Category: Hot Discussion

An issue causing hot discussion either here in the blog or in the wider community

Unitary Plan Information Dump

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For Your (Tortured Reading)

 

This is a reference to quick easy access to the some of the paper trail that is being presented in the now 5-day Unitary Plan proceedings.

Remember for fast updates on the day’s proceedings, keep tabs with @BenRoss_AKL on Twitter.

 

Auckland Plan Committee 28-30 Aug Agenda

APC Recommendations

What is passed here makes up the UP that goes out for formal notification

APC Additional Information

APC Resident Zones in Seven Local Board Areas

APC: The Rural Urban Boundary

APC: RUB for Massey, Flat Bush and Takanini

APC Residential Zones in part of Rodney Local Board Area

 

The Entire Unitary Plan (Clean) Amended Version

Broken down by PDF and in chapters and sub chapters

http://www.filefactory.com/f/c610f210fe21fea0

 

I will get presentations up by the weekend. Councillor Hartly’s defeated amendments I will upload on request.

 

Unitary Plan Updates – Day 1

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Long and Only One Actual Decision Made

 

If I was to give a one line summary of Day One of the Unitary Plan proceedings it would be this:

Elect Councillors who know how to give 30 second speeches. Anything beyond that is always irrelevant dribble stuck on a Merry-Go-Round with the Emergency Stop Button busted.

Okay a bit more than a single line but the sums up yesterday after only one major resolution (out of a few pages worth (which I will stick up in a moment)) was passed and we have only two days left.

I will not be present at Day Two of the Unitary Plan proceedings today. I will be on TotaRim business in Manukau today advancing the Manukau Super Metropolitan Centre concept with potential stakeholders. Tomorrow I might be back at Town Hall depending on today’s outcomes both in Manukau and at Town Hall. However, if Councillors are that damned slow in getting through the recommendations I might consider Friday a write off entirely and go do something else.

 

So what did we get out of Day One? Well two three things.

Starting with Councillor Brewer’s shameless motion to effectively kill off the three day proceedings and stall it until November 30. This was his motion which he tried to get through but failed on a vote of 6-15 (and thankfully):

My amendment by 15 votes to 6:

 

Brewer/Fletcher: “That the Auckland Plan Committee delays its decision until November to approve the notification of an amended  draft of the Auckland Unitary Plan to allow the local body elections to conclude, and to give the newly publicly mandated second term council the opportunity to review and seek advice, and to allow the wider community and stakeholders more time and input on the latest revised changes and significant new information still emerging.”

 

The 6 that voted for this were: Brewer, Fletcher, Lee, Stewart, Quax and one other (but can’t be seriously bothered digging that up).

 

Once that shameless motion was defeated soundly the Committee moved onto Residential provisions in the Unitary Plan – which we are still on as I write this very post today.

Basically what the Councillors are trying to do is get through all these recommendations (embedded below) so that the Unitary Plan can be decided on September Five whether to be notified or not.

These are the recommendations the Auckland Plan Committee are trying to get through:

 

The only recommendations that passed yesterday were the following:

  • A
  • B
  • L – which was amended to allow 10% “affordable” housing in a Greenfield development area – not the original 7%. It is to note that the amendment only passed on a vote of 11-9

 

For more “fast” updates check my Taking Auckland Facebook page or @BenRoss_AKL Twitter link. There is really no point doing a 5000 word post on giving the breakdown of yesterday’s proceedings believe me. Not unless you want to share my utter pain of being stuck on a Merry-Go-Round stuck on fast with the emergency button busted…

 

In saying this with Day Two, I will be keeping tabs on the live video feed and will Tweet happenings as they happen – if they happen today. The live feed can be found here http://www.allaboutauckland.com/

 

Oh one thing seeming we are dealing with the Residential provisions in the Unitary Plan. I have a copy of all of Councillor Ann Hartley’s amendments to these residential provisions in the Unitary Plan. Councillor Hartly seems to have done a total U-Turn on her stances – owing most likely to being “influenced” by lobby groups possibly like Auckland 2040. I will get the amendments up today on Scribd for your viewing ASAP.

