Includes a 5,000 person survey Today the Governing Body meets to adopt the draft 2015-2025 Long Term Plan for consultation early next year. The podcast gives a quick summary … Continue reading Governing Body to Adopt Long Term Plan Draft For Consultation
Originally posted on Vernon Tava:
Today the Local Board was informed that the hearing panel on the Notice of Requirement (NoR) for the Pohutukawa trees (I’ve written about this in detail…
Investigation and Design I will do my best to keep you apprised of the Pocket Park idea for Lot 59 in Manukau City Centre. Recap: Pocket Park in … Continue reading Further Update on Manukau Pocket Park
Statistics New Zealand has reported that the housing dynamics as well as other indicators in Auckland are now pretty much unique compared to the rest of New Zealand. Of course and being a realist this is expected (even the negative indicators) in New Zealand’s sole international city of sizable comparison.
From Stats NZ
Auckland housing now very different from the rest of NZ |
Auckland’s housing has changed markedly over the past two decades as the city reacts to its growing population, with more multi-storey homes, greater density, and fewer unoccupied homes all making it very different to the rest of the country, according to the latest research from Statistics New Zealand.17 December 2014
Housing in Auckland: Trends in housing from 1991 to 2013 uses the latest 2013 Census information, showing that in the seven years between the last two censuses, Auckland’s population grew by 8.5 percent, faster than the number of dwellings, which increased by 7.6 percent.
Statistics NZ researcher and report author Rosemary Goodyear says the aim of the report is to give agencies working in the housing area in Auckland information they need. “We hope this type of information will be useful to both policymakers deciding where services might be valuable, but also to developers deciding where to focus their efforts.”
“We’ve found that since the 1990s, housing in Auckland has changed so much that it’s now distinct from the rest of New Zealand. There are more multi-storey dwellings, lower rates of home-ownership, more renting, and house prices have risen to higher levels than in other parts of New Zealand.”
“It is not only young people who have been affected by the fall in home ownership,” Dr Goodyear said. “There have been substantial drops in home ownership for Aucklanders aged in their 30s, 40s, and 50s since 2001.”
Dr Goodyear says Statistics NZ worked closely with agencies in Auckland to find out what information they wanted to know about housing in the region.
One of the key findings of the report is that since 2006, building consents in Auckland are lower per head of population than in the rest of New Zealand. In 2013, there were 358 building consents per 100,000 people in Auckland compared with 423 per 100,000 for New Zealand overall. However, the number of building consents issued for new dwellings in Auckland has increased since the low point in 2009 to reach almost 7,000 in the year to March 2014.
The report also found that dwelling density had increased significantly in Auckland between 2001 and 2013, from 85.5 to 102.0 dwellings per square kilometre. In 2013, the most dense area units (Auckland Central East and Auckland Central West) had over 5,000 dwellings per square kilometre.
“Levels of crowding have remained persistently high in Auckland,” Dr Goodyear said. “In 2013 almost half of crowded households in New Zealand were in the Auckland region, compared with just over a third in 1991.” Over 200,000 people in Auckland, including around 63,000 children, are now living in a crowded household. Crowding was highest among Pacific peoples, with 45.3 percent of Pacific peoples in Auckland living in a crowded household in 2013.
Read the report – Housing in Auckland: Trends in housing from the Census of Population and Dwellings 1991 to 2013.
—-ends—–
This shows with our Unitary Plan that we need to make sure our master planing document is not loaded up with anal development controls that restrict as well as make developments cost prohibitive. Flexibility is the key to make sure that both consents are available in timely manners and crowding is reduced through the supply of all housing typologies being efficient. Something again development controls bung up.
I suppose we will know how the Unitary Plan will shape out come 2016 when the Hearings Panel makes it recommendations to Council.
Yesterday in rather windy conditions Auckland Transport launched the new public transport livery we will be seeing across the buses through out Auckland.
From Auckland Transport
16/12/2014 02:14 p.m.
Auckland Transport has unveiled its new look for public transport in the city.
At a ceremony in Auckland the Deputy Mayor, Penny Hulse and Auckland Transport Chairman Dr Lester Levy launched the AT Metrobrand which will be phased in over three years, starting with LINK services and the Northern Express.
The single brand identity will be differentiated by colour for different types of services and will gradually be applied to buses, trains and ferries.
Auckland Transport’s General Manager Marketing and Customer Experience Mike Loftus says a single identity will give Aucklanders and visitors a clearer understanding of what public transport is on offer, and how buses, trains and ferries serve different areas.
“Most metropolitan cities have a single brand network that is easy to recognise and enables clear, consistent communication with customers.”
“Currently in Auckland there is no single identity, we have a variety of brands and looks. Customers relate to buses by the operator name rather than the wider public transport network”.
Auckland Transport’s Group Manager Public Transport Mark Lambert says having a single public transport network will ultimately build public confidence in the developing and improving PT system. “Knowing that all the services are integrated and part of the same system will help grow patronage”.
The implementation of the livery is already underway and budgeted for the electric trains.
Costs for the bus fleet will be kept to a minimum through:
Mr Lambert says Auckland’s bus operators are aware of the changes and are working with Auckland Transport.
The Auckland Plan looks to double public transport trips from 70 million in 2012 to 140 million in 2022. The Auckland Plan’s priorities for Auckland’s transport system include “a single system transport network approach that manages current congestion problems and accommodates future business population growth to encourage a shift toward public transport.”
———-
Source: https://at.govt.nz/about-us/news-events/at-metro-brand-makes-its-debut/
Costs of the rebrand noted in red above. And I believe the yellow on the front of the buses is to act as a safety feature in being bright and attention catching before someone asks.
More and more projects being shunted from the Long Term Plan I have already reported back in November that some public transport projects were being used as potential political … Continue reading More Projects as Political Weapons to the Long Term Plan?
Governing Body set to adopt draft for our consultation As noted earlier this morning the Auckland Council Governing Body will meet for the final time this year and adopt … Continue reading Governing Body December Agenda – Covering the Long Term Plan
So Option A or Option B? As I noted in my Governing Body Agenda to Set LTP Consultation post the Governing Body of Auckland Council will on Thursday set in motion … Continue reading Just 5,000 to be Surveyed on Transport Funding Options
How will we be consulted On Thursday the Auckland Council Governing Body will meet for the final time this year. In this final but crucial meeting though the … Continue reading Governing Body Agenda to Set LTP Consultation
From Auckland Council:
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.
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—
Talking Southern Auckland 