Tag: Pukekohe

First New EMU Unveiled

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Our First Electric Train Unveiled

 

Yesterday Mayor Len Brown and Auckland Transport head Dr Lester Levy unveiled our brand new first Electric train at the new Wiri Depot.

I will let Matt from Auckland Transport Blog do all the “speaking” from his experience yesterday at the event: Our First Electric Train.

 

What I will make mention of is the planned roll out of the new EMU’s across the Auckland network over the next two-year period. From ATB who got it from Auckland Transport:

Essentially from what I have learnt (and this can change so Auckland Transport if I do have this next bit wrong can you let me know and I shall correct it ASAP) this will be the roll out plan Line by Line:

The roll out of the EMU’s is the following:
1) Onehunga Line 
2) Manukau Line 
3) Southern Line and Eastern Line 
4) Western Line 
5) Pukekohe (this is dependent on when Pukekohe gets electrified (if it is done by the end of next year then Pukekohe will join the Southern and Eastern Lines at number 3)

The Onehunga Line was chosen first as it is the shortest line to test the new EMUs on. Then the Manukau Line is next soon after that.

The reason those two lines were chosen first was two-fold:
1) Retire the ADK class DMUs from the fleet first up
2) Free up the ADL DMU’s for Pukekohe runs and extra Southern Line runs

The West is last as they have the DFT 6-car sets which hold the most passengers in the diesel fleet. As more EMU’s come on stream the DC-4 (and 5) car sets will be sent west to add more frequency until all the EMU’s are here to replace them.

——-

 

Of course with Pukekohe due to be electrified (and two new stations added in that area (Drury and Paerata), the City Rail Link on its way, the Mt Roskill Spur Line under active consideration, and the Manukau Rail South Link due to be reported on in November I think Auckland might want to be taking another option of 15 more EMU’s to give some residual capacity (especially if we start top-and-tailing the consists to get EMU-6 car sets). But I suppose we will have to wait and see what “options” Auckland Transport take on more EMU’s.

 

In any case, can not wait to ride on these new machines once they are in operation from Papakura.

 

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The Push for a #MovingAuckland

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Generation Zero Writes

 

(In the Herald that is)

And so an “opinion” piece crops up in today’s Herald on Auckland Transport Blog and Generation Zero’s Congestion Free Network alternative – a proposal TotaRim Consultancy Limited supports.

The piece in the Herald today is fitting with ATB due to give a technical presentation to the IPENZ transport chapter at the old Auckland Regional Council (now BECA) building tonight. I have RSVP’ed to the event tonight and will be in attendance observing the presentation. Commentary will follow tomorrow on the presentation.

The following opinion piece written by Generation Zero leader (one of many) Sudhvir Singh opens as follows:

Sudhvir Singh: Generation Zero’s transport vision

Adding more services to public system will encourage Aucklanders to use it, writes Sudhvir Singh.

 

The Auckland city rail loop is one step towards a balanced transport system.

EXPAND
The Auckland city rail loop is one step towards a balanced transport system. Credit: NZ Herald

Auckland’s transport plan provides us with a once-in-a-generation choice between two competing visions: to keep pursuing the failed model of motorway-driven sprawl, or to develop a quality, compact city with a balanced transport system.

 

Generation Zero, with the respected authors of Auckland Transport Blog, have developed a fully costed, visionary alternative to the current $60 billion transport plan: the Congestion Free Network.

 

We propose the staged investment in public transport corridors all over the region, with high frequency all-day services. These corridors would include electrified rail to Mt Roskill and Pukekohe, busways to Silverdale, Kumeu and Botany, rail to the airport, light rail along Dominion Rd, an extensive ferry network and even rail to the North Shore. And all of this at only 40 per cent of the cost of the current transport plan.

 

A full regional cycling network would complement this system, as well as focused upgrades on specific local roads. This would provide Aucklanders with genuine transport choice.

 

By contrast, the council’s current plan to deal with Auckland’s growth over the next 30 years is set out in its Integrated Transport Programme (ITP)…

…

You can read the rest of it over at the Herald site.

