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Summer - Sign of the Times
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This raumati we are seeing more of this - older buildings, or those built without centralised HVAC systems, or the ability to install AC/heat pumps, trying to keep cool.
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Te Poari ā-Rohe o Waitematā
Waitematā Local Board
Arrangements on how to interact in person with our elected board members are currently in a state of flux, while a more permanent solution is found.
Review of the elected member structure of Auckland Council
The Governing Body has been looking at whether to reduce the number of local boards to 15 (from 21), or whether to retain the status quo for the 2025 elections.
The Governing Body will determine in May 2024 what options will be put forward for public consultation.
For Waitematā local board, there are no plans to change representation arrangements.
Our money is on the status quo. It seems a bit of a hard sell to be claiming that increased 'efficiencies' (oh yes we know what that means - ed) would lead to better equitable, democratic and representational outcomes.
This article proposes that we are underrepresented in Auckland and even suggests that our local board members are not really even 'representatives' in the true political sense, having no powers to tax. Interesting.
But it would seem that if we look at Auckland local government representation per head, it is nowhere near the average in NZ.
Rates Exemptions & GST
The Mayor and Governing Body are asking the Government for the transfer of revenue equivalent to the GST charged on rates & sharing a portion of GST collected on new residential builds.
The government does not pay rates on much of its own property (including health, education, conservation and transport) despite using council infrastructure (and enjoying the fruits of the city centre targeted rate).
We would also add that all those exempted properties do not pay the city centre targeted rate (CCTR) either.
And of course charities/religions are also usually exempt.
It might be interesting to know what that forgone CCTR would add up to annually.
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Auckland Council's Long-term Plan 2024-34
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What is our 10-year Budget and why does it matter?
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Choices and trade-offs are a part of everyday life… but how does this relate to Aucklanders?
The draft Long-term Plan (10-year Budget) review is out for Aucklanders to give feedback on key proposals.
Some may want to see services and spending increased in their local areas and could favour a rates increase to do so, while others may prefer the council to spend less - for little to no impact on their rates bills.
It’s always a balancing act, and there are choices to be made.
Join an online information sessions to hear how the long-term plan proposals might impact you and your community, and how you can have a say.
what matters to you and your community?
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Storm Recovery Office March Update 2024
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Were you affected by the storms a year ago?
These updates have everything in the way of info, updates, where to find out more, drop in events and a whole lot of resources.
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ChunKing Café De Luxe
Xin Nian Kuai Le 2024 
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IMAGE
AKA Folies Bergère in the 1960s until 1968 fire.
source
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To celebrate the Chinese New Year. We are sharing this architectural plan of a Chinese tea house inspired building, the ChunKing Café De Luxe in 1944 that once stood on Greys Avenue.
The owners, Norman Doo and David Chan had originally intended the restaurant to be only for Chinese but as described in an ad at the time of opening they found that “our people have numerous European friends and hence our policy to make ALL welcome to our café”. An account from a visitor from 1947 confirms this policy, noting a mix of European and Chinese staff and guests from all works of life enjoying dishes that are still familiar classics today, such as chow mein, chop suey and egg foo yoong.
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Paearu Tohutohu mō te Pokapū Tāone
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The City Centre Advisory Panel is a key advisory body, supporting the City Centre Masterplan’s vision.
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Over the years we've had a number of attempts (and variations and some overlaps) to divide the city centre into more manageable bites. eg Planning precincts, CCMP 2020.
This month...
Te Tōangaroa/Quay Park
This area is a key feature of the CCMP precinct called Tāone i te rāwhiti/East city
Once thriving with trade, Te Tōangaroa has been reinvented to become Aotearoa’s first tangata whenua urban precinct - a vibrant urban neighbourhood in the heart of Tāmaki. The vision for Te Tōangaroa is a space where the people of Tāmaki can come together and enjoy the culture and environment this city and its people have to offer. source
One of the city centre areas yet to receive any city centre targeted rate love, this area is based on the lands Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei (NWO) purchased in 1991.
Te Tōangaora refers to the '‘dragging of the waka a long distance’. This was the place Māori arrived in Tāmaki, and would drag their waka up to the end of the beach, now known as Beach Rd across the shallow waters and mudflats that existed here before reclamation.
