Fabulous facts of 2019

It is the season to be jolly, so I thought Id highlight some of the positive results from 2019. Its not a full list, as yes there is more, but these are just a snapshot of those I’ve chosen

·     $350 million of Green Bonds issued

After leading the way in 2018 as the first organisation in New Zealand to issue Green Bonds, Auckland Council followed up with a second release of $150 million in July 2019. Green bonds are a way to raise funds to spend specifically on ‘green’ initiatives such as electric trains and cycle ways.

·      $2.75 billion capital investment

From major regional initiatives such as the City Rail Link, delivery of our water quality and natural environment targeted rate programmes through to local initiatives such as new community facilities and the development of town centres.  This is Auckland’s future in progress.

·      $5 million pledged to Auckland City Mission

To support the City mission’s ambitious HomeGround project, council pledged financial support to help our region’s homeless.  This purpose built centre will house 80 apartments to provide safe and supported permanent shelter.

·      Auckland Council has retained its AA S&P credit rating and an Aa2 Moody’s rating

These are higher than any of the 26 registered banks that currently operate in New Zealand.

·      Net debt to total assets currently sits at 16%

In simple terms this is similar to having a 16% mortgage on your home or business.

·      Operational savings of $24.6 million

This was against a target of $23 million.  We aim to save an additional $23 million in operational expenditure this year too.

·     $70 million of Natural Environment and Water Quality targeted rates collected

The impact and outcomes of this essential revenue goes to initiatives large and small across the region – all with one outcome in mind – clean up our environment and waterways.  From
$50 million Daldy Street/Freemans Bay projects to reduce overflows and contamination in our harbours, to $4,000 for Men’s Shed East Auckland for materials to make rat traps, every cent is focused on improving the health of our surroundings.

·     $1.1 million contribution towards free public transport for children

Has helped provide free public transport travel at weekends and public holidays for kids aged 5 to 15.

·      $400 million project to secure Auckland’s water supply is almost completed

The final 3.5km of the Hunua 4 watermain is now under construction.  Once completed this 31km pipe will run from Redoubt Road in Manukau City and finish at Khyber Pass in the central city.

·      A record 14,000 new residential dwellings consented

·      Over 15 million items checked out of our libraries

      And over 11 million visits made to libraries throughout Auckland.

·      400 paths and over 62km of track walked by the Kauri team to identify Kauri Dieback

With the support of the Natural Environment Targeted Rate, we are protecting Kauri trees from Kauri Dieback disease in our regional and local parks. Over the year, we reopened eight tracks in the Waitakere Ranges, allowing Aucklanders back into the bush whilst protecting our mighty Kauri.

·      We purchased land for another 13 new parks and open spaces at a cost of $44.2 million

We’ve got 3,575 local parks dotted throughout the region and the land bought last year gives us over 29 hectares of new parks and open space.

Hope this highlights some of the good news to put a smile on your dial

Stay safe and I’ll be back in touch next year

Desley Simpson

How I helped improve the Quality Advice for elected members

I am not responsible for every elected members vote but good decisions come from good information. I am pleased that I’ve been able to play a part in improving the quality of that information.

Here is a media report on Council’s most recent results released this month……..

Latest results from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) shows that decision-makers at Auckland Council are now receiving better quality advice than ever before.

Councillor Desley Simpson, who has chaired the council’s Quality Advice Political Advisory Group, comments: “This year we’ve received our best-ever score from NZIER which is a great result for the Council and a great result for Aucklanders. Elected members rely on good quality reporting and advice in order to make the best decisions for our communities and residents in Auckland. Accurate, clear and balanced information looking at financial implications and risks, is key to us getting it right. It’s a huge credit to our staff that the agenda items we receive have been independently validated at such a high level.”

Each year NZIER assess a selection of around 50 reports that have been submitted to local boards and councillor based committees from departments and divisions across the organisation. The reports are then scored and benchmarked with other organisations across New Zealand. This year, council highlights include:

Overall average score of 7.45  

Up from 7.38 last year – which was the highest given previously  (ratings are:  5=poor; 6=borderline; 7=adequate; 8= good; 9.5 = excellent

40 per cent of the reports achieved a rating of 8 or above

One report achieved an almost unheard of 9.5

Placed third when benchmarked against 17 central government agencies

Last year we achieved sixth position and the year before sixteenth out of eighteen agencies that were assessed. Councillor Simpson went on to say, “This year’s great result is the achievement of staff across the business engaging and acknowledging that we still wanted to improve on last year’s good result. And they’ve delivered. To encourage and assist the process, the council introduced a formal Quality Advice Programme, independently assessed by NZIER in 2018 as ‘one of the best they had seen’. The programme is well planned and has had strong governance support, including from the political advisory group which is made up of local board members and councillors. This approach has improved the advice received by all elected members, which ultimately impacts positively on outcomes for Auckland.”