 

I did though tail off that excerpt with the mention of the current 2012 Integrated Transport Program that I have written off before and even called it a lemon.

Through that short reaction alone you can see why I would support a #MovingAuckland as part of a #BetterAuckland via the Congestion Free Network idea.

Bold, visionary, sorely needed and a gut-ser (in the mountain of NIMBYism from my parents’ generation (the main but not only source) as well as Right Wing sources that will soon come up against the CFN concept) needed for Auckland. I applaud what is being advanced here.

 

I have sort responses from Auckland Transport and the Office of the Mayor on the Congestion Free Network proposal. Responses have come back from Auckland Transport on the CFN idea.

Basically in regards to the city and its transport, any CFN concepts are most likely to be further researched and incorporated (whether in parts or as a whole) into the 2015 Integrated Transport Program. The 2015 ITP draft is due out for release for “our” consideration and consultation this time next year.

As for the Office of the Mayor, a response is on its way.

 

And so like #SuperManukau, the Congestion Free Network idea ( #movingauckland ) works its way slowly through the wheels and cogs of Town Hall.

 

More as it happens

 

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Submission sent on New P/T Network (Southern Auckland)

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Submission Sent to AT for Southern P/T Network

 

I finally wrote up and sent my feedback to Auckland Transport using the Online Feedback Form (no need for a 104 page monster this time round) today.

You can see what I exactly submitted on in the PDF embed below

I made no mention around the Te Mahia Station closing issue (which I support in closing) as that I will bring up at the Papakura Open Day this Saturday with the transport planners.

My primary feedback was around the good quality of the work drafted up by Auckland Transport on the Southern Public Transport Network proposal, and around the 365 and 371 bus routes which I would use once on stream.

I did suggest some changes to Routes 371 and 365 so that it takes into account Takanini Village and the proposed Glenora Road Station as potential stops. Some other changes and mention around off-peak frequencies were mentioned as well.

I did make a push for the Manukau South Rail Link again as part of the frequent transit network from Pukekohe and Papakura so that Southern Auckland gets a dedicated rapid and direct service to our biggest employment centre (in the south). The reasoning around that was a train from Pukekohe to Papakura to Manukau via the south link is faster than buses which would get caught in bottlenecks along the Great South Road (as well as stuck with 50km/h limits to the train’s 90-110km/h limits) and as hinted with speed limits actually faster than the bus. That also means faster than going to Puhinui Station by train and going through a clumsy transfer onto a Manukau Train from Britomart on a cold winter’s morning 😛

So let’s see where this feedback goes once AT starts its considerations on it all post August 2 (when the feedback closes)

You can see the Southern P/T Network over at AT’s webpage: New Public Transport Network

 

 

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Statement on the Unitary Plan RUB Workshop today

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Unitary Plan – Rural Urban Boundary Workshop

 

Council has released its usual media statement following another Unitary Plan Workshop today. This one on the Rural Urban Boundary.

From Auckland Council

Workshop debates greenfield development and rural urban boundary options

 Councillors and local board chairs today came to grips with where rural urban boundaries (RUB) may extend to cater for urban growth of both housing and employment over the next 30 years.

 

 The Auckland Plan proposed that up to 40 per cent of new dwellings (around 160,000 dwellings) should be planned for in new greenfield areas and coastal towns and villages.

 

Deputy Mayor, Councillor Penny Hulse, told the Unitary Plan workshop that the objective of the RUB was to provide certainty, for urban and rural dwellers and developers, on where development could occur over its 30-year life.

 

 “It is about long-term planning, and being clear about where we are going and how it all fits together, rather than an incremental approach” she said.

 Greenfield RUB areas currently under investigation in the south, north and north-west have a potential capacity for around 90,000 dwellings and 35,000 jobs. These areas include Warkworth, Silverdale, Kumeu–Huapai, in the north and north-west, and Drury – Pukekohe in the south, and also incorporate around 1300 hectares of new business land.

 

 Today’s RUB workshop considered issues such as infrastructure (transport/roading, stormwater, wastewater, parks and schools) as well as environmental protection.

 The Deputy Mayor said it was excellent to have the area knowledge of local boards to guide the discussions.

