Tag: Unitary Plan

Record Breaking Month

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Latest NZ Blog Rankings Out

 

April has been a flat tact month (even with Easter and ANZAC Day in the mix) for BR:AKL with a new record set in visitors, page views, and ranking on the Open Parachute NZ Blog Rankings. Lets take a look:

 

April ’13 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking

55 Ben Ross: Auckland 3245 5639

 

Virtually a 100% jump on the March figures (compounded by me being in Australia at that time).

 

The Unitary Plan is sure generating feedback and reading as the extensive BR:AKL commentary continues with two highlights coming up this month: the May 2nd presentation to the Orakei Local Board on Special Character Zones, and the May 14 Auckland Plan Committee presentation – challenging the planning thinking behind Auckland as well as seeing Manukau as the second CBD.

 

Again a massive thank you to all the readers, the commenters, and the feedback via email and social media. Without you this blog would not be possible 

 

 

To a very busy May ahead as the first round of Unitary Plan feedback draws to a close – at the end of the month

 

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

All Things Waste

· 2 Comments ·

Unitary Plan and Waste

 

No I am not referring to the Unitary Plan being either waste or being waste. If you want that go read one of Bernard Orsman’s pieces from the NZ Herald…

 

What I am referring to in this post is a question that has come up in the Unitary Plan discussions of recent: waste. That is waste-water (sewerage) and refuse (what goes to the tip) in Auckland and how we are meant to cope with it through to 2041 as a million extra people live in Auckland. While the Unitary Plan as such does not deal specifically with waste (that is dealt by the Waste Minimisation Policy adopted by Council recently), as the Unitary Plan dictates land and zoning rules it might be prudent to have the land available for waste facilities here in Auckland.

 

The city is going need the room to treat the increase sewerage and process the refuse as we march towards 2.5 million people. So where do we place these facilities?

Waste-water wise we already have two main facilities; the Mangere Sewerage Plant with its four hi-tech Bio Reactors (eliminating the needs for the oxidation ponds that use to pong), and the Albany Sewerage Plant which recently received an upgrade but not as hi-tech as Mangere (Albany still has Oxidation ponds which the Northern Motorway runs over). There are countless smaller sewerage treatment plants scattered around the Auckland region that service small places like Helensville but not connected to the metropolitan sewerage system.

Refuse wise I believe we have a main landfill somewhere on the North Shore operated by TransPacific Waste Management on behalf of Auckland Council with countless transfer centres around the city. As for recycling plants I would have to look but, I think Auckland Council has one dedicated recycling plant while paper is often dealt with by private firms (one I know of in Penrose next to the Onehunga Line).

 

Upgrade or even expansion wise for our waste facilities seems a rather straight forward exercise.

Waste-water wise Watercare (the Auckland Council CCO) has marked down that a new waste-water treatment plant is likely to be needed in the Drury industrial area to supplement the Mangere Plant when the intensification and Greenfield development takes off down this end of the city. If you replicate the Bio-Reactor set up at Mangere to the Drury site then there should be no issues with treatment in the south of the city. You can upgrade the Mangere Plant by adding more Bio-Reactors to it which would seems a good idea as the plant already exists. The catch is can the existing pipes take the extra load if we upgrade the plant. The same can go for the North Shore treatment plant in expanding its capacity by adding the Bio-Reactors to the existing facility (just need to watch those pipes again).

So with waste-water providing Watercare and Auckland Council does not take their eye off the ball nor piddle the money else where, the waste-water issue should be a straight forward one with a new plant and the existing two upgraded.

 

As for our refuse here in Auckland, this is where it gets interesting.  I have written a post on our trashy problem before and can be seen here: “TIME TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH – Waste to Energy for Auckland?”

The post is self-explanatory and challenges Auckland to be mature in asking itself how we deal with our trash. I highly recommend taking a read.

 

Waste-water and refuse. Two rather stinking problems or concerns for Auckland as the city grows but, two of the easier problems to “deal with” if the city acts in a mature and proactive manner. Just keep your eye on the ball folks and no piddling the money away…

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

 

 

Those Secret Papers

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Where’s Wally?

 

Seems our Ageist Old Fart from the NZ Herald – Bernard Orsman has had one of those John Key/David Shearer “brain fade” moments when banging on about the Unitary Plan. Orsman decided to go post this piece in the Granny Herald which caught the attention of a few people:

Secret plan papers kept from public

By Bernard Orsman @BernardOrsman

8:06 AM Monday Apr 29, 2013 

The Auckland Council is sitting on secret documents used to draw up a new planning rulebook for the city and instructed its top lawyer to keep them hidden from the public.

