Community Wants Glenora Road Station, Auckland Transport wants to reopen the old Tironui Station After years of united interests in the Papakura-Takanini area are all in agreement on Glenora … Continue reading Glenora Road or Tironui?
Poll of Polls update – 3 September 2014
I have warned previously about National scoring a negative 2% swing against it on Election Day for it to go back to the Opposition Benches. Looking at the poll of polls (amongst other things) National is teetering on the brink of going back.
As Natusch has said:
The big news is that National loses a seat to NZ First. National has dropped 0.5% in a few days, and almost 2% in just over two weeks. It was inevitable that they’d drop during the campaign, but the drop has suddenly accelerated, which should worry National.Big worry slipping 2% that fast and the Whaledump saga still ongoing.
If National can not arrest that slippage soon polls have a nasty tendency to become self fulfilling prophesies especially if it galvanises voters and increases turnout above 75%.
We are at T-Minus 17 days until E Day. And 3 months ago National were all but assured victory. Now? Some MP’s could be tasting opposition for the very first time
We’ve had two polls out today, the latest Roy Morgan poll and the 3News Reid Research poll.
In the Roy Morgan poll, there’s a slump for National, down 3% to 45%. Despite National’s fall, there’s no good news for the Labour Party, who drop 1.5% to 26%. Instead, the news is overwhelmingly good for the Greens, who rise a huge 4.5% to 16%, their best Roy Morgan result in over two years.
For the remaining minor parties, NZ First may be down 0.5%, but they’re still on 6%, which would see them returned to Parliament. The Conservatives climb 2.5% to 3.5% (their highest ever Roy Morgan result), while ACT is up 0.5% to 1%. There’s bad news for the Maori Party (who drop from 1% to 0.5%), United Future (who don’t even register, having dropped 0.5%), Internet Mana (who drop 1% to 1.5%).
In the Reid Research poll, National…
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Latest poll
Polling Company: Reid Research
Poll Method: Random Phone
Poll Size: 1,000 respondents (3.1% maximum margin of error)
Undecideds:
Polling Company: Reid Research
Poll Method: Random Phone
Poll Size: 1,000 respondents (3.1% maximum margin of error)
Undecideds:
Dates: 26 to 31 August 2014
Client: 3 News
Party Support
- National 46.4% (+1.4%)
- Labour 25.9% (-0.5%)
- Green 12.6% (-0.9%)
- ACT 0.6% (+0.3%)
- Maori 2.0% (+1.3%)
- United Future 0.1% (-0.3%)
- Mana/Internet 1.7% (-0.4%)
- NZ First 5.8% (-0.5%)
- Conservative 4.2% (-0.4%)
Projected Seats
- National 58
- Labour 33
- Green 16
- ACT 1
- Maori 3
- United Future 1
- Mana/Internet 2
- NZ First 7
- Total 121
This is based on no change in electorate seats.
Coalition Options
- CR – National 58 + ACT 1 + United Future 1 = 60/121 – one fewer than the minimum needed to govern
- CL – Labour 33 + Greens 16 + Mana/Internet 2 = 51/121 – ten fewer than minimum needed to govern
- C – NZ…
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Auckland’s Commuting Journeys – A Series. #From Selected Residential Centres
A look at commute patterns from selected residential centres in Auckland I am running a series of posts on Auckland’s commuting journeys from home to the work place and … Continue reading Auckland’s Commuting Journeys – A Series. #From Selected Residential Centres
We Are Blessed Living in Auckland
Or anywhere else in New Zealand I saw this gem on Facebook last night and reminded me how blessed we are living in NZ when you get this: Credit … Continue reading We Are Blessed Living in Auckland
Crash at Walters Road Level Crossing
How much longer until Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and Kiwi Rail Grade Separate that Crossing?
It was bound to happen!
After the Kiwi Rail Rail Safety Campaign, a piece on TV, countless newspaper articles, presentations to Council and Auckland Transport, and even previous accidents tonight we have a car verses passenger train at the Walters Road, Takanini/Addison Level Crossing tonight.
Buses are running between Papakura and Homai as the accident site is cleared and train services suspended in that area. My thoughts also go out to the train crew and passengers involved in the accident.
So: How much longer until Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and Kiwi Rail Grade Separate that Crossing? And how many more accidents will it take before Auckland Transport stop jerking us around with the $28m apparent cost to grade separate out Walters Road Level Crossing.
With Addison and Papakura developing the traffic which is already bad on Walters Road will only get worse!
Port of Auckland increase Port Rail Shuttle Services
Now running 16 services a week
From Voxy
Ports of Auckland increases freight rail service
Tuesday, 2 September, 2014 – 12:29
Working with KiwiRail, Ports of Auckland has doubled the rail services between its WaitematÄ seaport and Wiri Intermodal Freight Hub.
The increased service starts this week and will bring the port to the doorstep of importers and exporters in South Auckland, potentially reducing the number of trucks coming into the seaport and opening up more space to handle growing volumes.