 “When you start to get down to the nuts and bolts of the draft Unitary Plan, and all its components, local knowledge is invaluable if we are to arrive at well-considered solutions for population growth across all of Auckland,” she said.

 

 Elected members gave interim direction for staff to do further work on potential changes to provisional RUB boundaries. This work will contribute to the upcoming mapping workshops.

 

 

—–Ends—–

 

A bit generalist and the next Auckland Plan Committee that would discuss this is not until July 25. I will see if I can flesh out some of those interim directions and see which way things are heading – especially for the Southern RUB.

The Southern Rural Urban Boundary being only 5 minutes away from me and of a very hot button issue here in the south as the three options go under consideration.

More as it happens.

Also there have been some developments with Manukau as the Second CBD concept. I need to work through the processes here. But, once I have something solid on the Manukau concept I will let readers know

 

Rates, Rates and oh the Rural Urban Boundary

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Otherwise it is all about the rates

 

Do I really want to talk about the issue that has people frothing at the mouth most on a beautiful Sunday morning in Auckland. Yes I do. It is about those things we call Rates – you know, the money from us that funds Council activities.

As the Council year finished on June 30 we have the new cycle under way. This means the next round of rates instalments is on their way to your letterbox (in August). It also means the next round of rates rises or decreases are on their way as we hit the second year of the transition system (which includes the cap of 10% max rise and 5.56% max decrease).

Tomorrow morning there will be a briefing and a Q&A session on the next round of rates instalments. I will endeavour to have the report and commentary up later that night on the latest for the now current Council financial cycle.

Remembering from the 2013/14 Annual Plan discussions that rate rises were averaging 2.9% – below the 4.8% forecast in the 2012-21 Long Term Plan.

 

Rural Urban Boundary

As mentioned earlier in the week on Wednesday the Council and Local Boards will be discussing the Rural Urban Boundary at a Unitary Plan workshop (closed session). While I am not keeping up with state of play for the north and north-west RUB, I am definitely keeping up with state of play for the Southern RUB.

As mentioned in my “Pukekohe Area Plan Maps and Information” reblogged post earlier this week; Franklin Local Board has been working with their community and will be advancing their proposal for the RUB at the Wednesday workshop.

While the green-zone buffer has moved from Paerata to Drury, the “corridor” concept seems to have been stuck to and is what is being advanced. This is similar to what I believe most in Southern Auckland submitted on in general as a RUB option – including myself.

I do really hope as the most practical and “sustainable” of all the Southern RUB options that what FLB have proposed is what will be in the final Unitary Plan when it becomes operative. In saying that I can think of two spanners that can be thrown into the works that would screw the Southern RUB preferred option up:

  1. Dr Nick Smith and his Housing Accord – Special Housing Areas (unless they go inside the RUB preferred option)
  2. Karaka Collective if their option is left out and they decide to challenge it in the Environment Court

 

As the preferred RUB option proposed by FLB and Southern Auckland submitters staves off THAT bridge, there might be some pro-Weymouth/Karaka Bridge supports aggrieved by this situation. This will be a case of watch and see as the Southern RUB preferred option moves through the Unitary Plan processes.

Talking Auckland will be keeping a special eye on the Southern RUB as it does progress through the Unitary Plan.

 

 

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Pukekohe Area Plan Maps and Information

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What has been formulated and up for deliberation next Wednesday at the Unitary Plan – Rural Urban Boundary Workshop.

It looks very similar to both the Corridor Option in the RUB Draft and to what I had also proposed in-part. Main difference is that the greenbelt has been flipped over from the south to the north.

Personally I am happy with what has come from the Franklin Local Board on this.

 

Concerns on the Manukau South Link

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Port of Auckland – Can we talk please?

Caught this today in the Manukau Courier. Rather interesting that they bring this up today of all days. Ah well lets take a look:

Wiri train tracks block access

Creating a southern connection between the Manukau Train Station and the main trunk line could be more difficult than first thought.

Local boards throughout the south have called for the link so passengers can travel from Manukau to Papakura and Pukekohe directly.

