Decouple, Disconnect or Deliberate Plan?

This leaflet was delivered widely in the Bayswater and Hauraki suburbs of Devonport/Takapuna Peninsula, and I went along to see what happened....

The hall was full. About 100 attended.I was sitting toward the front. It was very well organised: flip charts to record comments, sound system.

What was especially interesting about the meeting, and also the earlier one at Belmont which was also well attended, was that they were instigated by the local community groups (not by the Local Board). So this one, and the one at Belmont were organised by the Belmont-Hauraki Residents Association. I understand a similar meeting was held at milford which was organised by the Milford Residents Association. Auckland council officers attended in each case, and so did members of the Local Board.

These meetings, and the interest, and the swelling membership of these local resident associations, have obviously been in response to concerns raised by the intensification proposals that are in the Unitary Plan. They are grassroots responses, and should be taken seriously by council. They are an indication of what can be expected across Auckland as awareness of the implications of the intensification proposals grows in communities.

Local resident, and Belmont-Hauraki Residents Association member Tony Keenan chaired and facilitated the meeting. Local Board members Mike Cohen, Grant Gillon, Jospeh Bergin and Jan O'Connor attended. Cllr George Wood arrived toward the end of the meeting. Richard Burton and Ms Hanson from Vision 2040 were present, as were officers from Auckland Council (Ross Moffat) and Auckland Transport (Scott McCarten).

Tony explained that the community had expressed strong views about the intensification proposals that were in the draft unitary plan. And that people were worried about infrastructure provisions - because the unitary plan effectively de-coupled infrastructure provision from intensification. He said that "normal planning integrates that". He said that "now we have that gap-filling in planning via the Area Plan..."  The question now is what infrastructure is needed upfront, and what level of infrastructure maintenance is needed to ensure infrastructure and services don't erode.We need to plan for their upgrades...."

Three questions were to be put for the views of the meeting:

1)  What do you like and value in your area?
2)  What would make it an even better place to live?
3)  What services and amenities ought to be provided?

The meeting was informed that the earlier meeting at Belmont (on Monday) had expressed concerns about transport infrastructure, ferries, buses, schools, wastewater and stormwater. Burton for 2040 talked about "residential character".

There was an animated discussion and notes were taken which will be provided as feedback. There were many comments about Lake Road congestion. One or two wanted the cycle lanes taken out to provide more space for cars (thankfully only one or two!). Scott from Auckland Transport indicated that a $56 million provision to improve Lake Road (not sure what this entailed) had been pushed back in the plan to 2022, to provide for "higher priority projects". AMETI, CBD Bus Upgrade, CRL, Onehunga motorway link, and Whangaparaoa roading projects were mentioned.

This was the resolution that was adopted by the meeting. There was significant concern at the lack of connection, integration, coordination between intensification plans and infrastructure provision.

In my opinion, this disconnect is deliberate, because the objective of the approach pursued by Council is to remove obstacles to building and development activity across the Auckland urban environment. That is why the Unitary Plan has a few simple zones - with few rules, and that is why there is no obligation imposed on developers to upgrade infrastructure, and it also why there are no structure plan requirements for urban areas that have been up-zoned. These requirements are seen by some as obstacles to growth and economic activity.

However these requirements are the minimum in most other western countries, where people expect systems to be in place to protect them and their communities from the effects of up-zoning, through comprehensive area planning which includes infrastructure and suchlike.

Again, in my opinion, Council is making a rod for its back, and for the backs of it communities, by pushing ahead with this market-led approach to urban regeneration. Communities will resist it.

It begins with agitation, moves into education (as residents inform themselves and get to grips with urban planning and what is reasonable and fair), and then to organisation. These local groups are getting very organised.

Auckland Councillors need to take notice.

Waterfront Losing Authenticity...?

This is a view of North Wharf, Wynyard Quarter, before the present waterfront transformation project got underway...

You can make out the original net shed just above and right of centre... with a couple of fishing boats moored across North Wharf, and a vehicle ferry to the right.

Wynyard Wharf is bottom right. You can see a couple of trawlers moored, and perhaps one end of the Kestrel.

I went down to Wynyard Quarter and took a few photos when I was a Regional Councillor (love to find the originals now). Must have been around 2007-2008....

You can see why this building was called the net shed. It was used to store fishing nets. It was the place where nets were maintained and repaired. The place had a lot of character....