 

More Unitary Plan Updates and documents will be posted later today and tomorrow. However Manukau business must be attended to.

TALKING AUCKLAND

Talking Auckland: Blog of TotaRim Consultancy Limited

TotaRim Consultancy
Bringing Well Managed Progress to Auckland and The Unitary Plan

Auckland: 2013 – YOUR CITY, YOUR CALL

 

 

Related articles

 

Unitary Plan – The Final Countdown

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VOAKL Reporting Live

Morning Auckland and beyond

 

NOTE; The Tracked Changes and Clean Version of the Amended Unitary Plan is over 600MB in size. This makes it hard to upload easily. However, I will have them up and notify you when I do.

-Ben-

 

Today starts the three day super marathon where the Councillors and the Independent Maori Statutory Board begin the final decisions on the Draft Unitary Plan. These decision will solidify the next version of the UP that will go to the Governing Body on September 5. At that September 5 meeting the Council will decide either:

  • A date on formal notification (which at the minimum can be four weeks after the Governing Body meeting itself)
  • Send the Unitary Plan back to the Auckland Plan Committee for further refinement

VOAKL will be reporting Day One live as it happens via both the blog and Facebook/Twitter.

I also have a copy of the 7000 pages of tracked changes that the Committee will be going through over the three days that I will be using to follow this line by line. I will try to get the 7000 pages up later tonight.

Comments and thoughts can be left in the comment box below. I will be moderating if required (so be civil).

 

Related articles

Here We Go – The Unitary Plan

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Final Countdown until September 5

 

September 5 is when the Governing Body of Auckland Council will formally decide whether to set a date for formal notification of the Unitary Plan (lead-in time will be four weeks if so) or, have the draft sent back to the Auckland Plan Committee for more refinement.

 

But yes, the final countdown is on with August 28-30 being the three days where the Auckland Plan Committee sets the decisions that will make up the draft Unitary Plan for September 5.

From Auckland Council:

Decisions to be made on Unitary Plan changes 

Next week councillors will make decisions on changes to the draft Auckland Unitary Plan before it is notified for public submissions.

 Changes to the plan are based on approximately 22,000 pieces of feedback received from individuals, businesses, community groups and experts, when the plan was released as a draft for 11 weeks of informal engagement. 

“Councillors together with our local board chairs have attended 22 Unitary Plan workshops in the last eight weeks to discuss issues raised by Aucklanders and to consider where changes were needed,” says Auckland Plan Committee Chair, Penny Hulse. 

“This extensive process has involved many hours of discussions and debate and we have come a long way towards resolving most of the big issues. The Auckland Plan Committee meetings are the next step in the process, where councillors will make formal decisions on the changes and a recommendation on notification.” 

Councillors have received a report outlining all key changes as well as an amended version of the draft Unitary Plan. This information is also now available to the public on Auckland Council’s website as an attachment to the Auckland Plan Committee agenda. 

The Auckland Plan Committee meetings will run from Wednesday to Friday next week (28-30 August).

 

—–ends—-

Of course I will be there all three days reporting live from Town Hall as the Council grinds its way through the formal decisions that will set the draft Unitary Plan ready for September 5 – and arguably formal notification.

The Council website containing the agenda and Section 32 Analysis (required by the Resource Management Act 1991) can be found HERE.

The agenda thus far can be found in the embed at the bottom of this post.

I have also requested a copy of the amended version of the Draft Unitary Plan that the Councillors will be discussing over the three-day period. It is formidable in size but I will see if I can upload it somehow for your viewing too.

The Agenda

 

TALKING AUCKLAND

Talking Auckland: Blog of TotaRim Consultancy Limited

TotaRim Consultancy
Bringing Well Managed Progress to Auckland and The Unitary Plan

Auckland: 2013 – YOUR CITY, YOUR CALL

 

Updates and Coming Ups

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All Go as we march towards September 5

 

Things are “quiet” at the moment as we head towards September 5 – the day when the Governing Body (Council) either: sets a date for formal notification for the Unitary Plan or sends it back to the Auckland Plan Committee for more refinement after the elections (October 12).