Passengers wanting to head south from Manukau now have to transfer at Papatoetoe.

But a Kiwirail spokeswoman says if the connection gets approval it would need to cross tracks that lead to Ports of Auckland’s inland port at Wiri.

That would require reconstruction of those tracks.

“This part of the rail corridor has quite complex track layouts because of the Manukau branch junction, the port facility and the EMU [Electric Multiple Units] depot,” she says.

A Ports of Auckland spokesman didn’t want to comment on how ripping up its tracks could affect operations at the port because no-one had put forward an official proposal to do the work.

But Manurewa Local Board chairwoman Angela Dalton says linking the Manukau station with the main trunk line made more sense than other transport projects being pushed.

“It doesn’t make sense to me, pouring money into the city rail link when we need to get things moving out here.

“We need to get cars off the streets and the trains connecting effectively.”

Auckland Transport‘s main priority at the Manukau line is double-tracking it so services can run every 10 minutes to and from Britomart, council documents show.

It’s also assessing the viability of a link between the two lines as part of its rail development plan.

 

The Manukau South (Rail) Link is a project that I have been following closely since I first raised the point that a Electrification Mast would be in the road of the south link early last year. It is a project that I still follow closely while Auckland Transport develop a case study for this link – that south so desperately need!

In saying that though has anyone actually approached Port of Auckland and had a decent conversation with them on how the South Link might work. Work as in POAL has their Wiri Inland Port that covers part of the South Link path. And whether POAL should move their Wiri facility 900 metres down the road where this is a mothballed siding and massive block of land sitting vacant.

Port of Auckland I think we of the South need to have a chat over coffee and hot scones. What do you think?

 

Public Meetings on The Clunker

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Preconceived Motions Do NOT Help Anyone

 

At times I have to play the devils advocate and go into bat for those I often would not. Last night at the Weymouth Public Meeting on the Southern Rural Urban Boundary and the Karaka-Weymouth Bridge, the poor planners pretty much got ambushed by some (not all – as I am being fair) of the Weymouth residents last causing the presentation to be cut short considerably. After talking to some of the other residents, then going one-to-one in front of the Unitary Plan maps with more interested residents  I can concluded (to my own opinion) some points out of that meeting:

  1. The majority of residents  have not read The Unitary Plan (I know it’s an 1854 page clunker but do what I do and read specifics to your area of concern (so anything south of Otahuhu)) at all including the Rural Urban Boundary Addendum. Meaning a minority have read at least some of The Clunker and (to be frank) showed in the line of questions they were asking. 
  2. Are not actually asking key players questions they might have on issues. The Karaka Bridge I would be hammering the AT Board for an answer until a resolution came out of there (sorry Christine I know that means more pressure but they need certainty in Weymouth)
  3. Someone in AT has shot their mouth off on the Karaka Bridge before the Board has made any firm decision on the bridge (I need to get a hold of that letter that particular resident had from AT)
  4. Majority of residents holding of preconceived motions – this comes from point one and they most likely not reading The Clunker. I really wanted to those residents holding a preconceived motions on the Karaka Bridge that at this point and time no FINAL decision has come out of AT (if it has then the Board is hiding something). Like the Eastern Highway the designation (if there is one for Karaka in the first place) has to be in the maps for all to see, this is in case NZTA decide to go run with the particular project and decide to build it. The only way to have the designation removed from a map for good is to get NZTA to remove the designation formally!
  5. If one does not know something, we will just go insult the planner anyway – not acceptable nor mature from residents who should know better. I don’t personally have time to rock up to public meetings to go learn something, talk to people, and enter dialogue if all some residents are able to do is fling insults. For your information South Auckland is anything south of Portage Road Otahuhu to the Franklin Local Board area in which it then becomes Counties Auckland. Overall the area is known as Southern Auckland! 

 

I wish I had my maps with me last night along with Councillor and AT Board Member Chris Fletcher‘s comment on the Karaka Bridge – as well as the RUB (as I had it in A4 colour) to help the planners. But I did not know the meeting would turn out the way it did, and I am hating to think how this is going to turn out in two weeks when the Mayor and Deputy Mayor trundle along.