Happy Birthday Auckland Museum

Last week we celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Museum building on Pukekawa, Auckland Domain.

Before our iconic building was constructed, Auckland Museum occupied premises in central Auckland, beginning life in a two-room farm cottage in the suburb of Grafton.

With one room for the Museum's collections and one room for the curator, New Zealand's first Museum soon outgrew this humble site and was relocated to what was the Provincial Council Building in 1867 before moving once again to the old Post Office building in Princes Street three years later.

The Museum under the leadership of curator Thomas F. Cheeseman saw a period of rapid growth, resulting in three major extensions of the building over 30 years. Cheeseman lobbied the government to construct a new building that could take its place among the ‘chief museums in Australasia’.

By 1920 it was resolved that the new museum would be dedicated to the memory of those who had given their lives in the Great War. More than one hundred years ago more than 70 architects from around the world answered the call and entered the competition to design the new Auckland Museum building. Three finalists were chosen and Auckland firm Grierson, Aimer and Draffin won with their neo-classical building reminiscent of Greco-Roman temples seen by New Zealand servicemen as they arrived in the Mediterranean en route to Gallipoli and the Western Front.

Aucklanders rallied behind their Museum and subscriptions were raised by the public in remembrance for their war dead. The role of the cenotaph remains deeply important to us and the consecrated cenotaph ground remains the touchstone of Auckland’s collective remembrance of those who served in war.

This milestone has been poignant and timely reminder of our unique inheritance as we progress with our transformation and move closer to our Big Reveal next year. You can take a look back at the history of the building and some remarkable historical images here.

Consultation on proposed changes to some central crosstown bus services

Auckland Transport is consulting on proposed changes to some central crosstown bus services. These proposed changes affect the OuterLink and the 650 bus services and include:

•             Removing the section of the OuterLink route between St Lukes and Newmarket via Balmoral/Mt Eden where there is duplication with other bus routes to allow better reliability of the remaining section of the route from Newmarket to the city centre and on to suburbs in the west.

•             Increasing the frequency of route 650 (Glen Innes – St Johns – Meadowbank – Remuera – Greenlane – Balmoral – St Lukes – Western Springs – Pt Chevalier) to every 15 minutes during the day, seven days a week  and operating it later in the evening.

•             Adding more bus trips on Manukau Rd at peak times.

In addition to the proposed changes you can find out more about a new bus route being introduced in May 2020 between Newmarket, Grafton, Mt Eden and the Valley Rd shops. This will assist with journeys when Mt Eden Station temporarily closes to enable construction on the City Rail Link.

You can read the details of the proposed changes and submit your feedback online at AT.govt.nz/haveyoursay

Feedback closes on 13 December 2019.

Welcome to the 4th term of Auckland Council.

Mayor Goff has now met will all his Councillors and has confirmed an updated meeting structure for the new term. We now have 5 main committees of the whole. Three of these were as before, the Governing Body ( chaired by the mayor), the Finance and Performance committee and the Planning committee. Along with these, we now have two new ones, the Environment and Climate Change Committee, looking at environmental and climate change activities and a  Parks, Arts, Community and Events  Committee, focussing on  those key portfolios along with homelessness, grants for regional events and working with our six demographic advisory panels.

There are also a number of other committees feeding into the above. Of special mention are two new ones, the Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) Oversight Committee and the Value for Money Committee.

CCO’s control approximately 75% of our business. Legislation allows that. My understanding is that the thinking supporting the legislation, was that independent professional directors would be better placed than politicians to run significant parts of the Council business. Whilst the theory has merit, the practice has seen much of the CCO delivery performed in such a way, that Aucklanders and politicians have no ‘control’ at all.  The new CCO Oversight Committee ( which every Councillor will sit on)  will set policy relating to CCO governance, have a general overview and insight into their strategy and direction and monitor their performance. To further the input and monitoring of our CCO’s,  the mayor has also appointed a Councillor to sit on each of the major CCO’s ( in Auckland Transports case two Councillors) – not as directors, as that would potentially compromise their focus, but as observers with speaking rights.

The Value for Money committee is the second new committee. Whilst this work stream started last term, the mayor was previously unable to get support for this to be an entity of its own ( I think I was the only one who supported him on this) With this work programme realising $270 million of efficiencies in just two years, he now has that. This committee ensures the pro-active assessment of money saving opportunities and considers the cost effectiveness of the governance, funding and delivery across the Auckland Council Group.

