All Things (Auckland) Transport

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The Numbers

 

Friday the Auckland Transport Board will conduct its monthly meeting for all things Auckland transport in March. Today the powerful Council Accountability and Performance Committee is meeting (as of now as I am watching the feed live) in which AT will be grilled on the $60 billion Integrated Transport Program and maybe with luck AT-HOP.

 

However I am focusing the March public transport patronage statistics as seen in the embed below:

 

Of note:

  • Rail patronage over the rolling 12 months has slipped further by 4.2% to 9,951,686 
  • Weekday services up 4.5%
  • Western Line patronage up 0.5%
  • Southern, Eastern, Manukau and Onehunga Lines down 6.9%
  • March Madness was prevalent which does cause a surge as tertiary institutions come back ons-stream. April and May often will level out once that surge is reabsorbed back into the systems

 

While there is some good news with the Western Line and Weekday services (although March Madness might of caused the yearly surge blip as it does) the point being that total patronage is still backsliding DOWN.

 

It is the total patronage over the 12 rolling months we usually look and what NZTA can look to for determining subsidies and further such capital investment such as for example the City Rail Link. So we are still seeing slippage and AT is now for sure not going to meet its Statement of Intent for patronage forecast and revenue.

 

Catch is what is Auckland Transport going to do about it…

 

 

What Your Town Or Metropolitan Centre Might Look Like

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3D Mock Ups of Potential Maximum Development

Apologies for not getting this particular post up earlier as I have been busy focusing on my new company of recent.

Auckland Council via Shape Auckland have released 19 You Tube videos showing potential growth in 19 of our Metropolitan and Town Centres per the draft Unitary Plan. Unfortunately You Tube and WordPress don’t like embedding each other which somewhat makes it a pain so it has to be the links.

 

3D VIDEO MODELS OF POSSIBLE GROWTH ACROSS AUCKLAND

Unitary Plan 3D modelling videos

Auckland Council has developed a 3D model of Auckland to help develop the draft Auckland Unitary Plan.

This included modelling possible growth in 19 metropolitan and town centres around Auckland.

While largely an internal tool to help inform planning decisions, the resulting videos give a useful indication of how centres might grow over 10, 20 and 30+ years.

The model has this week come runner-up at the ALGIM GIS Project of the Year Award (Note: the winner was also from Auckland Council, its Capacity for Growth Study).

It’s important to remember that these are indicative only: clearly actual growth is down to what landowners decide to build and will of course be subject to design assessments. The videos demonstrate the protection of heritage buildings and show that high-rise buildings (9 or more storeys) will be restricted to metropolitan centres.

The videos can be viewed on youtube.com/aklcouncil and the 19 centres are:

Albany Botany Browns Bay Glen Eden Henderson
Highbury Manukau Manurewa New Lynn Newmarket
Otahuhu Papakura Point Chevalier Pukekohe Remuera
Sylvia Park Takapuna Three Kings Warkworth

 

You should be able click each of the individual centres above and see the video.

 

Of course as a reminder this shows the maximum development that could occur if economic conditions are right. Note the English carefully I have used as it is rather specific.

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

Karaka Unitary Plan Meeting

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From Karaka On The Unitary Plan

 

Monday night I trundled over to the Karaka Unitary Plan community meeting to listen up on what was in store for the folk over to the west of me. Karaka is only 15 minutes away from where I live and is also affected by the Southern Rural Urban Boundary decisions. So for me it was of particular interest to hear what the residents had to say. Of note most that were there do oppose the Karaka-Weymouth bridge, a point I will cover on Friday.

 

The Karaka meeting was a bit different to most that I have been to. This was their second meeting on the Unitary Plan and this time round they had pre-written questions and answers gathered from the first meeting. Thus the presentation and any subsequent questions from the floor were framed around the written material. Of note that the Karaka Residents Association has invited the Karaka Collective to speak on their submission to Karaka North and West being developed, and the building of the multi million dollar bridge. As of now, no word has been received from the Collective on that invitation although I do have their submission over in my KARAKA COLLECTIVE SHARES post.

 

Below is the combined written questions and answers as well as the presentation given to the Karaka Residents;

 

A reminder that there is consultation in May on the Rural Urban Boundary. BR:AKL will keep tabs on that specific consultation as it happens.