Prior to September 5 though we have the final Auckland Plan Committee meetings to be held 28-30 August. These meetings will formally decide what from the 7000 pages of “tracked changes” made to the Unitary Plan goes into the next version of the UP that will be decided for notification. Of course I will be at the Auckland Plan Committee meetings running live commentary as the proceedings happen. Also once I receive a copy of the tracked changes I will see if I can upload it for those who wish to view it.

 

While we wait for all this to occur, feel free to brush up on the latest in the run up to September 5. As we call for level heads as the Councillors make these big decisions, a reminder what is at stake can be seen in these two posts:

 

The Congestion Free Network

Mayor Len Brown has met with representatives from Generation Zero and Auckland Transport Blog to discuss the overall narrative of the Congestion Free Network alternative (to the 2012 Integrated Transport Program). You can read ATB’s report on it here: Len Brown and the Congestion Free Network

Talking Auckland is supportive of this move and will be keeping a close eye on this as preparations are made for the 2015 Integrated Transport Program. Of course I wonder if they should be adding a line to Manukau from the south as the South Link continues to build momentum. The report on the South Link is due around November and I will be keeping tabs with Auckland Transport as time draws nearer.

 

Manukau Super Metropolitan Centre

Work continues to advance on restoring the love in Manukau. TotaRim and stakeholders are working together in preparing to draw up plans to present to Council on both the “theory” and “practical” fronts.

The theory front is getting the Super Metropolitan Centre definition inserted into the Unitary Plan. This is important for two reasons. First reason is that the SMC definition has wider implications to the city and allows Albany to be upgraded to that definition when they are ready to do so. The second reason is that the definition gives weight to the emphasis on social planning as well as physical planning. No point building a grand physical city centre if people identify it negatively now is there.

As for practical, this mean getting an Area Plan drawn up for Manukau and to be executed through the life of the Unitary Plan.

Updates will be posted as they occur with this being the most recent: Continued Advancement with Manukau and Southern Auckland

 

This brings to a close this round of updates. Talking Auckland will post the tracked changes of the Unitary Plan if possible to do so as soon as I receive a copy.

 

 

Unitary Plan – Towards Notification #2

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A Warning to the City

Slowing Down the Unitary Plan Will Come at a Great Cost to Auckland

 

As a part of a two-part mini-series I will be going over the Unitary Plan briefing to the media outlets (including Talking Auckland) that occurred yesterday .

In Part One (last post), Talking Auckland looked at: the Unitary Plan and where it has come thus far. Part One will also look at where next with the Unitary Plan – specifically August 28th to 30th and September 5th.

Part Two (this post) will look at one of the questions I asked in regards to the Unitary Plan: could it have been slowed down. Part Two will also serve a warning against those conservative Council candidates who think slowing the Unitary Plan down is a wise idea. Simply done in the name of a Better and Affordable Auckland, slowing down the Unitary Plan does nothing to achieve that. All it achieves is Central Government intervening – something the conservatives might be holding out for

 

Part Two: Could Have the Unitary Plan Been Slowed Down

 

The simple answer to that is NO! Now as this is meant to be running commentary I think I might need to give a bit more than the two letter simple answer.

I need not remind the City (as the Deputy Mayor has already done so countless times) that the Unitary Plan is different from the District Plans of old. With the District Plans the only time “we” – the City get a look and comment on a District Plan is when it was formally notified. Formal notification means formal submissions and a trip to a hearing – often the Environment Court. YUCK for 99% of the City that are not planners or RMA lawyers.

The Unitary Plan was different. We got given the “draft of the draft” where everyone could give feedback no matter who you were in Auckland. That means for the first time the City got to have a good look at the Unitary Plan and comment back on it. And comment back did Auckland do with 22,700 pieces of feedback, with independent commentary being led by this very blog!

