Really – With The Surveys?

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Seems the Centre Right are Lacking Again?

 

This keeps cropping up today thanks to Councillor Cameron Brewer:

Polls cost millions

Len Brown‘s Auckland Council has spent more than $5.1 million on pollsters and surveys in the past three years.

A council spokesman said about 60 per cent of the spending was required under law, mainly for annual planning and reporting.

 

But councillor Cameron Brewer said spending on pollsters was “out of control”.

 

Brewer said: “Think of the improvements a local park or playground could’ve enjoyed with this money. Instead it’s all gone into lining the pockets of private pollsters.”

The figures were released to Brewer under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

 

“It’s time to stop the spinning and get back to delivering core council services for ratepayers,” he said. He suspected the polling was being done for “purely political reasons”.

 

A further $212,237 has been spent on around 15,827 panellists that the council use to “have their say on a wide range of council issues, activities and plans”.

…

You can read the rest over at the Herald site.

 

Seriously though is this all Cameron and candidate for mayorship Palino really think about at the moment?

While conducting polls is a vexed issue (and rightfully so), the People’s Panel to which I participate in is a straight forward exercise.

You sign up and periodically you get to fill out an electronic survey that comes into your email box. Where ever you can access the emails you can do the survey. And that means some days I might be filling one out at a lunch break in Town Hall. Most are short (although I did get a long one on parks and recreation) and relate to CORE service issues Council provide and the Right Wing blather on about.

The surveys I have done from the People’s Panel have included:

  • The Proposed Takanini Library (survey commissioned by the Local Board)
  • Parks and Recreation
  • Unitary Plan (had a few of those and a reason I was invited to the Civic Forums on the Unitary Plan)
  • Public Transport
  • The CBD

I seriously don’t see what the problem is with the People’s Panel (which do release summaries after the said survey). The surveys are designed to be quick, efficient and “portable” for when Council, the Local Boards, or even Auckland Transport are scoping out opinions.

Yes Desley (of Orakei) we can go to the Local Boards and the Local Boards can come to us. But, that can be slow and cumbersome when one needs a quick fire quantitative survey done on something. Heck even the Papakura Local Board engaged in a People’s Panel survey on the proposed Library.

I would assume my Local Board would then hold face to face or submission sessions on the Library if the survey results were in favour of the proposal.

 

So the People’s Panel has its use and I don’t mind giving my opinions to the Council in that format when they want to answer something particular. It can sure beat writing 105 page submissions and long blog posts to boot.

But, in their drive for “savings” and “core services” it would seem Brewer and Palino would cut off an actual “core service” – by denying an easy medium for Council to (you know Cameron seeming you go on about it) engage with the local or wider community.

Oh and if you wonder about the gauge of opinions, well I know the Panel would be diverse if my comments and Facebook friend Scott’s are anything to go by. Some days we would agree other days the Centre Left and Centre Right arguments (me being the “young Tory) will come out. And by looking at the Civic Forums the mix was reasonably balanced except on the geographic front where South Auckland was lacking in numbers BADLY!

 

Come on guys find better ways in getting our rates bill down – while not hobbling an engagement arm Council and running distractions on lack of hard policy…

Heavy Auckland Plan Committee Agenda

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Going to be a long and contentious day

 

August 13 is going to be a very long and contentious day in Town Hall starting at 10am sharp.

While the agenda is not as long as the Transport Committee agenda’s (and that is only due to the Auckland Transport monthly report from its respective Board being added) it does stand at 200 odd pages long and has five heavy items in there. They being:

  1. Unitary Plan Update
  2. Port Zone decision
  3. Lot 59 (The Manukau Bus Interchange opposite the MIT being built in Manukau)
  4. Mill Road/Redoubt Road Corridor
  5. Iwi Management Plan

 

You can see the main agenda and the addendum agenda below

 

The Main Agenda

 

The Addendum Agenda including the Unitary Plan and Port of Auckland

 

Of course I will be in attendance at that Committee meeting and Tweeting live as the updates and moves occur. Also an update on the Congestion Free Network should also arrive on Tuesday (the 13th as well).

 

As I said in the beginning, it will be a long and contentious day as the heavy stuff progresses through.

 

 

And Back From Vaction

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All Rested and Ready to Go

 

And we are back from out short mid-winter break in Tauranga and Rotorua – back to the grind that is Auckland.

Although both Bekka and I do have a “day off” tomorrow it will be spent preparing for a hectic week next week.

August 13 will be the busy day as the Auckland Plan Committee meets to note further interim directions on the Unitary Plan which this round has some meaty stuff in it. That meaty stuff also includes Port of Auckland which has cropped back up as it pushes on with expansion plans at its current Waterfront site.

You can see part of the Agenda HERE – although the Unitary Plan material has not be released yet. Once it has been done so I will upload that material into Scribd and into Talking Auckland.

 

Pretty much Action Stations next week. Always seems to be when one returns from a holiday.