NWO have their own ambitious and visionary long term MasterPLAN for this area, a result of the identified strategic drivers.
There are also thousands of residents in this area.
With room for many more.
Maybe a school?
(We might need to address the issues from all the trucks, and missing pedestrian crossings first - ed).
Te Tōangaroa in the Central City Masterplan proposes the realignment of Quay Street back to its original position.
For now, Beach Road continues to be a polluted and noisy barrier between this area and the rest of the city.
And flooding is a hazard.
CCRG would expect that future CCTR funding would look to support NWO ambitions, as they align with all 10 of the CCMP Outcomes for the city centre.
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Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki
Auckland Arts Festival 2024
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THE Arts event of the year - with plenty on here in our pokapū tāone. Including free events.
Waiata Mai - Opening Night 7 March. Join Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand in Aotea Square to share in the joy of collective singing.
Join in singing a selection of iconic waiata from Aotearoa. Like:
- 6 Months in a Leaky Boat
- Sway
- Slice of Heaven
- Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi
BEAM will be cool too, as is the Digital Stage programme – all free, as is Rozeo down on the waterfront and Streetbeats.
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KiwiRail to lobby mayor on rail freight from Auckland port
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Port of Auckland is moving to dis-incentivise rail freight.
But why aren't costs being recovered by charging peak-time truck users more?
And the mayor agrees - preferring to see costs for trucks increase to encourage rail use and maximise climate and decongestion gains.
“We’ve been under-doing that for too long; we’ve been subsidising trucks in Auckland."
source
Kiwirail has warned that incentivising off-peak truck freight from Auckland’s port instead of rail, will mean foregoing benefits like carbon emissions reductions and less wear and tear on the roads.
CCRG agree, and when it comes to the negative impacts of more truck movements throughout the city centre, residents' health and safety will likely be the first to be 'balanced' (ie traded) off.
Other Negatives:
- Increasing maintenance and repair costs to our road network.
- Worse health outcomes - more black carbon, more diesel pollution and more noise 'off-peak' for residents near on & these routes.
Rail is there - use it.
The 2020 freight plan mentions air quality and noise...once each.
Has any of this freight plan been reported on? Any targets met?
We are checking on that too.
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No flag, no trade
&
Off the Wall
Two exhibitions in Queens Arcade
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Be sure to pop into Queens Arcade to view this display of our nation’s flags, and an exhibition examining the striking world of wallpaper in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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Queen Street Wastewater Diversion
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Enabling works: Utility relocations and Service diversions
Jan - Mid May
To cater for expected growth in midtown and reduce wastewater overflows, the network has been redesigned and realigned.
To improve wastewater capacity, WaterCare are installing pipelines under Queen Street and Mayoral Drive. This will capture wastewater flows from the eastern side of the city to connect with the Ōrākei main sewer.
Unfortunately there will also be all-night works.
Including Saw cutting, open trenching, drilling and hydro excavation and Concrete breaking.
INFO
We have requested more info on what that entails and how noisy works will be mitigated for the residents living above, and looking down into the works.
Sound barriers at fence height do absolutely nothing for apartments overlooking noisy works.
Luckily there are some more effective noise enclosures now:
Consideration, for residents, and assessments on the cumulative Health effects of noise on residents (identified as 'Others' in the H&S legislation), would suggest that a move to using more of these enclosures would be a good idea.
Curiously, these H&S assessments of the effects on residents are almost never made.
The City Centre Action Plan has an ambitious vision to raise the city centre population to 100,000, but that will require a lot more effort if not cultural change from CCO's and others to make some meaningful changes to the way in which they work in our neighbourhoods.
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image
The 9 A4E Zones
A4E is another critical part of the CCMP that we eagerly anticipate some movement on in 2024.
A4E is:
a coordinated response that manages Auckland's city centre transport needs by:
- limiting motorised through-traffic
- prioritising access to city centre destinations
- creating new spaces
- improving access for servicing, freight and delivery
- favouring public transport, walking and cycling.
We all understand that city centre space is finite - we need to make better use of what we have got for a much wider range of uses and people, and improve the quality of the environment.
A4E will enable the sort of localised neighbourhood-building that can bring our residential precincts to life.
Imagine the neighbourhoods that could then be enabled and empowered.