One of the few things the mayor can do completely on his own is set the structure and name the chairs of  committees. In my case he has asked me to chair the Finance and Performance committee. Feeding into this is the Strategic Procurement committee and the CCO Oversight committee. He has also asked me to chair the Value for Money committee which reports into the mayors committee ( the Governing Body). Adding to that, my new responsibilities include being  chair of the Domain committee ( which with the boundary changes now is within the Orakei Ward),  being deputy chair of the Ngati Whatua Reserves Board, a member of the CCO Oversight committee, a member of the Town hall Organ Trust, and a member of the other committees of the whole ( Planning, Environment and Climate Change, Parks, Arts, Community and Events Committee and of course the Governing Body.   It’s a big workload but I’m up for the challenge.

Working alongside Councillors are of course our Local Boards. Unlike Councillor committees, Local Boards choose their own chairs and deputies. I am pleased to announce chairs and deputies for the two local boards that sit within the Orakei Ward. Scott Milne was unanimously voted in as chairman of the Orakei Local Board, supported by Sarah Powrie and Troy Elliot sharing the deputy chair roles over the next three years. For the Waitemata Local Board, Richard Northey was unanimously voted in as chairman, with Kerrin Leoni and Alexandra Bonham as deputy chairs respectively. You are well served with elected members committed to listen to you, your concerns, feedback and deliver improvements in many areas.

Desley Simpson, JP

Councillor for Auckland representing Orakei Ward

AUCKLAND COUNCIL

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Open space- It’s SO IMPORTANT

With Auckland intensifying every day, we need to balance this by ensuring our open space is both maintained and acquired to balance that intensification

This month I seconded a resolution for Council to acquire 13 new parks and open space covering a land area of approximately 29.19 hectares. All of these acquisitions respond to growth in greenfield areas.  We have now added eight new neighborhood parks in four local board areas, a suburban park, extra land to help form a 10-hectare sports complex and some open space for a new civic space in a town centre.

 This makes this council term total  67 new parks ( 251.4 hectares) in the last three financial years.

Heritage—it is important too

Again, the balance between new development and our built heritage is also important

The unitary plan contains objectives, policies and rules to protect significant historic heritage. Over the past 2 years, more sites have been identified for inclusion. Four of the five new recent sites are in the Orakei Ward. Two are especially well known in Remuera – The Remuera Post Office building on the corner of Remuera Rd and Victoria Avenue and the Remuera Primary School Gates in Dromorne Rd, Remuera.

What’s happening to the St Heliers Pony Club Site/land?

Post the decision made to remove the St Heliers Pony Club and Riding with the Disabled from the Kepa Rd site in Orakei, (I did NOT vote for that,) progress has been made on decisions for the sites future use. The land is owned by Ngati Whatua  but is co-governed by the Ngati Whatua Reserves Board . Initial work will begin with the relocation of a nursery on site for growing plants that will restore this particular piece of land and benefit the wider community. There will be public access with the original buildings currently being refitted to act as a site office while nursery is under construction and long term, a visitor centre

For more information, please go to;

http://ngatiwhatuaorakei.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2018-12-03-Orakei-Visual-Framework_Print-Small-LowQ.pdf

Freedom Camping By –Law

At the risk of writing volumes about what has gone wrong with the process and work to date on this, I will just focus on where we are now. Having spent time with a key constituent and the mayoral office, I am relieved where this by-law has finally landed. Following that meeting, the Mayor, came up with a solution, which in essence, was as discussed and pretty much the best outcome for Auckland. It was a combination of starting again and taking the best bits from the hearings process. He made the unusual move of writing a report and a series of recommendations against officer advice and that of the Hearings Panel. Sensibly, he suggested having all residential Reserves as prohibited as an excellent starting point. The Reserves Act already protects these reserves and unless the community wishes differently, they will remain as such. He also proposed a prohibition of all freedom camping in vehicles parked directly outside residential homes unless the resident has granted permission. Prohibited freedom camping sites would also include those outside commercial, educational and healthcare facilities, playgrounds and swimming pools.

We need and should provide adequate sites for freedom camping, but we also need to preserve and protect our reserves and public access to amenities. Finding the right balance between the two is the challenging part.

I must pay special tribute to an Orakei Ward local who worked with me and the mayor’s office on a solution, preventing the opening up of our reserves to freedom camping and the opening up of our streets outside schools and playgrounds to freedom camping too. You know who you are and without doubt, your influence helped us get where we got to today – thank you.

Closure of Remuera Post Office.

From Wednesday October 9, Postal and Bill Pay services will no longer be available at the Remuera Post office but will move across to Paper Plus at 389 Remuera Rd. Kiwbank services will be available in Newmarket- 312 Broadway, Newmarket or at Meadowbank, 35 St Johns Rd-Transaction only services. At this stage post office, private boxes will remain as too the public post boxes outside the old site (noting the ones further down Victoria Ave have been removed). This is a NZ Post decision not an Auckland Council decision. What surprises me most however, is the closure date of October 9. Three days before the postal local government elections close at noon on Saturday October 12.