Mayor Len Brown and chief executive Doug McKay have rejected requests from the Herald to release background papers used by a political working party to develop the most important planning document in the history of Auckland.

The new rulebook – or Unitary Plan – sets out a new way of life for Auckland’s 1.5 million residents that includes high-rise apartments and infill housing to cope with squeezing another 1 million people into the city.

But when the Herald sought the background papers on the heritage rules from Mr McKay under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, the council’s general counsel Wendy Brandon refused to release the material. Requests for background papers on other issues would also be refused, she said.

…

The Herald is seeking a review of the council decision from the Ombudsman.

 

Not trusting Orsman I decided to go digging up for myself for these apparent secret papers. Often private citizens – those being private citizens who have not gone out of their way annoying Council have better luck getting a hold of council documents than the commercial media. I got an answer back pretty much the same day in regards to those “secret” paper and it is the following:

 

The papers are both beside me and on my desktop. I have had them since 2011 (with the collection still ongoing) and I already refer to them quite often here at this blog for research. Heck the paper version even follows me to Unitary Plan Community Meetings as well. So what were those papers? Well they were:

  • The (operative) Auckland Plan
  • The 7000 page draft Unitary Plan including maps – both electronic and hard copy
  • Every single Auckland Plan Committee agenda with all the attachments (often with Powerpoint presentations attached) added since The Auckland Plan became operative in 2011 if not earlier

 

Anything not available would have been from commercial sensitivity grounds such as someone’s property to be directly affected by a project (happens). However, those documents can also be sort after – usually with some black highlighter through it.

 

So the question was asked (basically Where’s Wally) about the background documents used to draw up the Draft Unitary Plan. Well seems the answer was if I trawl through over 10,000 pages of both hard and digital material – the background information is all there. One just needs to go sifting through it to go find it – or be more proactive and go ask someone who knows 😛

 

 

Might be time to leave the Herald alone folks. I see Stuff.co.nz do a pretty decent coverage on the Unitary Plan from all angles including the youth angle.

 

At the same time I could always go out to the community and talk Unitary Plan independent from the Council. Might go work on that business flyer this morning…

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

 

This and That – Round Three. But I Hear Mr Kirk’s Concerns

· 2 Comments ·

The Herald Just Can’t Get It

 

Mr Kirk however has a Valid Point

 

 

It seems the NZ Herald with their Auckland Unitary Plan reporter Bernard Orsman can just simply not get it when it comes to actual coverage and commentary on the Unitary Plan. I have repeatedly noted and am doing so again that the Main Stream Media are failing in their obligations of balanced reporting with the most two prominent posts being these two:

 

This unbalanced and one-sided coverage is annoying the city greatly as there are those who support the Unitary Plan in-part or as a whole. However Orsman and the NZH seem to be more interested in the Blue Rinse Brigade and trotting out what they say rather than what we all say.

 

However, Fairfax media who run the local Couriers you get, plus individual private blogs like my own have stepped up to the plate and are doing much better coverage and commentary thus far on the Unitary Plan. Fairfax and those bloggers should be applauded (although I still wince at Sydney’s piece – although that was out of circumstance) for their efforts so far while the NZH be vilified for their continued failings.

 

So where did Orsman and the Herald fail this morning prompting the latest round of backlash in social media. Well it was this article here: ‘Not in my back yard’ and if you look at the main story carefully it is actually not a NIMBY-ism story. It is a story of genuine concerns for an elder – someone with wisdom and knowledge on city planning listing his thoughts on the Unitary Plan and actually giving an alternative here. However, what flipped the story over to a NIMBY-ism piece was Orsam’s rant on the side – obviously still hurting from Sydney’s blog post.

I shall get to Mr Kirk’s concerns in a moment but first Orsman.

 

This is what the fool had to say as a sidebar to the article:

The battle backed by a blog

Hate speech is coming to a street near you – if you live in a quiet piece of suburbia, like Poronui St in Mt Eden, and object to your neighbourhood being rezoned for apartments and infill housing.

In a sign that the council is losing the battle to persuade middle-class suburban Auckland to adapt to a new way of life, it has appointed 28-year-old councillor Michael Goudie to counter more conservative views.

Not only that, but wise heads like deputy-mayor Penny Hulse are turning a blind eye while Goudie promotes an anonymous blog article, We Hate Nimbys (Not In My Back Yard) that labels a “sea of grey hair” opposing a new planning rulebook “selfish, arrogant, narrow -minded and parochial people” who should “just hurry up and die”.