The planned City Centre Comprehensive Parking Management Plan 'Room to Move' is about how we manage the many kilometers of kerb space on our streets - how do we allocate that space to support the CCMP and support the roll out of A4E?
(We await that Plan with bated breath - ed)
We could be doing a lot more with the City Centre Targeted rate via many more tactical interventions at lower cost, across many more areas.
A4E neighbourhoods could be created with some retractable bollards, a tree or two and some rain gardens, and all at a small fraction of the current cost of shared spaces.
Good bang for our targeted rate bucks.
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Superblocks for the Supercity?
Join this Auckland Conversation on how to turn urban neighbourhoods into vibrant city villages.
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Barcelona Superblock design is characterised by exterior streets surrounding urban blocks and the transformation of interior street space.
The superblock design can be further developed into urban configurations such as miniblocks or linear blocks.
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Event Info and register to attend
Wednesday 13 March 2024
5.30pm - 7.00pm (doors open 5pm)
Waitākere Rooms, Aotea Centre
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Port of Auckland/Tāmaki Herenga Waka
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Port Tour available - see below
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While the Port Future debate has yet to be decided, the work on possible futures is well advanced, as was reported in our last Enews.
Fancy seeing what the port looks like in action? Go behind the red fence and explore Auckland’s port, on a bus.
These tours are well run, informative, and popular.
No you don't get to drive a straddle, or take Sparky out for a spin.
7 March 9 - 10 am
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The Next Te Waitematā Crossing
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A salutary reminder about induced demand.
Amongst other things.
2024 will probably start yet another round of discussing option(s) for our next (third) crossing across the Waitematā.
In 2016 the cost was estimated at $6B for a 6-lane tunnelled motorway that might have induced an extra 20,000 vehicles, with massive off ramps into the city centre, destroyed a part of the Victoria Park markets, and removed some of the park's oak trees.
The Minister of Transport at the time, Simon Bridges said:
'you can't build your way out of congestion' and
' you can't keep adding more lanes'.
Hopefully we have finally learnt that lesson.
Let’s not do that here. Please.
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Berlin’s Airport Garden - Wonderground
An inspiring read about how a community garden landed at a former Berlin airport.
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Berlin's Tempelhof Ex-airfield has been transformed into a large park through the collective efforts of Berliners - open to everyone to spend time in.
5000 square meters of the 940 acres is a gardening oasis:
“You had to prove that you were able to do what you proposed: that you have the means and the experience to actually realise your project”
The gardens are a commons – always open to the public - with 300 raised beds, repurposed materials, public installations and an abundance of generosity and creativity transforming the airfield into a thriving living space for community.
We have less than a handful of community gardens in the city centre.
Is there one near you?
How does it help you feel connected to people and place?
Growing food
Restoring the whenua
Building community
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For a City Centre size comparison, this is 5000m2 mapped on the grassed area below Bowen Street.
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How do we create the conditions for more plant, insect, bird and fish life in the city centre?
From balcony plant pots, to urban farms, native bush to planter boxes, community gardens to compost hubs and local parks.
Join with the Emily Place neighbourhood to hear their story of discovery and participation.
We will also walk around the corner to visit the UoA BeeSanctuary.
Hear stories of our unique landscape and ecosystems of the city centre, from the dense forest of the Grafton Gully to the hidden springs and rivers, and the way humans have gardened the city centre landscape for 100s of years.
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Where is this basement cellar?
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Newman Hall (Bella Vista), Waterloo Quadrant
IMAGE and more of the interiors.
One of the oldest heritage buildings in the city centre.
The land (1,779m2) was sold in the city's first land sale, following the 1840 Tuku Whenua between the Crown and Ngati Whātua.
In the 1850s the site was sold to David Nathan.
Named 'Bella Vista', (for obvious reasons) and a large Georgian style mansion with a basement cellar, was built in 1863 as the home of David and Rosetta Nathan,
Donated to the Catholic Diocese of Auckland in 1947, it was renamed after the English theologian John Henry Newman.
The building and land were sold for $11 million in 2017, to the Anglican Church’s Melanesian Mission Trust.
(Note this property is exempt from General and City Centre Targeted Rates)
Since then various plans for the building and grounds have come to nothing.