Please remember to vote

To ensure your vote is received  on time, I suggest you post your completed voting papers NO LATER than MONDAY October 7, or hand deliver to a special ballot box at the St Heliers or Remuera Library before midday on October 12, 2019.

Monthly Newsletter

Council Workplan

Council have signed off its workplan for the year beginning July 1,2019 and its good news for our Orakei Ward. In fact I heard somebody say it was” groundbreaking success for Orakei”. Never before has the Orakei Ward had three major, flagship council projects in motion at one time.

There is money in this years budget for the Gowing Drive to Selwyn College link into to the Orakei Shared path which has been the Orakei Local Boards priority budget this term.

All local Boards put up one main project they wanted funded in the next ten years. Some have to wait a few years but Orakei has been prioritized for this year. This year will also see further investment into Colin Maiden Park with 2x new hockey turfs which are much needed and align to the Colin Maiden Park Masterplan that I know many of you inputted into when I was local board chair. Parnell Baths upgrade ( remember Parnell is now in the Orakei Ward ) has had their upgrade but the funding was split over two years. Orakei Local Board has also had its local transport capital fund doubled to enable it to make even more decisions on Transport projects you want to see delivered and extra extra transport budget to help deliver specific projects to reduce death and serious injury accidents in the Ward.

Church Rates

You will remember Council staff had proposed significant rates increases for religious institutions without any political direction and with, in some cases, only 2 weeks notice. Some churches impacted had their rates increase upwards of $20,000. I believed this was wrong and we should consult Aucklanders as to their views before accepting that these Council staff suggested rate increases were acceptable. My colleagues agreed with me. Consultation was done and the response from our Orakei Ward matched that of the response of wider Auckland that we should have non-rating of religious use properties. As always I voted to support this based on the response from those living in the Orakei Ward.

Auckland Transport's Multiple pedestrian crossings and ‘safety projects’ in Mission Bay and St Heliers

I am pleased to advise (although I’m sure you know) that AT’s suggested plans for both these areas are off the table. A working group has been set up in both Mission bay and St Heliers with members consisting of those from the relative residents associations, business associations, local board and myself. The Mission bay group has met 2x and St Heliers will have its first meeting this month. The very first job is to check that there is indeed evidence to support investment, then look at what, if any, improvements could happen and take these back to the community for input. If you have any ideas I strongly suggest you contact one of the two residents associations or myself.

Mission Bay/Kohimarama Residents Assoc chair@missionbaykohi.org.nz

St Heliers/Glendowie Residents Assoc chair@stheliers.org.nz

Update on Tamaki Drive

Many of you may be wondering why we have had multiple road cones along Tamaki Drive.

Built in the depression Tamaki Drive has really fared pretty well considering its age, but water has been creeping under the seal and causing damage.

In June, Auckland Transport undertook work on Tamaki drive’s curbs and channels in preparation for future road resealing. Problems with Tamaki drive curbs and channels ranged from: curbs that had been pushed down; sections of channel that were broken (and therefore no longer keeping water from under the road); to channels that were not draining properly due to age related level problems.

Functioning curb and channel systems are crucial to keep water out from under the road pavement. They also deliver water to the storm water system, via the catch pits in the road helping to prevent flooding.

Auckland Transport are also going to resurface the footpath on the seaward side prior to resealing of Tamaki Drive. However they will first finish the upgrading of the catch pits over the next two weeks. The footpath will then be surfaced and re-levelled, hopefully by early August, followed by road resealing which will get underway around August – September. All will be completed in time for the upcoming summer season ( so I’m told) Thank you for your patience while work is in progress.

Rats

Native plants don’t fruit every year but when conditions are right the fruit all at once. This gives rats a wonderful food source. Add to this a long warm summer and a mild autumn and you get rats breeding more prolifically than usual. In St Heliers we have seen a number of large rat holes appear beside the wooden board walk and behind some park benches at the eastern end of the beach. Council is doing a number of things to help address the rat problem. We have added two new rubbish bins that do not have open tops so any rubbish in them, especially food scraps, are not accessible to the rats. We have added a number of bait stations which we start by tempting rats to know there is always food there and then that food is gradually swapped for poison. Rats take the poison back below ground and to put it simply, go to sleep and don’t wake up. The St Heliers Business Assoc. have also been a great help by encouraging retailers to secure their rubbish extra tightly when they put it out and requesting Council to collect the rubbish in the evening as opposed to first thing in the morning. Rats feed at night. But you can help too. The Eastern Bays Songbird project have been a huge help giving out rat traps to residents. I have one. They are very easy to set with peanut butter and please don’t panic if you catch one. They come and dispose of it if needed!!

You can get your rat trap at the next St Heliers Market day on July 27 starting at 10 am in St Heliers Village.

