Month: December 2014

New Service Centre Designed For Customers First

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Bledisole Service Centre has customers in mind

 

From Auckland Council:

New service centre puts the customer first

 

Opened today, the new Bledisloe Lane service centre – the first of its kind for local government in New Zealand – offers Aucklanders a state-of-the-art approach to meeting their customer needs.

With a focus on making it easier to do business with council, it features the latest technology and services not previously available and offers enhanced face to face interaction.

Customers are greeted by a concierge who can direct them to the service they require or they can do it themselves at one of the easy to use self-service kiosks.

There is also free wifi, people can order property information, and be connected by phone to other council departments for further assistance, or talk to staff in comfortable seated areas.

The challenge was to de-mystify complex council processes. The changes follow extensive research into what customers wanted and follow the latest retail industry trends and best practice here and overseas.

“Providing customers with options is at the heart of what we are trying to do,” says Councillor Christine Fletcher. “Depending on your individual needs, you can choose to use self-service kiosks for easy-to-understand information on council processes, making payments and doing research, or you can talk face-to-face with knowledgeable staff,” she says.

Becoming easier to deal with and raising customer service levels is key to meeting Aucklanders’ expectations of their council, according to Cr Fletcher.

The décor is far cry from what some might expect from a local authority – with bright colours and themes which reflect Auckland’s diverse communities and lifestyle.

This is council’s flagship service centre, serving not just central city residents and ratepayers but thousands across the region who visit the city daily for work and pleasure.  An estimated 90,000 people are employed in the central city.

The visit is made more welcoming by the ongoing changes to the Bledisloe Lane walkway, linking to the shared space of Elliott Street. When complete the new Bledisloe Lane will feature new paving, additional seating and cycle parking and a re-modelled canopy to make it a lighter and more inviting place.

More light and removing the alcoves will improve the lane’s safety with less opportunity for anti-social activity.

A pocket park at the Wellesley Street entrance will also open in the new year.

“The changes are good news for the many customers of the lane’s businesses such as the NZ Post, Kiwibank and the Metro Centre,” according to Cr Fletcher. “We are very grateful for the patience shown by both the businesses and their customers during construction,” she says.

The new service centre replaces the one in the Civic Building, which has now closed.

 

Further Information

The improvements to the customer service centre represent a long term investment and will inform changes elsewhere in the region, as and when other service centres require upgrading. The cost of the new service centre, including all the new customer touch points was $800,000.

During the holiday period, the new service centre will be closed from midday 24 December until 8am 5 January 2015.

—ends—

 

Unitary Plan Hearings Update (15/12/2014) – UPDATE #1

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Council Nutted Over Greenfield Releases

 

I am observing the Unitary Plan hearings currently under way in which the Panel is covering ‘Urban Growth.’

Currently the full panel is hammering Auckland Council over both the Rural Urban Boundary itself as well as Greenfield releases. Specifically around how the releases would be done and would the releases mitigate against land banking.

But the big revelation came from Council after Panel Member Shepard (http://www.aupihp.govt.nz/profiles/#panel) finally managed to get out them this:

Council to the Panel: “we’ve (Auckland Council) always been reactive and not having the budgets to service development”

 

Council was long warned on both those particular matters especially being reactive rather than proactive around infrastructure provisions. I distinctly remember early in the Unitary Plan debates in 2013 that we should be proactive rather than reactive with infrastructure provisions (amongst other things) but our Deputy Mayor, and Chief Planning Officer didn’t want a bar of it for being afraid of running into infrastructure surpluses rather than deficits as current.

In my opinion being proactive would not result in an infrastructure surplus. To get that you need a total economic collapse like the USA went through with the Global Financial Crisis which killed off many new Greenfield developments still sitting idle today and giving rise to that surplus. Auckland right now is not teetering on such collapses so we should be getting proactive rather than be reactive which proves to be more expensive as the Council is commenting now on not having the budgets.