 

Related articles

 

Retraction and Apologies

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When Wrong – One Apologies Promptly

 

I caught the update to the train incident that was reported in the NZ Herald on Monday and subsequent reaction in Talking Auckland soon afterwards.

This is the update from Stuff:

Rail operator backtracks for mum

 

After Transdev and Auckland Transport viewed Colour CCTV footage there was more to the saga than meets the eye originally when reported from the black and white CCTV footage at Takanini Station.

As a result of this update and the respective Talking Auckland Post on Monday (now fully retracted) I do offer a full and utter apology to Ms Johnson and her children.

In light of the issue, further measures will be put into place to make sure this kind of incident does not occur again at Talking Auckland. In saying that there is always a risk when doing “second-hand” reporting from a Main Stream Media source into a blog post. However, utmost professionalism will occur when running commentary on such emotive issues.

 

In saying this I need not remind Auckland that the rail network is a very dangerous place and can kill. The case of the dad running to the train as it was departing from Ranui Station last year resulting in the accident and eventual death as he slipped from the platform, underneath the train and was effectively run over in front of his family and other passengers is that STARK reminder of what happens when something can go so utterly wrong.

So please in light of all of this: Please be at the platform 5 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train with your ticket ready or AT-HOP card tagged on.

 

As for Te Mahia Station – lobbying continues for it to be fully closed!

 

 

Vacation

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Will be back Friday

 

Rebekka and I are taking our annual mid-winter short vacation. Destination: Tauranga, Rotorua and possibly Taupo.

 

During this time commentary will be at a minimum although I will be keeping a proceedings on Wednesday’s Transport Committee where ATB and Gen Zero are presenting on their Congestion Free Network. As with the response from the Mayor’s Office on the CFN, still waiting.

 

In saying this myself and TotaRim will still be in contact through usual means if one has any enquiries.

 

Will be seeing you all on Friday – so no err burning the city down while I am away 😉

-Ben-

Emotions Should Never Get In The Way – of Professionalism

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Always Act Professional

 

This morning readers would have seen the post “Daft Behaviour – On a Train” which went under a couple of edits from the original post.

The main edit was to tone the language down back to a more professional level are an deeply charged and emotive original post on the matter at hand.

In light of this I would like to raise a couple of points:

  • This blog is a conversation blog and runs commentary on Auckland and issues abroad. That means opinions and ideas are presented here. Yes facts and “truths” are also stated in the blog but, they are backed up by best available research and facts available and will be mentioned so accordingly (including referencing). It also means I can edit a previously written post if the circumstances change to the original post. However, a note is always mentioned that I have undertaken an edit in a post.
  • Emotions should never get in the way of professionalism – which there arguably is with blogs and blogs linked back to businesses. Today readers would have seen a more human and emotive response to an issue that should have not happened (endangering lives on the rail network). There is time for emotion and time for professionalism and emotion got the better of me at first in that post.

 

We are all human here and yep it is the old case of think before rattling off especially in the social medial realms. One notes all this and will be more cautious when an emotive issue comes back up again

Ben

Owner – Talking Auckland

Here We Go Again with Port of Auckland

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Round Two

With Port Expansions

 

This is a case of here we go again with Port of Auckland and its more modest expansion plans at its Waterfront site.

Seems Bernard Orsman has a new (well old) topic to go latch onto until August 13 – when the Auckland Plan Committee meets again.

The Herald is planning to run a “series” on the latest plans for expansion at the Waitemata site. Talking Auckland though will not be running any commentary on the latest rounds from POAL and its expansion proposals.

The reason being that I have originally covered matters relating to the Port expansion plans earlier (check the Waterfront Auckland Waterfront Index at the top of the page) as well as that there is no new material to comment on until Part Two of the review is conducted (if it ever will be). Orsman did handily outline the two parts to the review for easy reference:

From the NZ Herald

Port push into harbour set to be part of Auckland plan

By Bernard Orsman @BernardOrsman

5:30 AM Monday Aug 5, 2013

Expansion plan reviews – what’s involved

Stage 1
* A technical study by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the current and future freight demand and supply for the three upper North Island ports, Auckland, Tauranga and Northland.

It found:
* The upper North Island needs all its ports to meet strong growth, and the best way to meet future demand is to grow the ports.
* Ports of Auckland is likely to face capacity constraints before Tauranga and Northland.
* Losing the 3ha of land at Captain Cook and Marsden wharves would make matters worse.
* Further reclamation needed over the next 30 years, but less than previously thought.

Stage 2
* To inform the long-term strategic planning choices for the Auckland waterfront.

To consider:
* Different configurations and alternative locations for Ports of Auckland.
* Economic costs and benefits of various options.
* Alignment with current transport strategies, plans and programmes.
* Legal and other barriers to various options.
* Auckland Council engaging with communities with an interest in port development about the results of the work.

—ends—

 

August 13 folks – it is open to the public and I will be there running the commentary live as it happens.