Auckland’s Water shortage

While it may seem that we have recently been treated to dam-replenishing rainfall, the water shortage is unfortunately not expected to get better within the month.

We’ve had six months of historically low rainfall and our water storage is sitting at just below 60 per of capacity – Well below the historic average of 84 per cent for this time of year.

This is why Watercare has asked Aucklander’s to do their bit to conserve water. If we continue on as normal, Auckland may face specific restrictions later in the year – Right when we’d prefer to be living it up in the summer sun and cooling off with plenty of fresh water.

So, try to be water wise this winter by taking shorter showers, washing only full loads of laundry and being mindful of your usage.

Mission Bay Development (de Fontain site)

Hearings start on this 30 July and go through to August 6. The Mission Bay Residents Assoc. will be presenting at this hearing arguing that the proposed development is not consistent with the objectives and policies of the Unitary Plan. This view is shared by the OLB who will also be presenting (noting by legislation they are the elected arm of Council who are asked opinion- not councillors).

What to have your say on

Hobson Bay Walkway – potential extension from Wilsons Beach to Shore Rd

About the Hobson Bay walkway - Wilson's Beach to Shore Road Reserve

Have your say on the proposed Hobson Bay walkway from Wilson's Beach to Shore Road Reserve.

https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz:443/have-your-say/topics-you-can-have-your-say-on/hobson-bay-walkway/Pages/default.aspx

Climate Change Actions – The recent vote on Auckland declaring a Climate Emergency meant nothing really.

The decision came with no financial or legal implications. This is YOUR chance to have your say on what you think and the actions suggested.

About Auckland's Climate Action Framework

Have your say on the Auckland Climate Action Framework which will coordinate our efforts to reduce emissions and reduce the impacts of climate change.

https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz:443/have-your-say/topics-you-can-have-your-say-on/auckland-climate-action-framework/Pages/default.aspx

Finally, for those living/working and visiting Parnell, Auckland Transport are consulting on a proposed Residential Parking Zone for Parnell East and some safety improvements in the same area

https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/residential-parking-zone-in-parnell-east-and-safety-improvements/

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Putting the CONTROL back into Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) – especially Auckland Transport

Transport is an essential and unavoidable part of virtually every Aucklander’s life. The way that infrastructure and transport services are  delivered affect the way that residents move around their city. Whether you walk, cycle, drive, or use public transport, you’ve almost certainly encountered New Zealand’s largest Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) – Auckland Transport (AT)

Along with being the largest CCO, Auckland Transport is also the most unusual. It has not the usual one, but three pieces of legislation that govern them and their actions. As a CCO, Auckland Transport is responsible to Council through monthly reporting to local boards, and quarterly reporting to the Mayor and Councilors.

As an elected representative of Auckland, I ask myself – ‘how has Auckland Transport performed for the people of Auckland?’

In short, what AT has done well, they have done very well. However, in other situations where AT has performed poorly, they have performed incredibly poorly. So what has AT done well? Public transport projects and services are an undoubted success of this CCO. Public Transport user numbers are well ahead of initial projections. Very soon we will see 100 million public transport trips per year, up from 57 million prior to the supercity formation in 2010.

However, the following issues have been dealt with very, very poorly:

•             On-going Quay St congestion;

•             Parnell Business Association only getting one weeks’ notice that AT were closing one lane of Parnell Rd for two weeks;

•             Remuera’s Clonbern Rd Carpark top level being closed without notice to Remuera Business Association;

•             The whole debacle over the proposal to remove several carparks and add a whole lot of raised pedestrian crossings in St Heliers and Mission Bay, with very little evidence (some say no evidence) to support these proposals;

•             Add that to a ‘no show’ at a public meeting, which had in excess of 600 people in attendance.

There have been huge problems. In my opinion, the heart of all the issues lies with their communication and engagement – or should I say the lack of it.

What can be done?

Legally there is only one tool with which the mayor and councilors can use to hold this ‘arm’s length’ CCO’s to account. It’s called the Statement of Intent process.

Under legislation, each CCO is required in their Statement of Intent to:

1.       Outline their intentions and activities for the forthcoming year

2.       Provide an opportunity for shareholders to influence the direction of the CCO

3.       Provide a basis of accountability for the directors of the CCO to its shareholders

Whilst these are great objectives, in my opinion, the way they have been interpreted hasn’t worked for Auckland. 

In August 2018, I moved a resolution for council staff to undertake a review of the statement of intent process for our CCOs.

Following that action, in February this year I further moved the scope for the CCO review. Then, again in April, along adding more detail to all CCOs, I specifically put up ten resolutions to tighten our control over Auckland Transport as part of the next year’s Statement of Intent process.

Surprisingly to me, no other Councillor had ever done this before. In fact I was the first to officially tell AT very clearly that their engagement and communication was unsatisfactory.