The site is very important as a Site of Significance to Mana Whenua as the Wai Ariki puna (spring) still flows under, and out from it.
The puna was and is of great importance to Māori (supplying historic pā and papakāinga sites in the area) and to later settlers as a source of fresh water for the new settlement, (still collected by local residents), and a commercial bottling plant.
At present, the future of the house is uncertain.
This original building is a Category A heritage scheduled (Auckland Council) building.
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In the City centre
There are roughly 200-300 new liquor license applications and license renewals a year in the city centre.
2022/23 saw a 30% jump.
There has been a rise in remote selling of alcohol via the internet - occasionally their proposed delivery hours attempt to circumvent the intention of the Sale & Supply of Alcohol Act.
CCRG object to around 5 in any given year.
The original Sale Of Liquor Act made it almost impossible for communities to object.
In 2022, Communities were given greater powers to reduce alcohol harm.
CCRG track all applications to see if there are any red flags, based on our, and residents' 'lived experieince' knowledge of the city centre, 24/7.
Objections can be made by groups having a recognised status or standing, like CCRG, or individuals and body corporates can make objections for premises in their local neighbourhood.
The vast majority of applicants sail on through with no objections.
The purpose of an objection is not usually to deny a license being issued outright, but to get changed or additional conditions imposed eg. reduced opening hours, noise management or security plans and so on.
There is the odd operator who gets rejected or shut down for good reasons, and after a formal legal hearing in front of the District Licensing Committee. These tend to be off-licenses.
But it is a process - this is why it is critical for residents to make complaints to council about licensed premises if you have concerns. They have to be logged, and will be brought up license renewal time, by Council inspectors.
The NZ Police or Health authorities may also object.
It is preferable to object before the license is first issued, to get the conditions required for a particular premises,or neighbourhood - otherwise it can a lot of pain until the license is up for renewal. (1 year after it's first issued, every 3 years after that before the expiry date).
Residents in Gore Street found this out with a hotel roof top bar that had external speakers, and all night parties.
And being 'high end' offers no protection against noise and nuisance in an area, especially late at night.
Many of the people making decisions don't live here, and have no idea how far music/bass and people shouting, can travel and bounce around high rises, and all the way down to the street.
We work with, and are grateful to the professional group CAAH, who provide us with legal, and technical expertise.
We have also notified nearby buildings to applications/renewals that they might wish to have input into.
CCRG may also provide additional support by submitting its own objection.
We have been quite successful in tackling the worst operators, and ameliorating other conditions for nearby residents.
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It's a busy busy period in Midtown.
Check out the detail in the update below.
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Corner, or centre of the street parklets don't even have to be 'habitable'. They can just BE.
Shade, cooler streets rain/stormwater collection & filtration, and just somewhere to pause and chat.
We are going to need a lot more of these.
Steve Mouzon
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Air Quality, Noise Monitoring
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Adroit Noise and Air Monitoring Kits outside the Strand Building
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It's always good to have actual data.
So it is good news for residents that POAL are now running a trial to get that evidence related to their operations.
Council has also installed small, noise and air quality measuring devices in specific sites on Queen Street. This is to provide data to support decisions around urban planning and to provide a benchmark for future improvements.
Another good thing for residents.
“Two things have become quite apparent: Queen Street is a noisy environment, but the air quality is actually not bad.”
Noise levels however, present a not-so-rosy picture for Queen Street as residents will attest to. The district plan noise levels in the Business – City Centre Zone between 7am – 11pm, states an equivalent continuous level of 65 dB LAeq and between 11pm – 7am its 60 dB LAeq
'we’re seeing spikes well in excess of those levels'
Noise rules and enforcement in the City Centre - A June 2022 Council presentation to CCRG
“I see some large spikes on the data and it coincides with an antisocial motor vehicle, for example. It’s quite a common complaint from city centre residents. At two o’clock in the morning, you see a 90 dB spike in noise and can make these links."
CCRG are requesting such devices be rolled out across the city centre as part of a smart sensor network that measures both air quality and noise.
So we can have actual data.
And then do the mahi that enables a city centre of 100,000 residents, (including kids) to want to live here, and thrive, in healthy and safe neighbourhoods.
(As stated in all of our agreed plans).