 

This is Chris’s comment on the Karaka Bridge made recently:

Christine Fletcher There is strong opposition from the Karaka Residents I know to the proposed Weymouth Bridge. I am aware of a number preparing submissions in objection. It is a ridiculous proposal. It has no funding and does not appear in any planning document. Given that we don’t have sufficient funding for our existing and approved transport projects it is wrong to distress so many people on a proposal that will never go anywhere. Further evidence of the flawed thinking around the ill-considered Unitary Plan. You can imagine Penny Hulse and Roger Blakely playing with a big felt tip pen oblivious to the respective communities. I don’t think that I can attend that meeting but I will put you in touch with the independent planner consultant who is helping residents to draft their submissions.

 

I stress that Chris’s comment be read and taken into account. I also stress then grill the Deputy Mayor in two weeks on the bridge and how the heck it got there – but please residents; READ THE SOUTHERN RUB DOCUMENT FIRST PLEASE!

 

These are the maps on the Southern RUB last night that the residents would not have been able to see (yes you can print them):

 

I also stress the following point made in the maps:

  • Waste water treatment plant and transport link likely to be required

 

Emphasis on likely but not a “must” (although that treatment plant is going to end up as a “must”)

 

I am also going to reiterate what I said yesterday:

I have commented on this with my “THE RURAL URBAN BOUNDARY – SOUTH END“” post last week – briefly recapping:

Personally I am in favour of the Draft Southern RUB Options – Corridor Focus (Page 4 of the embed) which contains primary urban development to Drury and Karaka (Core’s K and D), along the State Highway 22 and North Island Main Trunk Line rail corridor, the North East Pukekohe flank, and the Pukekohe South East flank. This option keeps the main development either near existing development or along a transit corridor making infrastructure provisions (Drury and Paerata Rail Stations) and access more easier than the other options such as those that include Karaka North and West. Per The Unitary Plan there is an option to retain a green belt between Pukekohe and Paerata which would provide a wildlife corridor as well as park space. While development is kept away from the highly valuable Pahurehure Inlet which according to the maps contains colonies of wading sea birds. In any case that area slated as Karaka North and West if need be can be converted either into lifestyle blocks with strict covenants or over time into a new regional park and green lung for the ever-growing Auckland (which is what I would prefer Council would do (like an Ambury Farm or Puhinui Reserve set up)).

I have also noted as potential transport link from Whangapouri to Weymouth via a new bridge over the inlet as well as talk of a new waste water treatment plant. With me preferring the corridor option thus Karaka West and North not being developed – but actually wanting to be flipped over to lifestyle blocks or even better a regional reserve I can not see the need for a transit link through that area connecting to Weymouth. That link would create a rat-run from State Highway 20 at the Cavendish Drive Interchange, down Roscommon and Weymouth Roads (Route 17), over the new bridge, down the new transit link and through to State Highway 22 just north of Paerata rather than containing it to State Highways 1 and 22. That kind of rat running would lower the amenity of the new Greenfield developments and do nothing to solve congestion issues. As for the waste water treatment plant, well with Karaka North and West no longer under development you can away plop the new plant there out of the urban road but near the potential outfall site.

 

Submission wise I am going to follow through and “recommend” toAuckland Council that the Corridor Option for the RUB being the preferred southern Greenfield development options, providing there is:

  • A green belt maintained between Pukekohe and Paerata

  • New waste water treatment plant is built

  • That transit link over the Inlet is not built

  • What was labelled Karaka North and West either be allowed to be converted to Lifestyle blocks or even better a regional reserve seeming wading birds live in those areas

  • And that Auckland Transport will build the Drury and Paerata Mass Transit Interchanges (rail and bus station, and park and ride)

 

 

So what I am getting at in this post is the following:

  • Do your reading first and dump any preconceived ideas you have at the door
  • A submission simply opposing something is useless, you need to play the Council and AT at their own game and get an actual alternative across that is viable and a win-win for all. I have as seen in the above statement and is a card I am using in working with Council and the Unitary Plan that is a win-win for most (just not the land banker in Karaka West)

 

There is another meeting in two weeks time with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor being invited to be present at Weymouth School Hall. I will be present again and this with my maps and hopefully a clarification from Auckland Transport in that cursed bridge. In the meantime I am off to Milford tonight to go listen in on the intensification plans IN THAT AREA which is causing a certain amount of heart ache for residents over there.