With the support of the Mayor ( who seconded my resolutions) and nine other councilors, the resolution was passed- not unanimously but passed. AT were  also directed to report on congestion reduction (as some say that AT are making matters worse). Another one of my resolutions now requires AT’s attendance at any public meeting should they be asked by a Councillor or if a local board resolve as such. Remember the St Heliers Business Association and St Heliers/Glendowie Residents Association co-hosted a public meeting in St Heliers, with over 600 people present, but AT chose not to attend.

So where are we with Auckland Transport (AT) and their plans for Mission Bay and St Heliers?

Thank you to those who did turn  up in St Heliers for the public meeting. I can only apologise (again) that Auckland Transport did not show up for this meeting (as expected), so did not explain their position and reasoning behind their suggested ‘safety improvements.’

Your attendance and submissions did make a difference.

In both cases (Mission Bay and St Heliers) the residents associations and the business associations have done a tremendous job liaising through me with AT. They have now both been told by Auckland Transport that all engineering solutions are off the table.

Working groups for both areas have now been set up. These consist of representatives from the respective residents and business associations, local board and myself.

In Mission Bay’s case, the first meeting has already happened. This covered, amongst other things, commitment to get an independent review of the data which led AT to develop their suggested ‘improvements.’

With St Heliers, we are waiting on agreement between AT and the residents and business association re a couple of issues and then the working group will meet and work through issues similar to Mission Bay.

As I sit on both working parties, I will keep you updated on progress each month via this newsletter.

CRL- is it a financial ‘blow out’, expected increase or still a tentative figure?

Short answer- we still do not know how much this project will actually cost.

I wasn’t a Councillor when agreement was reached to fund and deliver this project. So, I wasn’t one of the Councillors who agreed twice to a 50/50 cost share split with government, nor a Councillor who agreed to the former ‘cost’ when agreeing to the project in 2014. However, what every Councillor (including me) did agree to this Council term, was increasing the rider capacity of the CRL by 50%. This involves extending the length of train platforms to accommodate trains of up to 9 carriages in length (up from a previous maximum of 6 carriages per train.)

Why? Because time and time again we deliver projects that take so long to be delivered that, shortly after they open, they are already at or exceeding their user capacity.

There are currently 21 million train boarding’s per year across Auckland. Rail transport ridership has more than doubled in the last 5 years and is projected to continue to be a strongly supported as a desirable public transport option into the future.

Further to these ever-increasing train use statistics, we know that it would be incredibly difficult to increase the capacity of the CRL once it is complete. This is because the project is largely located underground. Staff say to extend the stations to meet demand after completion would require the whole CRL route to be closed for 2 years so that workers could safely deliver the extensions. That would hardly be practical for Auckland! Increasing capacity now ensures far better value for money than completing remedial works shortly after.

 So what was actually agreed in 2014?

Councillors and the then mayor agreed to go ahead with the CRL on the cost estimate of $3.4 billion. This figure was an estimate only and there have been significant changes in the construction climate in general since then.

There has been a significant increase in demand for infrastructure construction in Australasia since 2014.

Increases in demand always lead to price increases in industries where it is difficult to quickly expand supply – like high-level infrastructure construction.

It is only natural that a 2019 estimate is more accurate than the projections that were made back in 2014, before construction even began.

Since 2014, the cost of the CRL has seemingly ballooned by $1 billion on the previous estimate from 2014. However, it was always expected by Council that costs would change between the 2014 estimate through to the CRL’s completion in 2024.

What will the extra money be spent on?

The revised cost envelope of $4.419 billion reflects higher costs in four key areas:

• Contingency and escalation costs ($310 million)

• Construction increase costs ($327 million)

• Accommodating longer, nine-car trains ($250 million)

• Non-direct cost ($152 million)

Where is the money going to come from? Of the billion-dollar increase, Auckland Council is required to contribute one half of the extra cost and Central Government will foot the rest.

What is the best news of all, is that all of the additional $500 million Council contribution will be paid without the need for a corresponding rate increase. This is due to smarter financial management of Council matters – not budget cutting!

Saying NO to government controlling our parks.

It was a bit of a shock to see that this government was wanting to take back control over how some of our parks and reserves are managed.

Last month we were advised that Council’s authority to effectively manage Auckland’s parks and reserves was severely threatened by a proposal from central government to revoke 44 of the 50 Ministerial powers delegated to local authorities under the Reserves Act. If this occurred, it would undermine grass root, local decision-making and lead to inevitable delays and costs caused by the need to seek Ministerial approval for the majority of actions currently undertaken by Local Boards and Ward Councillors.

To add to its illogical reasoning, no justification for the proposal was provided. It is also completely unclear what problem, if any, it was supposed to fix – there is a saying - if it ‘ain’t broke don’t fix it!

