of the land).

b) agree to the sale only if the proceeds from the potential disposal of Queen Elizabeth Square are reinvested in new or enhanced public civic space/s that :

i. is of at least the same quantum and higher quality to the existing space
ii. is located either within or in reasonable proximity to the Downtown Shopping Centre block
iii. is capable of being delivered broadly at the same time as the permanent loss of the existing space.

c) direct staff to work with the Waitemata Local Board and Iwi on evaluating ‘offsite’ public civic space options with the findings to be considered by the Parks, Recreation and Sports Committee prior to being presented back to the Auckland Development Committee for approval in August.

d) agree to the sale of Queen Elizabeth Square being considered as part of the preparation of a Development Agreement between Auckland Transport, Auckland Council Property Limited and Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited on the basis that:

i. its final inclusion remains subject to statutory public processes (road stopping and rezoning of the land).
ii. the Development Agreement include conditions relating to the built form outcomes sought by council.

e) agree that any disposal of Queen Elizabeth Square is done so in the context of the overall master plan and its vision for the city centre and achieving world class outcomes befitting this unique space in the context of Auckland.

……

The Vote Split

For
Cr AJ Anae
Cr CE Brewer
Mayor LCM Brown
Cr WB Cashmore
Cr RI Clow
Cr LA Cooper
Cr CE Fletcher
Chairperson PA Hulse
Cr DA Krum
Cr CM Penrose
Cr D Quax
Cr SL Stewart
Cr JG Walker
Cr MP Webster

Against
Deputy Chairperson C Darby
Cr ME Lee
Member Ngamane
Member Smith
Cr WD Walker
Cr J Watson
Cr GS Wood

—————

…….

Source: https://voakl.net/2014/05/24/qe-ii-square-and-what-it-means-for-the-metropolitan-centres/

 

I might send an email off to the Deputy Mayor who is the Chair of the Auckland Development Committee and see where that evaluation has ended up.

 

I see that the Plan Changes that are being endorsed in the Committee. One of the Plan Changes is the Drury South Plan Change that would allow the creation of the heavy industry complex in southern Drury over time.

The report back on the amount of industrial and commercial land might stir a debate within the Committee and will be one to watch to see if the Councillors can grasp rather long or super long term planning in regards to land being available for large-scale employment centres. Remember I have said before that Council is good at zoning residential but rather slow in grasping the requirements to allow zoning and the subsequent establishment of commercial and industrial zones that would give rise to employment centres that is needed for Auckland’s long-term prosperity.

The Housing update will definitely cause a stir especially if affordable housing gets mentioned. However, I wonder if the debate will rehash the same old stuff as seen over the last four years?

The debate I would have like to have seen thought is the Special Housing Area Tranche Four item which is behind closed doors. The SHA’s previously have caused quite a bit of teeth gnashing and no doubt this fourth set will do the same. That said the Tranche’s usually go through the Governing Body for final “ratification” so we might see a glimpse of a debate there.

 

As per normal I will be running my Live Tweeting service from the open session of the Auckland Development Committee. The follow-up blog post from the Committee proceedings will be up the following day.