Ports of Auckland General Manager Commercial Relationships Craig Sain said, “This is just the beginning. With our developments in Palmerston North and Wiri, we’re on our way to make more effective and increased use of rail to improve our service offering.”
“Containers moved by rail was up by 64% in 2013/14, but it is still a small percentage of the total containers coming through the port. We’d like to see this number grow over the coming years,” he said.
In 2010, with the opening of the Wiri Intermodal Freight Hub, KiwiRail ran four services of 23 wagons a week in each direction. Over time, this number increased to eight services and starting today there will be sixteen services a week.
“There is ample capacity on the line to the Port to increase services further and we will continue to work with KiwiRail to get the most out of the line,” Mr Sain said.
KiwiRail General Manager Sales – Freight Alan Piper said, “Ports of Auckland’s drive to increasingly move freight by rail to its Wiri inland port has seen a rapid increase in growth of daily services this year. This is a great example of KiwiRail working closely with its customers and provide flexible growth capacity to enable more use of rail to transport goods around the country.”
The Wiri Intermodal Freight Hub is operated by CONLINXX, a subsidiary of Ports of Auckland and offer greater efficiencies and flexibility for exporters and importers who are able to drop off and pick up containers without having to negotiate the Auckland motorways.
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Source: http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/ports-auckland-increases-freight-rail-service/5/200972
Something I will keep in the back of my mind as I head up to Town Hall on Thursday and will be bringing up the Manukau South Link at the time.
Auckland Transport Replies to Manukau South Link LGOIMA
Some contradictory information and a need of a review or rather combined conference Auckland Transport have replied to my Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request on … Continue reading Auckland Transport Replies to Manukau South Link LGOIMA
Unitary Plan Hearings Under-Way
Day One Begins
From Auckland Council
Hearings on shaping Auckland’s development underway
New Zealand’s largest planning review gets underway in Auckland today with an Independent Hearings Panel beginning its deliberations on Auckland Council’s Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.
The hearing is before Environment Court judge, David Kirkpatrick who chairs the Panel, and seven panel members. There are also 15 mediators and facilitators who will help resolve issues through expert conference and mediation.
The Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan sets the rules about how the Auckland region will develop over decades, including what can be built and where, and how to protect the environment and Auckland’s built and cultural heritage.
More than 9500 submissions were made on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. The Panel will consider the views of submitters – plus a further 3500 submitters who have responded to the original submissions – over 74 topics.
Judge Kirkpatrick said the hearing is the biggest ever in New Zealand planning history because it involves the Regional Policy Statement and both the Regional and District Plan documents all wrapped up in one document.
“There’s been a huge number of submissions and a high level of public participation – and that’s a good thing for such an important document,” said Judge Kirkpatrick.
He said the requirements of the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act made this hearing different from the traditional adversarial planning hearing. The Act has a requirement that the Panel use pre-hearing processes and mediation to help identify the most appropriate planning position for the Auckland region.
“So there’s a large level of the ‘Good of the Auckland region’ objective here rather than simply saying which side wins and which side loses,” said Judge Kirkpatrick.
“With the complex issues involved we have to have a very clear high-level regard for the sustainable management of the resources of the whole Auckland region. If we adopted a solely technical approach to our task we would ‘miss the wood for the trees’.”
He said the Panel is working to an extremely tight timeframe to complete its report to Auckland Council by July 2016 on changes it thinks should be made to the plan.
The Panel will be working through a process ‘from the general to the particular’. It will start with the Regional Policy Statement issues such as rural/urban growth, residential and industrial growth and higher level transport issues. It will then deal with the more specific rule-based issues and then move on to the site-specific changes.
“It’s important that we have integration between the higher-level objectives and strategy of the plan and the methods on the ground,” said Judge Kirkpatrick.
“We could compromise a policy very easily by simply by having exceptions to the rules which give away its validity.”
Judge Kirkpatrick said the Panel is endeavouring where possible to come to decisions on issues when the Panel hears from submitters.
“It’s better that we do it when we hear from people, but we acknowledge that as we go through we are likely to have to go back and reconsider some of the things we have decided.
“We need to make sure that our decision-making has been consistent throughout and that the recommendations we are making to Council produce an integrated set of planning provisions.”
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The Hearings’ Order Paper
The Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel website can be found here: http://www.aupihp.govt.nz/
Talking Auckland will keep a roving update from the Hearings Panel as relevant information comes to hand
August ’14 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking
Up a few places last month to 38th with the blog breaking its record in most views ever.
Bloggers in the thick of election campaign? Image Credit: Against the Current
PLEASE NOTE: Sitemeter is playing up again making it impossible to automatically get the stats using the normal process. I have done a manual work around but it was still impossible to get the stats for a number of blogs that I list below. Maybe more bloggers will shift to StatCounter or other counter.
No stats could be found for these blogs:
There are now over 300 blogs on the list, although I am weeding out those which are no longer active or…
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Talking Southern Auckland 