Many nets were stored on Wynyard Wharf, and fishing boats moored there too, and related traffic serviced the fishing industry along Wynyard and North Wharves....

This is another picture, showing the state of the wharf timbers on Wynyard Wharf.

This image is from the cover of the Wynyard Quarter Precinct Plan 1 document, which is dated July 2009, and was prepared by Sea + City, a subsidiary of Auckland Regional Holdings, governed by Auckland Regional Council.

The purpose of the Precinct Plan is to: "....take the principles established in the Urban Design Framework (UDF) and Plan Changes 3 and 4 and apply them to Precinct 1..."

This diagram is from pg 20 of the precinct plan, and relates to the UDF principle: "Active and Working Waterfront".

It shows fishing boats moored along North Wharf - as they did pre-development. No fishing boats are shown on Wynyard Wharf. It is not clear from this diagram where fishing nets and related activities would be located.

The text describing the map is shown here. It describes what the precinct plan response is: "Retain Existing Marine Uses. The Precinct's regionally significant fishing and marine industries provide authentic experiences. Maintaining these...... is a key aspect of establishing the identity of the Precinct...."

This map is taken from pg 24 of the document which relates to the UDF Principle 6: Facilitating a mix of uses and activities.

Note reference to "active fishing industry..."

Further on in the Precinct Plan, are the design guidelines established to implement the principles. This diagram is from pg 58 which contains the design guidelines for North Wharf.

This indicates that the sea and berthing space opposite the refurbished net shed was to continue as "fishing fleet berthage", and that there was to be a 5 metre wide "fishing service access zone" - which left a generous pedestrian circulation zone.

This is visualised in the Precinct Plan at pg 59.

I took a couple of photos as transformation got underway. The buildings either side of the net shed were demolished. Great care was taken to preserve every bit of rail, old concrete, wharf timbers...

Security was tight...

And it has been very successful - as an entertainment precinct. But, as this picture shows, the 5 metre service zone now contains seating. And whenever I go down there now for a beer or a  bite, I don't see any fishing boats moored along North Wharf.

Some say that Wynyard Quarter is at risk of losing the gritty edge it had. Losing its authenticity. More of a theme park. An outside Westfields Mall experience.

The Viaduct development will be remembered by many as one where private apartment interests successfully drove the fishing fleet out. Is the same thing happening at Wynyard Quarter? 

The Active and Working Waterfront UDF principle is an important one. It needs to be protected and implemented.

Auckland Cruise Ship Visits: How Lucrative?

There's something about Cruise Ships that sends thinking people into a swoon.

They conjure up feelings of adventure, drama and the mystique of exploration and travel to unknown parts. I like the look and feel of them, enjoy them being in Waitemata Harbour, enjoy the sound of their horns as they come and go, and sometime would like to go on one (interesting options in the Eastern end of the Mediterranean, the Baltic and a specialist one with on-board zodiacs touring Patagonia).

But that doesn't mean that I support them being able to park in Auckland's CBD waterfront. On our front lawn. Because I don't think it's economically justified (see below), and because I think the priority should be providing for public space and public activity.

Other cities around the world have been lulled by them into providing extensively for them to dock in the heart of the city - at the expense of providing public space and amenity for the local, population. And in most cases they've rethought those plans, and relocated cruise ship facilities away from the CBD, but near enough for passengers to enjoy and to visit.

Baltimore is one such city. It was one of the first city harbours to de-industrialise and to transform. The transformation process began almost 50 years ago. Then, a key goal was to attract private investment into brownfield waterfront lands. Local government institution invested millions in waterfront infrastructure, and attractions like museums, aquaria, warships and the like, and then terminals for cruise-ships. This was public investment. An economic stimulus. And cruise ships came. Cruise ship operators are always on the lookout for a destination to include in their routes.

After a few years of this, local leaders noticed that the people who were attracted to the Baltimore waterfront were either tourists, or the wealthy locals - who could afford the expensive fees charged by the facilities that had been developed. But it was not a popular waterfront. It was not a people's waterfront. It had become a destination for tourists (who often didn't have much to spend anyway) and wealthy locals who liked the harbour views and could afford the restaurants.

So decisions were made to change the emphasis and purpose of the waterfront. To make it attractive for all Baltimore citizens - including low income families. This led to policy changes including the development of low cost public transport links to the waterfront, and the development of large well designed park spaces on the waterfront.