So, I moved a resolution this month at Environment and Community Committee supporting a submission against the change.  It was unanimously supported.

Our submission will now go to the Department of Conservation and we will receive a report on that in August.  However, we still don’t know when the final decision will be made. In the meantime,  Council stays in control of its Parks and reserves.

What’s coming up this month?

Freedom Camping  By-Law decision…..( I’m not at all happy where this has ended up. My only decision to date has been to take this to consultation)

Release of third quarter financial results ( how are we tracking re debt, savings and spend)

Value for money results

Climate Emergency (  do we have one? - should we declare one?)

Finally

I have decided to put my hand up and stand again for the position of Auckland Councillor representing the Orakei Ward in the forthcoming October elections. With the boundary changes now bringing Parnell, Newmarket and Grafton into the Orakei Ward, I thought it appropriate to officially launch my intention when I spoke to Parnell Rotary on June 5.

Without doubt, it would be a great honour to continue supporting the communities and residents from the Orakei Ward after October.

Thank you

Desley Simpson

Monthly Newsletter

Public Meeting TONIGHT on Auckland Transport's !@#%^& ideas for St Heliers (and Mission Bay)

Monday April 15 7pm -8.30pm at the Presbyterian Church and Community Centre, 100 St Heliers Bay Rd

I have been working with the business and residents representatives from St Heliers and Mission Bay to respond to the proposed ‘speed mitigation’ works suggested by Auckland Transport for both of these areas.

As I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters I am not at all convinced they come with evidence based reasoning, nor do they have business impacts or congestion data to substantiate their ideas.
 
The St Heliers Residents Assoc. have invited Auckland Transport to a public meeting to explain their suggested ‘safety improvements’ for the St Heliers business district. This meeting is TONIGHT at the St Heliers Community Centre, 100 St Heliers Bay road. I hope to see you there.
 
Having consulted last month on the lowering of speed within the village to 30 kms (and 30 kms in Mission bay) they are now asking your thoughts as to further speed mitigation/safety works. ( why they didn’t do these together astounds me)
 
Auckland Transports changes for St Heliers business district include 13 raised pedestrian crossings resulting and the removal of at least 40 carparks and potentially 30kms speed reduction
Mission Bay is proposed to have 11 new pedestrian crossings and a roundabout.

Come and ask your questions at the meeting or if you can’t attend please go to https://at.govt.nz/about-us/have-your-say/ and have your say.
Consultation closes 30 April.
 

Parnell Rd being reduced to one lane

I was outraged to discover Auckland Transport had given Parnell businesses less than a weeks notice of impending roadworks that will close a lane of traffic down Parnell Road for 2 weeks including Easter diverting traffic down St Stephens Ave, Gladstone Rd and The Strand in an already congested route (sound familiar?). For retailers, cafes and restaurants this simply doesn’t give them enough time to plan for the changes. Auckland Transport also didn’t think to communicate their detours or closures to a wider group of commuters including those from our Ward.
 
I’m making further steps this week to try to improve communication from Auckland Transport across many areas. Quite frankly their performance in this area is not at all satisfactory ….in fact its abysmal.  Will keep you posted…
 
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12221077
 

What’s happening to St Kentigern Girls’ School site?

I have had many queries around whether the St Kentigern Girls’ School site, recently up for sale, will be sold for housing. I can reliably confirm that Saint Kentigern trustees sold the Remuera Road site to the Hebrew congregation.

"This outcome follows a competitive tender process in which we were very pleased by the high level of interest shown in the property, and particularly delighted to see that it will now continue to meet the needs of another faith-based community," said Dr John Kernohan, Chairman of the St Kentigern Trust Board.
"We understand that the Auckland Hebrew Community may also be using some of the campus as an educational facility, which sits very well with its heritage with both Saint Kentigern and Corran School before us.”

The designation of the site under the Auckland Unitary Plan is Special Purpose – School. Any changes of use would require a plan change. I will continue to keep you updated as the handover progresses.
 
 

Mayor to speak at Meadowbank & St Johns Residents Association AGM- Tuesday night

Mayor Phil Goff will be the guest speaker at the Meadowbank & St Johns Residents Association AGM from 7pm at St Chads Church and Community Centre, 38 St Johns Rd, Meadowbank on Tuesday Night ( April 16)
 
There will also be discussion of many issues of interest including those specifically relative to Meadowbank and St Johns. I’ll be there too.
 

New Playground opening – Wairua Reserve, Remuera.

Every 3 years when local board members and councillors potentially change there is a corresponding "re set" of work programmes. Just because something was agreed and even started, does not mean it will come into fruition with new representatives.  Last term when I was chair of the Orakei Local Board, we started the upgrade of the playground at Wairua Reserve. What made this project particularly special was we went to St Kentigern Girls’ School ( which is across the road from the Wairua Reserve)  and worked with the students there letting them actually design the playground. This way we really knew it would be a playground by children for children. Last week these students saw their plans and design work realised with the official opening of the new playground. Thanks to the OLB for continuing the work and delivering the finished product.
 