UPDATE #1

Well this is interesting:

Fuller: Has there been a detailed economic study on house price on the compact urban form?
Fairgray No

No wonder why Council has at the moment buried the Cost of Growth Study until next year after it was meant to be released this month. It seems Council has NOT done any detailed economic studies on house prices via the compact city model….

 

Lessons for Sydney here as it embarks on its own Sydney Plan (A Plan For Growing Sydney)

 

Auckland to Celebrate 175 Years

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Come celebrate all things that are – well Auckland

 

From Auckland Council:

Launching Auckland’s 175th birthday weekend

 

Come and celebrate the 175th anniversary of Auckland, from Saturday 24 to Monday 26 January. 

Auckland Council and ASB are partnering to transform Shed 10 and Queens Wharf to give Aucklanders a glimpse into our past across the three days of Auckland Anniversary weekend 2015.

Mayor Len Brown says “Auckland is coming of age, and you can feel a renewed sense of pride in our place and ourselves. The 175th anniversary is an important milestone for us so we’re looking forward to celebrating with an event reflecting who we are and what makes Auckland proud.”

The centre-piece of the event is a large-scale, never-seen-before, immersive multimedia exhibition which is a tribute to Aucklanders who have played a significant part in the region’s history. The exhibition, produced by acclaimed Creative Director Mike Mizrahi, features stories told on screen about the people who have shaped Auckland; and stories of Tamaki Makaurau will unfold in a live story-telling zone.

Quay Street will be closed to traffic, and as people arrive on Queens Wharf they will walk through an historic archway designed to mark this significant moment in the city’s history. Then the wharf – including Shed 10 and The Cloud – will come alive with entertainment and historical displays that will take people back in time.

A highlight of the weekend will be Sunday evening’s free concert from the HMNZS Otago – berthed alongside Queens Wharf. Curated by Tama Waipara, a selection of bands will bring a local flavour to the celebration. The concert will conclude with a spectacular fireworks display from barges in the harbour and from the Sky Tower. All three days will feature buskers, a waka display in the harbour, photographic exhibition, vintage cars lining Quay St, markets, food vendors and more.

“Since Sir John Logan Campbell and James Dilworth opened New Zealand’s first savings bank in Auckland in 1847, the histories of ASB and Auckland have been inexorably linked,” explains Barbara Chapman, ASB’s Chief Executive.

“Given ASB has been a key part of Auckland for over 165 years, we are proud to be working with Auckland Council to celebrate with everyone Auckland’s amazing journey to becoming the world-class city it is today.”

Mayor Brown adds; “We want everyone to come join the celebrations as we look back at a rich history, celebrate our diverse cultures and acknowledge some of those who have made Auckland great.”

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Further Information

  • Queens Wharf events are FREE to the public from:

o   Saturday 24 January: 10am – 6pm

o   Sunday 25 January: 10am – 10pm (approx.)

o   Monday 26 January: 10am – 6pm

 

  • Shed 10 multimedia exhibition opening times:

o   Saturday 24 – Monday 26 January: 12pm – 6pm daily

o   Exclusive ASB customer access: daily 10am – 12pm

 

  • HMNZS Otago open Saturday from 10am – 6pm / Sunday from 10am-3pm.
  • HMNZS Otago concert, Sunday 25 January, 5.30pm – 9.30pm.
  • Harbour/Sky Tower Fireworks display, 9.30pm Sunday 25 January.
  • The Auckland 175th Anniversary weekend event on Queens Wharf and Quay St will be alcohol-free.
  • Quay St will be closed to traffic from lower Albert St to Commerce St across the whole weekend.
  • Other events happening at Auckland’s waterfront over Anniversary Weekend include; Auckland Regatta, SeePort, ASB Auckland Seafood Festival, International Buskers Festival, and St Jerome’s Laneway Festival.

The Auckland 175th Anniversary weekend event is also supported by a family of sponsors including:

  • ASB
  • Downer
  • Imersia
  • Oceania/Spyglass
  • Image Centre Group/Aaque Graphics
  • Ports of Auckland
  • RNZN

 

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Providing the weather holds that weekend it should be a ball celebrating Auckland’s 175 years – young!