Suburbs, including Orewa and Browns Bay that helped elect Goudie to the council in 2010 are branded “soulless, geriatric timebombs” in the blog he calls “brilliant” but that others label “hate speech”.

 

Yep he is still sore after that apparent line. However let me copy over a post from ANZAC Day by Orsman that would give rise to the ‘Pot, Kettle, Black’ argument:

Len Brown is attending four Anzac Day services tomorrow. I wonder if Michael Goudie will be tagging along in his official capacity of nobbling the oldies on the unitary plan to tell the “sea of grey hair” what a bunch of arrogant, deluded and selfish people they are who should “hurry up and die”.
I think Goudie has a bit more nous than that…
But there is more and even I replied right back
  • Bernard Orsman Other councillors are not speaking in an official capacity Penny. You are condoning this hate speech by doing nothing…and making it political. So Michael can tell the oldies to ‘hurry up + die’ just not on Anzac Day???
    • Ben Ross Major Face-Palm Bernard. For someone who is in the particular age group Councillor Goudie had an apparent crack at, you would think the term “with age comes wisdom (and maturity)” would resonate in your head before uttering that out with ANZAC Day upon us.

      Meaning we put aside our what ever differences (with the UP) for just today and stand united together to remember those who served and fell protecting what we have today. 

      Heck if I was your employer and thank your stars I am not, it would have been a formal reprimand for bringing the company into disrepute on a sacred day as this…

 

That reprimand should now be dismissal…

 

I don’t care what beef one might have against councillors and the Unitary Plan, you NEVER EVER imply ANZAC Day the way he did nor utter such tripe as Orsman did ON ANZAC DAY either. What Goudie might of said can be remarked as offensive to some but, we leave those gripes behind as we remember our War Heroes on that special day – hand in hand united. And if you are wondering if I am fuming – yes I am as ANZAC Day to me does hold close to me (as it does to all others) with having family on both sides of both World Wars.

 

Mr Kirk’s Concerns and Alternatives

 

Mr Kirk (a former planner with the former Auckland City Council) who lives in Mt Eden and right next to the famous iconic Mt Eden Volcano had concerns about the Unitary Plan (as does many others) did have to say this which struck me most:

From that NZ Herald Piece:

 

“Kirk, 77, has produced a demographic breakdown of Poronui St that shows more than half the residents are under 30 – and just six over 65 – countering critics’ claims (see sidebar) that most opponents of the plan are elderly.

He says he has no moral answer to the “nimby” question.

“That’s the dilemma. Do I share Poronui St with others or do the drawbridge thing and say ‘I’m bloody in and I don’t want more people’?”

The planner and social conscience in Kirk says if the council is serious about Poronui St, it needs to develop a specific, comprehensive plan where the architecture and buildings work for the residents – and not rely on blanket zoning passed over to developers.

“That is a lazy, unprofessional cop-out.”

 

 

Now that I do honestly hear loud and clear from Mr Kirk. It is something I have picked up through my Unitary Plan commentary and jet-setting and it is an issue Auckland Council needs to address. Fortunately I am writing and redeveloping a concept that Mr Kirk is looking for with Mt Eden. It is my Special Character Zone work and presentation I am compiling for Orakei Local Board next week in regards to St Heliers but, can easily be translated to other areas such as: Mt Eden, Onehunga and Ponsonby.

 

Taking an extract from my OLB presentation:

 

 

My submission to the draft Unitary Plan (and currently seen in the Shape Auckland Housing Simulator) calls for Local Centres to be dropped to three storeys. This would be consistent with the calls in St Heliers to drop the Local Centre to three storeys – with further restrictions at nine metre heights in place within the rules. What is not recognised thus far through the Unitary Plan is the fact our city is heterogeneous and the great role Local Boards has to play with Unitary Plan “planning” once the UP is operative.

To recognise the heterogeneity of our city I am proposing to St Heliers via the Orakei Local Board a Special Character Zone tied in with my Centralised Master Community Plan (CMCP) – Land Allocation/Development/Utilisation urban development/management model.

CMCP’s were covered in my submission to The Auckland Plan and I shall go back over it in a moment. First it is introducing and working on a new zone – the Special Character Zone (SCZ). 