You can see here, by the way, a comparison of the amount of public space there is in Baltimore's CBD waterfront, with Auckland's at present.

There's been a few cruise ships visiting Auckland lately. Hundreds of visitors stand confusedly on Queens Wharf, wondering what to do. Groups huddle around piles of suitcases - looking a little like migrants or asylum seekers. Hundreds take the ferry to Devonport. And of course many spill up Queen Street and environs.

I was at a meeting recently where a consultant - known for his enthusiasm for cruise ships and for them being able to dock on Auckland's door step - said, "every cruise ship visit brings a million dollars into the Auckland economy...."

How true is this?

When I was at the Auckland Regional Council a cruise ship passenger survey was conducted to provide answers to a variety of questions. The survey - which is dated April 2009 - I know, it's a bit out of date - contains useful information.

"Face to face surveys were deemed preferable.... TNS, a market research company, carried out 241 face to face interviews...  at least 425 total people were surveyed... passengers from 5 different cruise liners were included.... Aurora, Millenium, Volendam, Seven Seas, Silver Shadow..."

27% of the passengers were from Australia, 29% from the USA, and 27% from the UK. For half the passengers, this was their first visit to New Zealand.

There is a lot of info in the report, which quotes substantially from the qualitative data collected.

This is what is says about the "spend in Auckland"....

"...a conservative estimate of the value of the spend of each passenger would be at least $200..."

This was over an average stay length of two full days.

The report describes what people did while they were in Auckland, mentions coffee, souvenirs, and dining out and suchlike.

The wikipedia entry about cruise ship visits to Auckland, under its listing for Ports of Auckland Ltd, says this:

In the 2005/2006 season, POAL catered for 48 cruise ship visits (at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Princes Wharf), with more than 100,000 passengers passing through the port, mostly disembarking for short stopover trips into Auckland or the surrounding region.^[13] Each of the ships is estimated to add about NZ$1 million to the regional economy.^[9] For 2007/2008, the total was forecast at 73 ship visits, another strong increase.^[3]
So far, the largest ship to visit was the Queen Mary 2, which had to be diverted to Jellicoe Wharf in the freight part of the port due to its size. However, the largest one-day turnover came in February 2007, when the Statendam and the Sapphire Princess were due in Auckland to exchange around 8,000 people at the terminal, the equivalent of 19 Boeing 747 jumbo jets.^[14]

Interesting that comparison with jumbo jets (see below), and:

In 2013, Auckland won a major cruise ship industry award, being named Best Turnaround Destination (best location to start or end a cruise at) by Britain’s Cruise Insight magazine based on a survey of industry leaders.^[15]

which gives a clue as to the source of that entry in Wikipedia.

If we assume 100 cruise ship visits/year to Auckland, with 2,000 passengers each, spending $200 each (according to the survey), then the total spend for the year is $40,000,000, from 200,000 passengers. (This needs to be seen alongside the cost of the cruise - the survey reports that the average spend of each passenger to buy their cruise was "just a few thousand dollars per person - for well over half" the survey sample. These are not wealthy people on the whole.) Worth having, but hardly a fortune.

But the cost to Auckland Inc for that benefit is huge. It is at the expense of waterfront public space and amenity provision for Auckland citizens, and it denies Auckland CBD businesses revenues that would acrue from higher CBD visits from locals. And it includes the provision and maintenance of Queens and Princes wharves - though this may be partly covered by berthage fees.

These figures need to be put in perspective alongside Auckland International Airport which handles about 8,000,000 (8 million) international passenger movements annually - 40 x more - and with an additional runway this is projected to increase substantially. 

As a friend of mine in business in retail says, "if you want to know how well your shops are doing, don't count the people, count the shopping bags...."

Casual observation at Devonport, on the ferry, on Queens Wharf, around the ferry terminal, and along Quay Street tends to support the survey's findings. Cruise ship visitors do not come to Auckland to spend big money. Most of them are of limited means - just like Auckland's 1.5 million population - and they spend a few dollars on coffee, ferry tickets, meals, and the odd souvenir. It's just that they are floated into Auckland, moored at the bottom of Queen Street for a couple of days, set free (but fed and wined and dined on board if that's what they want), and then taken off to the next port of call.