 

So When Will the Police Apologise For This Utter Failing?

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Britomart Chaos Unacceptable

 

By now you would have seen the reports doing the rounds of a brawl breaking out at Britomart Station on Saturday night after the Christmas in the Park, and Raggamuffin events were concluded.

You can see the Herald report here:

Marauding youths shut down Britomart station

By Sam Boyer, Mathew Dearnaley 6:10 PM Sunday Dec 14, 2014

Youths jumped up on turnstiles during the confrontation. Image / Facebook

Dozens of marauding youths brought Auckland trains to a halt last night as hundreds of people converged on Britomart to get home after Christmas in the Park.

Police and security guards closed access to the Super City’s main railway station soon after 11pm after 30 to 40 youths climbed on top of turnstiles and began pushing and shoving each other on the platforms.

A video on Facebook captured some of their behaviour, showing them taunting and making aggressive gestures to the guards.

A heavy sign was thrown across the turnstiles at the guards before police arrived to restore order.

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Source and full article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11374116

 

The gates at Britomart themselves were the device as well as the guards and Maori Wardens that kept that brawl from spreading out of control.

But questions of the police need to be asked especially after a video emerged on Facebook showing the brawl going for five long minutes and still no police on the platform level. So to the Commander of Waitemata Police:

  1. Why were their no police on the main platform level after the events has concluded to act as a visible deterrence
  2. Why were their no police heavily patrolling outside the Britomart McDonalds where the rolling brawl started to both stop the brawl there and prevent it going down to the main platform levels
  3. Why after the brawl spread to the Britomart Platform level there was absolutely no police on that platform to break it up. A video clip shows the brawl going for five minutes and no police
  4. Why was there no squad ready with paddy wagon and dogs ready for instant deployment in such an event
  5. Why did the intelligence unit not pick up on the volatility of this before it happened or are they to busy pinging journalists critical of the Government?
  6. Why no arrests

The video is here: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=857078164313656&pnref=story

 

This not the first time the police have failed to respond to such incidents at a pubic transport stop or station.

 

Our public transport is meant to be safe so people especially families will use it but if the police can not do its job in deterrence and busting of such disturbances it does not give confidence to the rest of the City and tourists when we do hold large events. Furthermore the main platform level is a dangerous place if bad behaviour occurs on that level. Falling onto the tracks sober will hurt as is, falling onto the tracks drunk and no control is not going to be a pretty sight especially if head hits the iron. Also train movements is enough to put things at higher risks of an accident before control manages to bring all such movements to a halt.

I have noted this is not also the first time Christmas in the Park has resulted in drunken behaviour either. That situation faces a very easily solution: either we tell our peers to get themselves back in order or face Council dropping the ban hammer on the event. A pity a few spoil it for the rest so we might be wanting to better self police our peers before an authority does it for us with a blunt instrument…

As a comparison the NRL 9’s earlier this year was a very busy event but no reports of major issues as we saw on Saturday night. So Auckland can get its collective self together…

 

And so then who will be held to account for this ball dropping?

 

Internet Mana : the divorce

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All I can say some things are best left now to the confines to the (and in this case) the bins of History

jononatusch's avatarOccasionally Erudite Publications

So the Internet Mana Party is no more. As 3Newsreports, a letter has been sent to the Electoral Commission to confirm that the relationship has been terminated.

It’s hardly surprising. Given Kim Dotcom’s post-election acceptance that he’d poisoned the public mood against Internet Mana, it was only a matter of time before the Mana Movement and the Internet Party parted ways.

Admittedly, just before I headed to Melbourne last weekend, disappearing off the social media grid and ignoring the existence of news from the homeland, there were strange reports of the Internet Mana Party intending to soldier on through in unity to 2017, of Dotcom intending to continue his role as Internet Party puppet master, and of Dotcom preparing to export his failed Internet Party experiment to the United States.

Nonetheless, Dotcom had previously been bewailing his supposed technical insolvency. Given that the lure of the Internet Party for…

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