Happy New Year to you and your family. I hope the year has started well and you have had a great January. Sadly, while the weather has proved great for holiday makers there has been no relief for our water supplies, and we have now reached a record breaking 40 plus days with less than one millimeter of water. While our supplies are coping Watercare have asked us to be vigilant with water consumption as there doesn’t appear to be any rain on the immediate horizon. For tips on how to conserve water please go to: www.waterforlife.org.nz.
With most back at work, many in the CBD, we have been faced with a nightmare trying to navigate all the road closures and detours. A combination of Auckland Transport works, CRL works, America's Cup improvements, NZTA works and private development has created ‘cone city’ and almost a daily headache as to how to get in and out of the central city. I’m assured this will all be worth it when completed but I also acknowledge that these collective works are causing significant disruption. I can assure you I am continuing to raise concerns with Auckland Transport around traffic management on your behalf- especially for our east to city connection and will be sending you a specific update on this soon
Last Sunday, I attended the sod turning ceremony to begin construction to upgrade the walking and cycling facilities on Tamaki Drive seaward side between Quay Street and Ngapipi Intersection. This is a shared NZTA/Auckland Council regionally funded project which will separate cyclists, who will now have a bi-directional off-road cycleway on the other side of the grass berm and pohutukawas from pedestrians all while keeping the existing traffic lanes and widths. Tamaki Drive has one of the highest cycle usage numbers in Auckland so whilst the improvements are good for them I’m especially pleased to see the raising of Tamaki Drive of up to half a metre to prevent flooding included in this project – something I’ve lobbied hard for and will welcome its completion . With this part of Tamaki Drive being such a key commuter route in and out of the CBD I have worked hard to ensure AT keep two lanes operational in and out of the city during extended peak hours (6am to 10 am and 4pm to 7pm) during construction .The last thing we want is more congestion!
To find out more information about the project and its delivery timeframe on the Auckland Transport website here: https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/tamaki-drive-improvements/tamaki-drive-cycle-route/.
For those of you in Mission Bay and Kohimarama, you will be aware of work being undertaken to cope with wave overtopping along Tamaki Drive. Council’s regional specialists in the area have installed fixed coastal monitoring cameras to help inform our management responses before and during storms, built wave barriers (gates) at wall openings to limit water passing through during a storm which should reduce overtopping discharge during low level storm events; and installed non-return valves on public stormwater outlets that are subject to frequent tidal inundation should minimize the risk of seawater flooding land.
If any residents would like to receive a copy of the Tonkin and Taylor report that was conducted last year (prompting the upgrades I listed above), please get in touch. I am hopeful Council will continue to work hard to provide our coastal communities with as much protection as possible.
I was very pleased to see Clonbern Carpark resealed and available for use earlier in the year. In December last year, Finance and Performance committee approved the disposal of 6 Clonbern Road, subject to the provision of 200 car parking spaces and quality design outcomes for this redevelopment. Panuku (the development arm of the Council family), has now entered a period of exclusive negotiation with Foodstuffs to understand whether an integrated development of 6 Clonbern and the adjoining privately owned carpark is both viable and provides suitable outcomes for the community of Remuera. I remain positive this development will provide excellent retail space to this beautiful part of Auckland and will continue to keep you all updated. In the meantime, the wider and longer carparking spaces are working well for shoppers.
There are to be parking changes in Parnell too. After considering feedback from the Parnell community, Auckland Transport has decided to implement several changes to improve parking availability by increasing turnover and discouraging commuter parking.
Thank you to all of you who took the time to place your feedback, the outcome reflected your response and hopefully will improve availability of parking in the area. For more of a detailed overview of the changes, please take a look on Auckland Transport’s website here: https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/parnell-parking-improvements/.
Now is the time we ask for your feedback on our Annual plan. This is your chance to voice your perspective on regional issues, priorities for your local board area and the review of our CCOs. I’ll be going into a bit more detail later but here is a short update on a few regional suggestions that are out for consultation.
Rubbish and recycling continue to be a challenging area for council. Sadly, compared to other world leading cities we have low rates of recycling and reuse of waste (35 per cent). We need to continue to find ways to mitigate this and make good decisions around our waste services.
So, what is being proposed?
In the Annual Plan, we are beginning to look for ways to reduce the amount of rubbish in our landfills. Preventing further cost to our environment will inevitably require some financial cost – like the proposed rise in your annual waste service charge. Unlike many other areas of Auckland who now operate on a user pays system, our area will still have a fixed annual charge. The charge is proposed to rise from $130 a year to $144, but still works out to be 25% cheaper than other areas of Auckland who have a pay per lift system. I am sure you are all aware of the increasing global pressures around waste management which obviously impacts the market costs for both collection and disposal. Despite this, council still managed to negotiate a waste management contract that was best value for money and at a reduced cost to what we had anticipated.
The budget also has a proposed average increase in rates from 2.5% to 3.5%. While I know increases are never particularly welcome, this will remain one of the lowest rates increases of the major urban councils (Tauranga are proposing 11% for the same period). On top of that, our area will, for the first time in a while, benefit hugely from some large infrastructure projects.
But nothing is confirmed!
You can give your feedback for any part of the budget either online or in person and will find dates and venues for relevant events in your area on the council website here: https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/topics-you-can-have-your-say-on/annual-budget-2020-2021/Pages/default.aspx. The consultation period closes on 22 March 2020.
As you all know, I do listen to and appreciate your views.
Desley