But what does Auckland think?
And what does the Mayor say?
Source: pic.twitter.com/vjQZfMUeex
Mayor Len Brown has no doubt started the Main Stream Media offensive as we approach January 23 when we begin consultation for the draft 2015-2025 Long Term Plan.
Today two written articles have come up with I believe an interview to occur later today around Auckland and the Mayor’s goals for 2015.
Starting with the NZ Herald:
Auckland: We’re in the top 10 – how we can rise even more
5:00 AM Tuesday Jan 6, 2015 – Jamie MortonAuckland mayor Len Brown sets out his vision of how to get city out of second gearTransport, transport, transport – that’s what Mayor Len Brown has set his sights on this year in the quest to make Auckland the world’s most liveable.
Mr Brown yesterday laid out his vision for Auckland in 2015, with hope of a major pace-change in sorting out the big issues that had held it back in previous international performance rankings.
Transport was clearly the No1 priority for Aucklanders, who could expect to end a decades-long wait for a better network as major upgrades came online.
The most important remained the City Rail Link, which would unlock the transport network across Auckland and provide potential for another 20 million rail trips each year. This year could see the first of the $280 million enablement works of the link, scheduled to be operational by the start of the next decade.
But continuing investment across all forms of transport was needed to keep Auckland moving, he said.
The proposed harbour bridge SkyPath could be a “game changer” for cycling in the city, while busways, which took the lion’s share of public transport use, would be improved under three years of new development. Added to that were the other two major roading projects – the Waterview Connection and the proposed second harbour crossing – and a range of other upgrades on city motorways.
“The issue for us is going to be not letting our old ways constrain us, and to get out there and invest now,” he said.
“But the ratepayers being able to afford the level of investment is critical, so that’s why the debate early this year on how we fund transport will be one of the most critical in the history of our city.”
He also wanted to see Auckland’s housing affordability and availability improve, and efforts to attract visitors through events to continue.
How we rank
• 10th: In The Economist Intelligence Unit’s list of the most liveable cities (after Melbourne, Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Adelaide, Sydney, Helsinki and Perth).
• 3rd: In the 2014 Mercer Quality of Life Survey of liveable cities.
• 10th: In Lonely Planet‘s 2014 destination cities.
• 36th: In a 2014 survey by ECA International looking at the most expensive cities for expatriates in the Asia Pacific region.
………..
Source and full article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11382246
And from Radio NZ
Akl mayor wants 10 year transport deal
Updated at 10:26 am today
In the coming months Aucklanders will be asked by the city council whether they are prepared to face new taxes and charges, to pay for new transport projects that would otherwise be unaffordable.
Mr Brown said at the same time his priority for the year would be to push a new approach involving all of the parties involved in transport.
“My work at the beginning of the year is very much about bringing the Minister, his Government, our council, NZTA, Auckland Transport, and MOT into the same room to get a comprehensive agreement around what we want to fund, the projects we want to move forward, how well they’re integrated and try and put something in place for the next 10 years.”
Patrick Reynolds of Transportblog said that if Aucklanders agreed to the charges, the Government must make the necessary law changes.
“What’s at stake is the productivity of the city and that is the third of the country’s economy, and that it a national issue.
“The rest of New Zealand needs the Auckland economy to be strong.”
And you can hear more about this in Outspoken at half past five this evening on Radio New Zealand National.
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Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/263115/akl-mayor-wants-10-year-transport-deal
My own preliminary thoughts in the run up to the Long Term Plan consultation
UPDATE: The interview with the Mayor and others on transport funding (amongst other topics) on Radio NZ yesterday:
It will be interesting to see how the consultation goes and what Auckland really thinks. Could we beat the Unitary Plan’s 9000 submission count with this budget document? Will soon see I suppose
Talking Southern Auckland 
A comment on here I did not approve for it disobeyed two sets of rules:
Debate the point, not attack the person
Please do not go round and round and round with argument. If you want to go that extra mile, reference and link in some academic information and use that as “the weight of your argument”
Use the correct terms for the City Rail Link and debate it on its academic and economic points for or against the City.