 

One final thing: I know what the residents in Weymouth are staring down as I am staring down the exact same thing with the Mill Road corridor and the consequences it will cause (rat running being the main one) on the transport side. With intensification I also know what the Weymouth residents can be staring down as my house is up for re-zoning from Residential-1 to “Mixed Zoning”  (see my:  ) and the fact I am only 100 metres away from the Papakura Metropolitan Zone which allows buildings to go up to 18 stories high (economic conditions permitting). RUB wise I can also share the Weymouth residents concerns and the impacts that can actually cause. For me it affects the trains and State Highway One transport wise as more people need to be moved from the south. To the north of me I could be staring down 15,000 new houses if the RUB at Addison gets moved eastwards despite it being a floodplain. So Weymouth and Papakura are in the same boat here with The Clunker in all regards. I can understand anger and frustration but I do not tolerate preconceived motions nor insulting planners who are the messengers. You have a beef; take it with the Councillors and the Mayor…

 

 

 

The Clunker and an Unnecessary Road

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The Weymouth Link – Is It Needed?

 

In short no!

 

I have commented on this with my “THE RURAL URBAN BOUNDARY – SOUTH END“” post last week – briefly recapping:

Personally I am in favour of the Draft Southern RUB Options – Corridor Focus (Page 4 of the embed) which contains primary urban development to Drury and Karaka (Core’s K and D), along the State Highway 22 and North Island Main Trunk Line rail corridor, the North East Pukekohe flank, and the Pukekohe South East flank. This option keeps the main development either near existing development or along a transit corridor making infrastructure provisions (Drury and Paerata Rail Stations) and access more easier than the other options such as those that include Karaka North and West. Per The Unitary Plan there is an option to retain a green belt between Pukekohe and Paerata which would provide a wildlife corridor as well as park space. While development is kept away from the highly valuable Pahurehure Inlet which according to the maps contains colonies of wading sea birds. In any case that area slated as Karaka North and West if need be can be converted either into lifestyle blocks with strict covenants or over time into a new regional park and green lung for the ever-growing Auckland (which is what I would prefer Council would do (like an Ambury Farm or Puhinui Reserve set up)).

I have also noted as potential transport link from Whangapouri to Weymouth via a new bridge over the inlet as well as talk of a new waste water treatment plant. With me preferring the corridor option thus Karaka West and North not being developed – but actually wanting to be flipped over to lifestyle blocks or even better a regional reserve I can not see the need for a transit link through that area connecting to Weymouth. That link would create a rat-run from State Highway 20 at the Cavendish Drive Interchange, down Roscommon and Weymouth Roads (Route 17), over the new bridge, down the new transit link and through to State Highway 22 just north of Paerata rather than containing it to State Highways 1 and 22. That kind of rat running would lower the amenity of the new Greenfield developments and do nothing to solve congestion issues. As for the waste water treatment plant, well with Karaka North and West no longer under development you can away plop the new plant there out of the urban road but near the potential outfall site.

 

Submission wise I am going to follow through and “recommend” to Auckland Council that the Corridor Option for the RUB being the preferred southern Greenfield development options, providing there is:

  • A green belt maintained between Pukekohe and Paerata

  • New waste water treatment plant is built

  • That transit link over the Inlet is not built

  • What was labelled Karaka North and West either be allowed to be converted to Lifestyle blocks or even better a regional reserve seeming wading birds live in those areas

  • And that Auckland Transport will build the Drury and Paerata Mass Transit Interchanges (rail and bus station, and park and ride)

 

But in this post I am going to open the floor to Manurewa Local Board Chair Angela Dalton with her Manurewa Action Team through her Scrid document:

 

Attribution to Angela Dalton – Chair of the Manurewa Local Board

 

And yes I am trundling along to the Weymouth Community Meeting tonight at 6:30pm discussing the Weymouth