CCRG have asked for these to be installed on Te Komititanga to start getting the sort of baseline data being sought as part of the events pilot project, and start to manage the H&S for people in that space better. Especially for people living there, and the cumulative effects of potential 24/7 exposure.
Noise pollution is identified as a top environmental risk.
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Good to have these works completed, and Waitematā (Britomart) Station reopened.
City Centre residents are highly reliant on a well-functioning PT system all year round, and its fair to say that the rail network has not been that for several years of ongoing faults, and multiple week/month closures.
Rail users are all entitled to now how much longer these works will continue (as opposed to ongoing R&M).
When will the endless shutdowns over periods considered 'quiet' (for 9-5 commuters), end?
Events and activities in the City Centre don't disappear in these periods - these times are exactly when we need reliable PT in the form of rail, (as opposed to buses which just get caught up in the general traffic congestion).
All PT users need to be treated equitably - those who can't or don't drive (30%), groups like city centre residents, and many others - and not just business commuters.
GA has an ARTICLE on the recent works' achievements including some valid questions:
We continue to get told that this work will result in “faster journey times and more frequent, reliable trains” yet there is never any information on just how much faster, more frequent or more reliable they will be, so these agencies can be held to account if that doesn’t eventuate. Even just regular reporting around things like the number and types of faults would be useful.
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CRL Timeline
According to City Rail Link’s ministerial briefing CRL is due to handover to AT/KiwiRail on November 26, 2025. - Simple train testing begins July 24. - Dynamic train operations begin late 2024 early 25. - Full scale tests begin March 2025 when construction completes.
The tracks are now all laid.
The light at the end of the tunnel may actually soon be a train being tested!
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For all the latest news and videos on CRL 👀 look HERE
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The Emily Place neighbourhood is gathering again around the Emily Place Reserve and Square, during the Neighbours Aotearoa month of March. The last event was a gerat success - come and meet your neighbours!
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This is what AI thinks a part of Emily Place could look like.
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We don't have to have full on papa tākaro (playground) to provide a bit of fun in small reserves, or even streetside parklets.
It can be as simple as one swing, one seesaw, one slide, one of these.
This cutey is in Tūrangi
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'Crucial year for Hauraki Gulf Marine Park'
Article
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Image. Change in Gulf sea life since human arrival.
Source
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The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana / Te Moananui-ā-Toi is in trouble, as successive State of the Gulf reports have shown.
'On the brink of Collapse'
Kina barrens, black-flagged beaches, our resident Bryde's whales ingesting millions of pieces microplastic every day, rampant invasive species, scallop beds collapsing, and more.
We protect just 0.3 per cent of it across 6 tiny marine reserves.
What is the plan?
The Hauraki Gulf/Tikapa Moana Marine Protection Bill (10 years in the making) would as currently drafted, protect about 6 per cent of the Gulf in high-protection areas - a big step in the right direction.
Will it be passed passed into law this year?
The Environment Select Committeehas started hearing oral submissions on the bill. The committee then reports back to Parliament, amendments are made and the bill either goes forward to a second reading or not.
Both our local board, and ward councillor Mike Lee, have been strong supporters advocating for a healthier gulf.
Mike Lee: The ecological crisis in the Hauraki Gulf and what to do about it
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New marine protection areas proposed by the Bill, in the Hauraki Gulf. Image
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K Road - Cross Street Music Festival + more
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IMAGE
Queen Street Could have Light Rail by 1993
😔
source
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In this February issue:
Opportunties to Play: outdoors and Mahjong
The Kūmara Awards
Amusement Parks and tunnels
Spongey Cities and Vertical forests
Neighbours Aotearoa March 2024
Picasso to Cézanne
Community notices: City centre picnic in Emily Place, Balcony to Bay, Tai Chi classes
and much more.
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Timespanner
Progress of the Dilworth building at the comer of Queen Street and Customs Street East, Sept 1926.
Now a desirable city centre residential address.
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Jasmax 📸
'Shared for the first time, these aerial images capture the pattern and exquisite detail of the Te Komititanga whāriki – a fine mat expressing both welcome and unity, designed in collaboration with mana whenua weaving experts.'
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Want to contribute to The Happening?
Have a topic of particular interest?
Maybe its just some feedback?
Always good to have a wider range of input from city centre residents.
Contact CCRG
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