Central Interceptor – Making our waterways in central Auckland cleaner

This huge underground tunnelling project which will make a huge difference to our area got a step closer with the signing of the contract between Watercare and an Italian company with 5 generations of tunnelling experience on March 14. I was there with the mayor to experience this milestone. The central interceptor is a 13km wastewater tunnel that, when built, will be the largest of its type in New Zealand. It will without doubt have a significant impact on our water quality and the ability for many parts of Auckland to cope with growth. Particularly for us, it will markedly increase capacity for the Orakei ward as 80% of the wastewater currently flowing through the Orakei sewer line will be diverted to the new tunnel freeing capacity in our existing line.
 

Quay St….its not getting any better

Media have finally run a story on Quay Street congestion. You can read the story here
 
My quote and one I stand by was “ To reduce Quay St to one lane knowing thousands of vehicles use it on a daily basis, with no advance notice to commuters re alternative options, and when Customs St is full of  construction is planning madness”
 
Something has to be done about putting the control back into Council Controlled Organisations such as Auckland Transport. I have a plan……………..

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12221884

Why I supported Eden Park for a grant

Eden Park is not owned or managed by Auckland Council. Unlike other stadiums such as Western Springs and Mt Smart, Eden Park does not come under the suite of facilities managed by Regional Facilities ( a CCO or Council controlled organization tasked by the supercity legislation to  manage council owned facilities )

However, it’s an important stadium for Auckland and this Council has finally made the decision to include it when we get to discuss the final details of what our stadium strategy should look like for our region as a whole.

It has debt though. This debt has been historic with Council as the guarantor. The debt of $40 m arose from the redevelopment of the Park for the Rugby World Cup in 2011 which the former singular councils at the time agreed to contribute to and yet when contribution was called for, they reneged. ( note - some of the Councillors around todays table were Councillors of past Councils then)

So Eden Park was left to manage that debt, and as a result struggled to repay it. Council  ( as guarantor) had no choice but to take over the debt. In doing so we have saved Eden Park some money in interest, as our interest rates are more favourable. However Council resolved ( with my support) to continue to charge them interest and then a bit more ( still  better  for them than what they had with the  Bank). Why? It’s a lot of money and we need to be prudent too.

So why are they unable to pay off their debt?

The interest payments on their debt have been costly, about $15m since 2011. Council itself hasn’t helped either. We charge them rates ( Wellington based Westpac Stadium doesn’t pay rates) and these aren’t  insignificant . Thanks to Unitary Plan rules, they can only hold a maximum of 6 concerts a year as a discretionary activity.   Concerts make money for stadiums, but our rules and time around consenting for concerts they wish to host is long, costly, arduous and not at all guaranteed. This needs to change and there is work happening around that.

So why a grant and not, as the mayor suggested, a loan? ( noting nobody disagreed with  the actual amount)

First, trust and confidence. Up until a week before the Mayor and Councillors were to resolve on the issue, our staff had agreed with Eden Park representatives that there would be extra money in the form of a grant. This had been worked on for many, many months. To change our mind from grant to a loan at the ninth hour, wasn’t, in my opinion, working in good faith.

Second reason - It’s what we usually do with other organisations and groups. We give grants, they are supported with funding agreements which stipulate details around those grants, rules to follow, accountability etc… Some previous grant examples include those to the  Vodafone Events Centre, Trusts Stadium ( Waitakere City Stadium Trust), ASB Tennis Arena and even our Orakei Wards own Hyundai Marine Sports Centre ( newly built  Royal Akarana Yacht Club building)  by way of only a few examples. Why should Eden Park be treated differently?

Third reason, advice from the auditor general. The auditor General designed a good practice guide titled Principles to underpin management by public entities of funding non government organisations. This document clearly talks about grants not loans. In fact it specifically talks about sustainability of funding (remember Eden Park already has a big debt problem, it is not therefore helpful or good practice, to add to it) and the document also refers to fairness ( see second reason)

So was the grant a gift?

 No. Like all grants it comes with rules and stipulations which the Chief Executive through his staff compiles. It’s a grant UP TO $9.8m over three years. It’s not a set amount per year, it’s a funding envelope available to be applied for specific capital spend. ( I know one priority is turf replacement, which is twice its ideal 7 year age limit for use)

So in conclusion what I proposed was fair, was based on months of understanding and aligned with guidelines from the auditor general. It is only for 3 years, and whilst adding Eden Park into our stadium portfolio potentially saves ratepayers hundreds of millions in refurbishment of our own venues, it doesn’t preclude a bigger discussion sometime in the future around building a new stadium somewhere else.