It is the cruise ship companies that make serious money. They get the "few thousand dollars per person" x 2000 passengers. And they need destinations like Auckland to provide berthage facilities.

It is time the rose-tinted spectacles were taken off by Auckland decision-makers, and it is time to shift cruise ships off Queens Wharf, and re-prioritise that space for Aucklanders. Make it attractive and delightful for locals.

Chinese Lantern Festival

"Be enchanted - as the sun goes down and the lanterns light up, immerse yourself in the magic of the Auckland Lantern Festival.

Celebrating its 15th year in 2014, the Auckland Lantern Festival is one of our city’s favourite cultural events...."

So reads the Auckland Council webpage promoting this event. And what a beautiful evening it was. A few photos.... 

Click on them to get the full picture...

Keep Auckland Weird

This isn't Auckland.

It's Austin, Texas. Population much the same as Auckland. Not one of the 25 cities that Greg Clark listed in his recent Auckland Conversations talk about making Auckland "more business friendly...."

Austin's current official slogan promotes Austin as "The Live Music Capital of the World", a reference to the many musicians and live music venues within the area.... In recent years, some Austinites have also adopted the unofficial slogan "Keep Austin Weird". This interpretation of the classic, "Texas-style" sense of independence refers to: the traditional and proudly eclectic, liberal lifestyles of many Austin residents; a desire to protect small, unique, local businesses from being overrun by large corporations; and as a reaction to the perceived rise of conservative influences within the community. In the late 1800s, Austin also became known as the City of the "Violet Crown" for the wintertime violet glow of color across the hills just after sunset. Even today, many Austin businesses use the term "violet crown" in their name. Austin is known as a "clean air city" for the city's stringent no-smoking ordinances that apply to all public places and buildings, including restaurants and bars.

I wrote here about the recent Lorde concert at Silo Park, and quoted from the last part of Greg Clark's talk, which you won't find in his slide presentation. In that post I quoted Greg Clark along these lines:

He told us that Auckland rated high for quality of life, outstanding natural environment, highly effective governance institutions. BUT that Auckland has "patchy global appeal", ranks weak in "presence" and is weak in "liveliness". In fact he used the word "anonymous" to describe Auckland. He advised that Auckland needed to find its DNA, to expose its soul, to discover its inbuilt pattern, and work with that - not against it.....

 Greg Clark went on to advise that part of Auckland's DNA was its maori and polynesian culture. What are we doing about making Maori culture centre-stage in Auckland? There's been some talk, and we're certainly big on vision statements, but I wonder whether the words: "World Class" and "Most Liveable City"  (most liveable for who? - as I asked in this posting), are running counter to Auckland's DNA?

This artwork was designed by New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai, and is (maybe was) housed in Te Papa, Wellington. Michael has apparently been involved in designing a piece of artwork to go on the end of Queens Wharf. A plan whose lack of consultation was appropriately criticised by Rudman last week.

As I understand it, the sculpture proposed was to look like a state house - but scaled down a bit in size - with a large chandelier  hanging within. I read somewhere that the idea was an image about "keeping the home fires burning". This could have been about the number of servicemen who left for the war by ship from Queens Wharf, and it could be about the number of immigrants and settlers who came into Auckland by ship, and set foot in New Zealand on or around Queens Wharf.

What this proposed sculpture again highlights is the emphasis on European culture, on the colonial experience, on the history of colonisation of New Zealand. I would argue that most - if not all - of Auckland's CBD built environment, and its artworks and sculptures reflect and embody European culture - not the pacifica polynesian culture we write about, and talk about, and envision, and which is big part of Auckland's DNA, but - apart from a few recent signifiers - remains invisible. This artwork by the way shows "New Wharf" - which morphed into Queens Wharf. The two waka reflect the trading role of Maori. You can see the pair of colonial soldiers. Those sitting on the ground are likely to be Maori traders and family groups. The street turning left is Shortland Street. The picture shows where the reclaimed edge of Auckland CBD was in the 1850's.

I wonder whether live music - which is a very big part of polynesian culture - you only have to look at NZ's Got Talent to see that - might be a way of livening up Auckland ("lively up yourself"). We can still be the City of Sails,  but adding another cultural layer would be interesting.