 

Centralised Master Community Plans being as in the embed below:

Introduction

 

 

CMCP’s

 

 

The CMCP extract is a bit vague as I update and clean it up but in short it takes some of these merits in regards with Local Boards that are found in my other methodology (the SLPD):

 

 

The main crux of the SLPD would come from the: decentralised, semi-regulated, collaborative, efficient, simplistic and affordable approach to LADU. This is how the crux or ideal would be achieved:

  • Under SLPD’s the decisions and/or oversight would be with the Local Community Board rather than the centralised Council

  • Council provides  a statement of intent (The Auckland Plan) and action plan for Auckland (Auckland Long Term Plan) over the next period of time

  • Council provides a mediation service when there is a dispute with an SLPD

  • Council assists Local Community Boards with resources required when an SLPD is being carried out

  • SLPD follows the Philosophies of Land Allocation/Development/Utilisation (mentioned page 14)

  • Simplified Zoning

  • Collaboration between the Local Board, Community and Developer (allowing greater flexibility and response to community concerns and needs/desires)

 

 

 

Mr Kirk is wanting a comprehensive plan in regards to Mt Eden, I think that can be provided for with a ‘Mt Eden Special Character Zoned – Centralised Master Community Plan’ – a specialised local plan led by the Local Board overseeing the land allocation/development/utilisation of Mt Eden.

Once I have given my presentation to Orakei Local Board, I might translate St Heliers Special Character Zone over to Mt Eden and see where that goes. But good on Mr Kirk for making his concerns known AND seeking out an alternative for his community. No he is not a NIMBY, he is a genuine concerned citizen wanting the best for his community (and the wider city). 🙂

 

 

Just a note before I sign this off: this Unitary Plan is like the rabbit hole in Alice and Wonderland 😛  I have gone down the hole and where I end up at the end of this – who know!

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL

 

Off to the Auckland Plan Committee

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And Away I Go Giving a Presentation

 

May 2, I give a presentation to the Orakei Local Board on Special Character Zones and Centralised Master Community Plans as an alternative to some of our centres in the Unitary Plan (as we are a heterogeneous city). May 14 (as I have been granted Speaking Rights by the Deputy Mayor (to which I send my thanks 🙂 ) I give a largish presentation to the Auckland Plan Committee (the same committee overseeing The Unitary Plan) – on Manukau.

 

I have mentioned Manukau before at BR:AKL the most recent in my “THE CLUNKER AND ME (2) + A NOTE ON MANUKAU” post which deals with ‘Sense of Identity,’ and on the planning perspective; “QUESTION: AUCKLAND – METROPOLIS OR MEGALOPOLIS/MEGAPOLIS” post.

From “THE CLUNKER AND ME (2) + A NOTE ON MANUKAU:”

  • May 14 – Tuesday: Auckland Town Hall – Auckland Plan Committee (confirmed). I am asking for a speaking slot here while the Unitary Plan is still under the feedback process to provide clarification on the Manukau City Centre idea. After giving the idea at the Manukau Civic Forum and through my subsequent post: MANUKAU AS THE SECOND CBD OF AUCKLAND; the idea has been noted by Council (Councillors and planners) as well as growing some legs and going for a run. So to save the councillors getting befuddled around Manukau I thought I might go and clarify what I mean with Manukau as our Second CBD.

…

The post goes on with a note on Manukau and the City Centre Zones verse Metropolitan Zones per the Unitary Plan. My “MANUKAU AS THE SECOND CBD OF AUCKLAND” post linked above outlines what will be the foundation to my presentation to the committee.

 

The “QUESTION: AUCKLAND – METROPOLIS OR MEGALOPOLIS/MEGAPOLIS” looks at:

Something to think about

As I have been chatting away to various people on the concept of Manukau being a second CBD in Auckland; two interesting and thought-provoking questions popped up. They were:

  • Can Auckland be looking at THREE CBD’s by 2040: the existing CBD, Manukau and Albany (or Takapuna(something the North Shore can figure out itself))
  • Is Auckland an actual metropolis or in fact a megapolis/megalopolis

As for the tri-CBD question; another time and another debate. Right now it is the metropolis/megapolis/megalopolis question for Auckland

Now before some one pipes up about the world megapolises and megalopolises being massive areas with tens of millions of people, I want you to put that world relativity concept behind and think of a New Zealand and literal Greek concept of the terms.

The best way to convey the information is an information dump from Wikipedia…

…

 

So plenty to chew on and quite of bit for me to draw up for my presentation in three weeks time to the Auckland Plan Committee. And yes the matter will most like be a “hot button” issue and be somewhat contentious, but a matter needing to be raised and for the city to discuss 🙂

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

BR:AKL: Bring Well Managed Progress

The Unitary Plan: Bringing Change

Auckland: 2013 – OUR CITY, OUR CALL