As mentioned in Part One, the Council and Local Boards have since June 1 been going through our feedback and changing the Unitary Plan to reflect what we said. The changes that will be introduced to the Auckland Plan Committee and Local Boards will occur August 28th – although they and the media (including me) will have a copy of the tracked changes on Monday. And from there the formal decisions are set over three days (August 28-30th) with the Governing Body giving its final instructions on September 5.

 

This brings me to my warning to those conservatives who will try to slow down the Unitary Plan.

It was confirmed yesterday by the two Penny’s that there is nothing stopping a new Council after October 12 stalling or even withdrawing notification of the Unitary Plan, taking it apart and redoing it again.

Conservative Councillors and candidates, particularly those running in the Albert-Eden and the Tamaki-Maungakiekie Wards at the moment will try to hold out and see if they can get the numbers after October 12 to stall or withdraw the notification on the Unitary Plan (if the September 5 Governing Body meeting decided that the UP was to be notified – it still might not and order the new Auckland Plan Committee to review aspects again before notification).

If I had no confidence in the Unitary Plan as it is I would rally with the conservatives. However, as I do have confidence in the Deputy Mayor and the Unitary Plan I will be rallying against the conservatives who would stall the Unitary Plan out of interests of a small minority.

Yes, a very small minority in two ward areas that are trying to run conservative candidates in those areas. The other wards that could earn my ire have been more constructive. These Wards not attracting my ire include Orakei and most of the North Shore where Auckland 2040 is doing quite a bit of leg work with the Mixed Housing Zone split (to the benefit of the wider City).

If these conservatives get their way and stall the Unitary Plan this is what will happen. For every day the Unitary Plan is stalled is another day pushed back in the three-year notification process. For every day the notification is delayed is another day that fighting the Housing Affordability and Choice crisis is lost. And another day lost in fighting the Housing Affordability and Choice issues is another day of uncertainty in having the city progressed and us losing our best and brightest who want to stay but can not. I also need not remind the City that the Housing Accord’s Special Housing Areas do not come “online” until the Unitary Plan is notified. So stall the notification and you stall getting more houses and apartments being supplied to a growing city. Oh, and if the Unitary Plan is stalled for too long then the Minister for the Environment will intervene and the City really loses out to Wellington.

That is the risk the city runs if the conservatives get their way and stall the Unitary Plan. So, please, I ask you to be careful in the upcoming elections. If the Unitary Plan is stalled by these conservatives serving a small interest, it will come at a great cost to the city – especially the two areas that can ill afford it the most: The South and the West.

Also those who claim that they were shut out of the Unitary Plan process by being denied speaking rights on the UP over the last two months are dead wrong. As the Deputy Mayor confirmed yesterday and as I also know from experience, speaking rights were denied to those wishing to speaking on the UP during the last couple of months. The reason was uniform and straight forward from the Deputy Mayor on why. If one of us (the city) spoke after the feedback session then all 22,700 others could speak. Now 22,700 time five minutes of speaking plus five minutes of questions if the Councillors keep it brief equals – a three month delay. The Deputy Mayor did further say that speaking would be a duplication of what we said in our feedback. In any case I know two of us that did ask for speaking rights and were refused had a good chat or meeting with the Deputy Mayor (and planners) and both of us came away happy. Also  Auckland 2040 and myself have been busy advance both our causes on the side to positive results thus far – and a Better Auckland.

 

So we wait for the August 28-30th Auckland Plan Committee meetings as they set the decisions for the Unitary Plan, ready for September 5.

 

TALKING AUCKLAND

Talking Auckland: Blog of TotaRim Consultancy Limited

TotaRim Consultancy
Bringing Well Managed Progress to Auckland and The Unitary Plan

Auckland: 2013 – YOUR CITY, YOUR CALL

 

Local Government poster png mode

 

Unitary Plan Briefing

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Quite Heavy

 

I arrived back from the Unitary Plan briefing with the Deputy Mayor and the Unitary Plan Planner – the two Pennys just a little while ago. I am still digesting the information and will have something up tomorrow for your consumption.

The briefing and my subsequent commentary on the Unitary Plan will be split into two parts:

  1. Part One will look at the Unitary Plan and where it has come thus far. Part One will also look at where next with the Unitary Plan – specifically August 28th to 30th and September 5th
  2. Part Two will look at one of the questions I asked in regards to the Unitary Plan; Could it have been slowed down. Part Two will also serve a warning against those conservative Council candidates who think slowing the Unitary Plan down is a wise idea. Simply in the name of a Better and Affordable Auckland, slowing down the Unitary Plan does nothing to achieve that. All it achieves is Central Government intervening – something the conservatives might be holding out for

 

I believe Monday I also get a digital copy at 7000 pages of “tracked changes” applied to the Unitary Plan thus far. Anyone that uses Microsoft Word well enough knows what I mean by “tracked changes.” However, the actual Unitary Plan should be around 1200 pages long at a guess – so you can breathe that bit easier.

 

Right I better knuckle down and get this two-part commentary sorted 😀

 

Does Auckland Really Suck the Life Out of NZ?

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I Would Say Wellington Does – Hands Down

(Parliament that is)

 

Two notes before I start this post in reply to The Vote NZ’s supposed debate that occurred on Wednesday night:

  1. This is just me musing and posting my thoughts on this debate about the regions hurting while Auckland continues to “surge” ahead. I might later write a paper on the matter backed by primary research and my own findings
  2. Australia is just a consequence of actions or inactions here in NZ. People are free to come and go between Australia and NZ although I see more Kiwis are coming back to NZ at the moment.

 

On Wednesday night The Vote NZ decided to hold a debate on whether Auckland was sucking the life out of the regions (everywhere else) and what should basically be done about it.

I did not bother to watch as it turned out as I predicted: a Duncan Garner (the host) led JAFA bashing session of New Zealand’s largest and most powerful city. Then again I can’t expect much else out of Garner and his ineptness most days of the given week.

Look, I’ll keep this post brief; Auckland is not sucking the life out of the regions, Wellington is. That is the current Neo Conservative John Key led Government is with Steven Joyce as the Minister of Everything (Business, Innovation and Employment) and Gerry Brownlee as the Minister of Transport.

Our Neo Con Government basically does three things:

Economics

“Pick winners.” $30m subsidy for Rio Tinto’s Aluminium Smelter yet nothing for Solid Energy and Huntly. Interfere with the free market through getting in the road and picking winners through subsidies – most times the winner being sold overseas soon after or failing and needing prop up. If a company fails in the free market it usually (if there was demand) will rise again from the ashes and continue on. Let the private individual decide not Government. Our Neo Con Government also does not really have a regional development strategy in place to help the regions grow. Now it can do that in two ways: infrastructure upgrades, or either a Crown Research Institute or tertiary education facility somewhere near by. Businesses naturally flock to these areas including large and often heavy industry through complementing each other.

Infrastructure

Our Neo Con Government can not build our transport infrastructure to save both itself and NZ. While our State Highways do need to be maintained do we need to binge on the gold-plated Roads of National Significance? Of all of the RoNS that are there (7) I can only think of two that were needed at all – the Western Ring Route (under construction) and the Victoria Park Tunnel. Both in Auckland and both needed to assist Auckland move. For the rest, like the Holiday Highway, better and less expensive safety upgrades and bypasses can be built (like the Maramarua State Highway 2 bypass) rather than 4-lane motorways. Ironically I just saw this as I was writing this post: Motorway benefits debated. A virtual drain on both Auckland and the rest of the nation’s regions. As for other forms of transport, we need major investment in road and coastal shipping as well.

