Category: Planning

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Update on Manukau North Link

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Progress Does Happen Folks

 

You will remember in posts that I will be at Strategy and Finance Committee tomorrow giving my presentation on some questions I would like the Committee to ask Auckland Transport tomorrow in regards to the Manukau North Link. For express mode I’ll provide the link to those questions HERE for your reading. And before someone mentions it again I do realise the language was strong on page three of the question list. I do apologse for the strong language used there that was unintended when the questions were sent – the issue around Manukau is an emotive one especially for those living in the Manurewa, Papakura and Franklin Local Board areas.

 

But I do not want to get caught up with semantics here as I had a conversation with Auckland Council Principle Transport Planner – Josh Arbury after the Transport Committee this morning. I won’t delve into the conversation much as I will basically allow the committee to happen and have everything recorded on the official Minutes before commenting again. However Auckland Transport have seen my questions and done their homework and I am satisfied that (unless someone bungled the physical delivery of the answers) the questions will be answered adequately tomorrow. By adequate I mean that unless someone has a change of heart in the next 18 hours a compromise has been sort (as I actually did want) and for me – that cursed mast that is in the way of the potential South Link should be moved out of the road in the duplication works saving time and hassle later. As for operations (timetables) which were also asked in my questions, we will come to that bridge when it happens but at least AT are aware of concerns especially around the triple transfer with Pukekohe passengers until the electrics are able to get to Pukekohe.

 

Again I will delve into this tomorrow but those who use to remember the Otahuhu to Britomart Shuttles via the Eastern Line will be interested to know operations wise (although we shall get full clarification as such) but those shuttles will be basically back but extended to Manukau. These shuttles are extremely useful when running ahead of a Papakura or Pukekohe to Britomart service to take the pressure off the inner stations for those longer “full” services as those trains are usually full half way into the trip. The shuttles also done properly allow for high frequency of services at the inner stations which is a boon to passengers 😀

 

So tomorrow is a formality where I ask the questions for the public record and AT or Mr Arbury reply to those questions also for public record before the Strategy and Finance Committee. I would ask the Committee to allow the reallocation as AT has asked for – so long as they move that mast out of the South Link’s way. I no longer object to the North Link Duplication.

 

Progress folks – it does happen

 

And a thank you to Mr Arbury for his time this morning 🙂

 

As for Transport Committee today, I saw councillors get their pitch forks out when asking Auckland Transport questions today o_O

Patronage Below Forecast

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Rail Patronage Some Millions Below Forecast

 

No wonder why I was asked for the Auckland public transport patronage statistics in the weekend, an article has popped up on Radio New Zealand talking explicitly about how total public transport patronage (so across all modes) is going to be something like 3.6 million under forecast for the Financial Cycle with rail making up two million of that shortfall as of current. And no I was not talking to Radio NZ, someone else had asked.

You can listen to the article here from Radio NZ

 

I could go into a whole spiel from what was said in the article but that is wasting pixels while I am busy with a project at the moment regarding P/T.

However if one wants a quick recap on some grumbles that cause patronage to fall out through the floor then check these two recent articles from the blog:

 

One last thing when listening to the radio article, see if you can pick up on why the Fare Review I mentioned in my ‘Fare Rise on Auckland Rail’ post did not become public when it was meant to. Case of oops applies in that case 😉

Betterment Taxes And Inclusionary Zoning?

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Some Homework for Auckland Citizens

 

As we await the release of the Draft Unitary Plan on March 15  I would like to bring to your attention two items being sort for discussion in the Unitary Plan by Council. They are called “Sharing Land Value Uplift from Rezoning” and “Inclusionary Zoning;” of which both come under “Additional Tools for Enabling Affordable Neighbourhoods” under the Draft Unitary Plan.

 

Now these two options can be found from Page 67 in the embedded document below (so you might need to scroll if Scribd does not automatically go to that page):

 

For you homework I would like you to read these two “Additional Tools for Enabling Affordable Neighbourhoods” then post for your feedback here at BR:AKL on them.

Wikipedia also has a nice piece on Inclusionary Zoning which you can see by clicking the respective hyperlinks in red. I noticed Inclusionary Zoning is a tool from the USA while Sharing Land Value Uplift is from the UK.

 

However, I am currently reading it and from what I interpret so far both tools are additional taxes to middle and upper class citizens in a wealth distributing exercise for the lower and working classes here in Auckland. In effect Auckland Council is going to be coercing either directly or indirectly (through developers having to comply and as a result pass extra costs on) citizens and developers through regulations and plans to at least set aside for “affordable housing” (which is often becomes social housing) rather than do the actual opposite and liberalise our regulations and plans allowing at least developers to act more freely in providing a range of housing without costing the citizenry in Auckland.

 

So either you get a tax slugged on top of your rates and maybe targeted rates for whatever the Council decides to do with that money, or coerced into providing social housing at the cost of a large bulk of Auckland citizenry who end up carrying the can for this provision (rather than the State undertaking the social housing exercises via Housing NZ).

Time to delved deeper into these two new coercive and taxation regimes lurking in the Unitary Plan draft.

 

Remembering I stand for a more liberalised planning and provision approach to building neighbourhoods in Auckland.

 

LGOIMA Request Approved

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Request into Rail Punctuality Etc  has been Approved

 

 

Good news folks. I had filed a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request to Auckland Transport on rail: punctuality, reliability, extensive patronage breakdown for the December-January period. This LGOIMA request was filed as the recent AT Statistics papers for the December 2012 – January 2013 were missing those particular figures that have been in previous statistics reports.

 

And go figure, guess what just got pointed to me by Auckland Transport Blog: those figures I asked for – stuck up on the AT website apparently yesterday after the meeting when not many of us would have being paying attention (The Board meeting was on Monday, today is Thursday).

 

Well thanks to pdfs and Scribd, here are those real figures for your inspection:

December 2012 – January 2013 Public Transport Figures – including: punctuality, reliability, and patronage by Line

 

 

Got no idea what AT are trying to hide as while punctuality still sucks, it is actually improving slowly but surely. Only problem is those rail patronage figures are still of major cause to be of concern.

Happy Reading