New Election Billboards: Old Chestnuts

I remember my first election leaflet in 1998. Contained a telephoto shot of Lake Road looking toward Devonport from Takapuna. Surprisingly light traffic looking back. And here's a billboard for the 2016 campaign.....

You can't quite read the authorising text at the bottom. It's George Wood. Apparently he's not standing for Auckland Council this election. According to the billboard he's got a local board team.

I'm aware that a group of local people have been working with Auckland Transport for the past two years on Lake Road and Devonport Peninsula Planning. The group includes representatives from the Devonport Business Association, Belmont Business Community, cycling advocates, pedestrian advocates, public transport, motorists. And now George and his team have all the answers. Well, we'll see.

When Auckland Council was established there was a lot of talk about Area Planning - local community spatial planning - that would be a building block for the Auckland Plan. It's been a challenge for Auckland Council to incorporate local spatial plans into the Auckland Plan - which is one of the reasons why the Auckland Plan is failing to gain traction on the ground in local communities. Top down approaches generally run into glue and opposition in Auckland when it comes to actual implementation if they haven't been socialised with local communities (using the consultation lingo). That's shorthand for saying that any attempt to shortcut a good level of community participation in implementation planning means nothing much will happen. Which isn't progress.

Speaking of which, and in regard to Lake Road, it's interesting what the Independent Hearings Panel decided for the Devonport Peninsula. You can read about it starting page 26 in the IHP report on topic 81. This basically addresses the zoning of Ngati Whatua owned, ex Navy, land. There were apparently some 196 submitters, of which 183 opposed proposed zonings. The report states:

A number of submitters raised issues regarding the capacity of the wastewater and stormwater networks. Many submitters raised concerns about the effects of additional traffic volumes on an already congested Lake Road, the lack of frequent bus services and safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists, particularly school children.

Interestingly the panel decided:

The Panel supports the retention of the Devonport Peninsula Precinct and the various sub-precincts and agrees with the additional height and transition provisions proposed by Ngati Whatua Orakei Whai Rawa Limited’s planning and urban design witnesses.

The Panel acknowledges the concerns raised by many submitters relating to infrastructure capacity. However, it heard evidence from both Watercare and the Council that their networks have the capacity, or have programmed upgrades (in the case of Watercare), to address any constraints.

The Panel heard from Auckland Transport that congestion on Lake Road is not unlike that on other arterial routes in the region and that they will be investigating a programme of improvements identified in the Lake Road Corridor Management Plan to address congestion, including transit lanes and a focus on public transport improvements.

 The last paragraph will be of particular interest and concern to those who have worked for the past couple of years with Auckland Transport. I don't think for one second that they would have anticipated that their work was to enable the intensive development of Belmont and Bayswater, described in the IHP's report as follows:

The Devonport Peninsula Precinct collectively covers 27.9 hectares of land and comprises six large land holdings (sub-precincts) of former navy housing in suburban coastal areas of the peninsula. The sub -precincts are:
i. Sub-precinct A - Marsden Street (4.1 hectares); ii. Sub-precinct B - Birchfield Road (1.9 hectares); iii. Sub-precinct C - Plymouth Crescent (7.1 hectares); iv. Sub-precinct D - Hillary Crescent (7.3 hectares); v. Sub-precinct E - Vauxhall Road (3.2 hectares); and vi. Sub-precinct F - Wakakura Crescent (4.3 hectares). Ngati Whatua Orakei Whai Rawa Limited owns almost all of the land in Sub-precincts A to E and no longer owns Sub-precinct F

 It is not clear how many residential dwellings might be constructed on this 27.9 hectares of land, or what sewage or traffic demands would be the consequence. This local issue will be occurring in one sort or another across Auckland. Local communities will be grappling with the local impacts of intensive zonings. However, until the Council - working with Central Government - realise and recognise that urban intensification requires planning that goes beyond zoning, you can be pretty confident that very little will actually change on the ground.

Despite George's billboard and the best efforts of his team.