Here's what they say about Austin's live music scene.... "First-time visitors might be surprised to find themselves being entertained with live music as they walk through the terminal at Austin's airport after deplaning. But they shouldn't be. Live music, and music in many other forms, is everywhere in Austin. Musicians play in everything from grocery stores (Central Market, Whole Foods) to city council meetings. They play outdoors at the Blues on the Green series and at festivals: Austin City Limits and South by Southwest you've likely heard of, but there's also Pachanga Latino Musical Festival, Urban Music Festival, Fun, Fun, Fun Fest, Chaos in Tejas and many more worth checking out. Mostly, you'll find Austin musicians at clubs, coffeehouses, bars, taquerias, auditoriums and concert halls - and with more than 250 live music venues, it can be intimidating knowing where to start.....

250 live music venues. City the size of Auckland. Interesting.... 

Sea Level Rise = Situation Normal

This is the "world class" image of Takapuna Beach, North Shore. Only the odd seagull, kilometres of uninterrupted sand...

This picture of is from The Sands medium density housing development at the north end of Takapuna Beach. Still not so many walkers. In fact it's a very popular beach for locals and walkers alike...

I took most of the pictures that follow on Sunday 2nd February. Around 10:00am that day there was a king tide. The Sunday was the mid-point in a 3 day sequence of king tides....

The heightened sea level occupied the whole beach for an hour or so. People could still walk their dogs around the built edge of Takapuna Beach...

...walk their kids and buggies...

What needs to be noted is that if a low pressure weather pattern had coincided with this King Tide, and stronger easterly winds, the high tide level could have been more than 30 cms higher (deeper). Like 3 years ago.

....but it was quite a sight. Most people didn't know it was coming, so were surprised. People I spoke to told me they'd been coming for thirty years or more - to sunbathe and walk - and hadn't seen anything like it...

...like this guy, slightly disbelieving, what the f' ... canute-like....

...perplexed.  I was bit perplexed too. Got some outstanding questions. Yesterday I checked my favourite website for Auckland tides (marineweather) and it had indicated there would be a 2.6 metre height difference between low tide and high tide. Being a recreational fisher, I know that is the sign of a reasonably small tidal change. Certainly not a king tide.....

....a 2.6 metre tide wouldn't look quite like this, but a lot of beach would be free of sea. Not sure what was going on with those charts....apparently king tides are predictable. For reasonably definitive tide charts check out these tables. You can see there that for Sunday, 2nd Feb, the low tide height at Auckland was predicted at 0.09 metres, and the high tide level was predicted to be 3.64 metres at 10:08 am Sunday morning. This is equivalent to a tidal throw of 3.55 metres (sea level height difference between low and high tide sea levels). 

When I was hunting around for tidal information I came across this website.Specially organised around Auckland King Tides. Sponsors and supporters include Auckland Council, NIWA, Civil Defence and Emergency, Auckland War Memorial etc. They planned to be present at the Takapuna Boat Ramp. For the big event....

And sure enough.  There they were.  Apparently the high tide level for the king tide is about what predictions show will be normal for high tides in 2064 because of climate change. When most people who were looking would no longer be on this earth I guess.... The US EPA's fact sheet asks:   

WHY OBSERVE KING TIDES?
King tides provide a glimpse of future everyday water levels, and
they are a way to communicate local sea level rise impacts over
long time periods. Low-lying shoreline development is at increased risk of flooding because of rising seas, and public investments in infrastructure, housing, and habitat restoration projects are often expected to last for decades. Highlighting king tides in a community can raise awareness of potential sea level rise impacts and identify flood-prone locations. The increased understanding of how sea level rise will impact local resources is valuable information for community decisionmakers.

People were interested. But I wondered what the aim of the King Tide communications and campaign was. A couple of weeks ago, the cover story in the 16th January 2014 Listener Magazine, reported the research of American Psychologist Daniel Goleman. It was entitled: "Centre of Attention", and was about how modern day distractions affect our ability to focus and concentrate. (About his latest book: Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence.) Well into the story we learn that Goleman's own focus is on climate change, and human psychology. He argues that human brains are not built to cope with threats that evolve slowly - like climate change. Our "fight or flight" responses don't kick in. That climate change is happening slowly enough for our brains to "normalise" it. He is researching ways that human intuitive response might be got round - by education and such like - but it's hard to escape the truth of his finding.

We act like frogs in slowly heating water. We don't jump out. Or do anything about it.
And when it's hot enough to kill us, we're past being able to do anything about it.

So I did wonder what the "KingTide" campaign was all about. Is the plan to help communities adjust to climate change, a type of social adaptation strategy, by normalising a king tide and thereby encourage people to accept it?
Coming to a place near you soon. Not much that can be done, nothing that you can do.

Get used to it.
An interesting moral challenge. 

Auckland's Indigenous Music Culture Opportunity

Accompanied my daughter to the Lorde concert at Silo Park last night. Very relaxing and relaxed venue....

Went and listened to Greg Clark, Auckland Conversations beforehand.  He was talking about "business friendly cities..." competition between cities for investment... sort of thing.... but he did make some interesting comments about Auckland....

Lots of places at Silo Park to sit and chat, get something to eat.... We had a beer and a litre of wedges at Jack Tars on North Wharf. So we didn't need anything more.

The startup acts were underway at the stage, but a lot of the crowd just enjoyed sitting and chatting. It was a glorious evening.

The place looks great.

Plenty of food choices....

The six pack silos make a great background...

Greg Clark told us that people in a lot of other cities don't even know that Auckland is a city. he started his chat by saying he reckoned Auckland needed to discover its own authentic, indigenous, identity, and that - once he'd dealt with the whole thing about being business friendly - he'd come back with a couple of suggestions for Auckland....

The grittiness of Wynyard Quarter is the background of most of the pictures...it's good... it's what the plans have been calling for....

There is the flash of ASB in the background here....

Place is full of people out for a good night...

And again...

Managed to squeeze in a bit of silo, harbour bridge and the James Bond boat being maintained. Seagulls enjoyed the scraps...

Back to Greg Clark.  He told us that Auckland rated high for quality of life, outstanding natural environment, highly effective governance institutions. BUT that Auckland has "patchy global appeal", ranks weak in "presence" and is weak in "liveliness". In fact he used the word "anonymous" to describe Auckland. He advised that Auckland needed to find its DNA, to expose its soul, to discover its inbuilt pattern, and work with that - not against it.....

Gradually the crowd gathers round the stage. Lorde was due at 9:00 but kept us waiting for 20 minutes or so. Vomiting apparently.  Standing room only....

Very good natured though...

And then with a bang we were into it. An extraordinary 17 year old in her school shoes....

Blue light sticks were free. There was a cunning plan for them to all get lit up for Royals, but the crowd couldn't wait....

Here's how NZ Herald reported the concert. 

"....A Laneway make-up show on a Wednesday night in little old Auckland must feel like a blip when more than 28 million people watched you perform at the Grammys.
But Lorde, who had only walked off the plane from Los Angeles the morning of the show, had plenty of surprises in store for the nearly sold out crowd of 10,000 at Auckland's Silo Park...."

It was fun - though for me - wanted to hear her singing more than I needed to feel the bass line - but then I'm an oldie...

And everyone went wild with the blue light sticks. (Click on the pic to see it enlarged....)

Quite a splash.....

Greg Clark came back to his theme at the end of his talk. What IS Auckland. Is it volcanoes, islands, boats and water?  Is it about openness, diversity, human relations?  Or how about the nexus between sport, food, nutition and health...?

But he ended by suggesting this:  Your indigenous population is Maori, that is what really strikes me. Think about  what Martin Luther King means in and to Atlanta...   The new constitution in South Africa and how this is a big thing now to and for Johanesburg....  Auckland's "offer" can be the way it rebuilds its relationships with its indigenous people...."

This is all from Greg Clark.....

And so here we all are coming back across Te Whero bridge from Silo Park. Happy throng. Buzzing with it all. Some of us headed for the Devonport Ferry, some for bus, some to Britomart.  I know the feeling is similar when there's a concert at Vector Arena. 
Remember how Auckland was during the Rugby World Cup - when Samoa and Tonga had their teams here - when Auckland built - temporarily - a relationship with its polynesian population? Scroll through this posting and remember.

Maybe Auckland's buzz can be built around music. Sort of New Orleans of the South Pacific. There sure seems to be a lot of good stuff coming out of schools and music clubs and groups across the region. How about bringing NZ's Got Talent as well into Auckland Central. This expression does not need to be confined to TV and internet ITunes. Through music, performance, rehearsal spaces, performance places, it can become part of Auckland's urban night life - and rebuild that relationship within and between peoples.