Taxes and Investment

We do hear the regions wail that they do not get their taxes they send to Wellington in the form of investment and blame Auckland for getting the “lion’s share.” News to the regions, Auckland does not even get all the tax it sends down back to the city into the form of investment. For every dollar we send down especially in transport and fuel levies, anywhere between 65-75cents comes back to Auckland in transport investment. That hurts us as much as it hurts the regions.

What to do?

First of all Auckland does not suck the life out of the regions. Auckland like Fonterra is a powerhouse. However, Auckland is also massive and of critical mass in size and population. Realise though, especially those who are quick to bash Auckland – which can contribute up to 40% of New Zealand’s GDP  (great if Fonterra takes any more whacks), Auckland and the regions are interdependent on each other. Not one over the other and independent of the other – interdependent! If one fails the other also fails.

Wikipedia: The sub-national GDP of the Auckland region was estimated at US$47.6 billion in 2003, 36% of New Zealand’s national GDP, 15% greater than the entire South Island.[54]

In my honest opinion the Government should be doing this:

Economics

Stop picking winners and sending money to places like Rio Tinto. It does nothing for the regions nor Auckland. It only helps a few and most likely an elite few at that. Allow the free market to work, create, burn, destroy, and recreate out of the ashes. Private individuals are responsive to the needs of others and often the economy, not the cumbersome Government.

People in a free market situation also move naturally to areas best suited to them and their requirements. For some that is Auckland and its offerings, others the regions and its offerings. When the Government does not interfere the movement of people and capital moves naturally, balancing itself between the interdependent regions and Auckland. Our Government has upset this natural balance.

Sure, the Government can help with education and mentoring people along BUT, no hand outs.

Infrastructure

Realise this for moving goods efficiently and economically:

  • Road and truck: small volumes and most efficient for short distance
  • Rail: medium volumes (can take the volumes of 100+ trucks) over medium and long distance
  • Coastal Shipping: large and bulk volumes over large distances (Auckland to Timaru for example)

Plan and build for this. This means upgrading the North Auckland Rail Line and building the Marsden Line to serve the North Port in Northland which is growing. Reopen the Napier-Gisborne Line as it can move logs much better and in higher volumes than trucks can. Make sure our coastal shipping facilities and inter-modal transfer (boat to train or truck) are in tip top shape. These water haulers move vast amounts of cargo in the most cost effective and efficient manner possible over a long distance.

Building the infrastructure also has a bonus effect: people wanting to set up a business to utilise that infrastructure and its benefits. This means that if the regions are well served by good roads (not gold plated ones), good rail connections and/or good coastal shipping connections then people, business and industry will naturally come and invest in that particular region (providing the government is not “picking” winners).

In building the infrastructure and as a flow on effect, neighbouring Local, City and Regional Councils start working together and plan growth and cooperation with each other – benefiting all. This working together between each other seems to be happening between Auckland and Waikato (although the Government is NOT building the complete infrastructure suite of road and rail).

It got mentioned to me that Auckland Council and Environment Waikato are talking and planning ways to set about achieving cooperation in planning as both areas continue to grow. Effectively what is being looked at is population load sharing – people move naturally out of Auckland and live in northern Waikato and work in Auckland. However, they might do their shopping in the regional town centre or even Hamilton city. This kind of movement is normal and seen internationally. It seems wise as Auckland grows to have the Waikato help us out in return for population load sharing. Both Waikato and Auckland win on all fronts: economic, social and physical.

In fact I might do some commentary on that this weekend – the Auckland-Waikato partnership and population load sharing. It does have effects on Manukau as well as an interesting issue,

Dollar for Dollar

This is easy; for every dollar we send down to Wellington in transport levies we get the same dollar back for transport investment – for regions and Auckland. Not for Holiday Highways but for actual transportation infrastructure suited to moving whatever we need to move to wherever most efficiently.

While not the full spiel and hot air of The Vote NZ, this is a quick look into what I think is happening and should actually be happening.

For Auckland is not sucking the life out of the regions, Steven Joyce and Gerry Brownlee are (sucking the life both out of the regions and Auckland combined).

More on the Waikato-Auckland partnership this weekend