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

Council is Watching

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Council Watching Digital and Social Media

 

On Unitary Plan Commentary and Feedback

 

I saw this from the Auckland Unitary Plan – Submit Now Facebook page this morning and took a rather particular interest in it. Not that BR:AKL has been linked (although I send thanks for the link (and further advertisement of where I will be this week with Unitary Plan community meetings)) but rather what Council is up to. I shall let the page do the explaining:

From Character Coalition:
Last week, as part of the Coalition’s action plan in the weeks to the end of May, we focused on encouraging your organisation’s members to contact your local MPs about the Government’s RMA changes, which will embed the whole Unitary Plan submission/panel hearings process.

Some feedback on your actions last week would be very welcome.

ACTIONS FOR WEEK TWO
This week we need to concentrate on getting involved in the public conversations about the Unitary Plan – they are happening in several important arenas and are gathering momentum.

It’s important the Coalition’s perspective gets out there for two reasons:
1. The Council has stated that comment on blogs and social media will be counted as an official part of the Unitary Plan feedback process.
2. There are some very organised forces at work trying to influence the debate their way.
3. Council staff are constant participants/contributors to these blogs/tweets etc…

There are a number of ways you can get your members to jump in and become part of the ongoing debate:

Do you go online to look at media coverage of the debates about the plan? The Herald site in particular has a very active comments section. After each article is published, please comment and give your groups’ perspective. Encourage your members to do the same. You need to register to participate, but it is easy to do.

Some important blog sites –

Auckland Transport Blog http://saveourstheliers.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8c1a4f3e43d639102ebf718c&id=220a4e61e3&e=c50f52d98b. Geoff Houtman has just posted an article about trams!

Cities Matter, at http://saveourstheliers.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8c1a4f3e43d639102ebf718c&id=25c582b7cf&e=c50f52d98b

Ben Ross: Auckland at http://saveourstheliers.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8c1a4f3e43d639102ebf718c&id=8267307aec&e=c50f52d98b – he’s attending UP meetings all over Auckland and spreading his message

One to watch is Eye on Auckland http://saveourstheliers.us4.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=d8c1a4f3e43d639102ebf718c&id=6630d4584c&e=c50f52d98b. It has a rant about NIMBYs and some very vitriolic material on the St Heliers meeting. We can’t let this sort of misinformation go unchallenged so get on there and have your say.

If any of you are talkback fans it would be great to start some conversations on radio as well.

Keep local issues alive by writing to your local paper – letters to the editor generate debate

YOUR EFFORTS NOW ARE CRUCIAL
This “feedback/submissions” stage, finishing at the end of May, is extremely important.
Because it’s easier to try and influence a draft plan than to get changes made once it’s notified.

I cannot stress to you enough that this battle will be won only if we mobilise right across the Coalition.
The Council must be made to feel the heat all over the region.

Feel confident that your action makes a difference, get your members into gear and make the Coalition message visible across Auckland.

MAIN POINTS TO STRESS
• The timetable is far too rushed, given size and complexity of UP, remaining 6 weeks too short for informed public input.
• The plan will not protect heritage and character – lack of notification, scale and placement of intensification.
• Communities are still shut out of the process – no local plans, this is a ‘top-down-plan by the Council.
• Auckland’s infrastructure will not cope – where are the environmental impact reports?
• People do not trust the Council to get it right – look at the past.

These particular bold points are the ones to take note of:
  • The Council has stated that comment on blogs and social media will be counted as an official part of the Unitary Plan feedback process.
  • Council staff are constant participants/contributors to these blogs/tweets etc…

I know the last bullet point has been happening with the discussions I get into with Councillors and Planners through the digital outlets floating around. It is how I can convey messages and requests back quickly to the Council and Unitary Plan team, and vice versa from them to me.

As for commenting on blogs and social media, umm yeah well at this rate with that considered feedback then I have well and truly spammed Council with all my commentary on the UP thus far (and we still have 6-weeks to go).

 

 

But the point is rather indicative: Council is paying very wide attention to what is being said around the city with the Unitary Plan. So come on folks, get in there and have your say – this is your city here.

I also better work on my “message” too, can’t go to mush here and go contradicting myself in all this (or doing David Shearer’s favourite game of umm, ooo, and ahh)

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL