KEY POINTS:
One of the highlights of the new Queen St paving stones is that they don't wobble about like their predecessors and squirt muddy water up my trouser legs when it rains.
But unfortunately, we still have to run the gauntlet of waterfalls gushing from the leaky verandas overhead
- from leaking light sockets, blocked downpipes and rotting iron gutters.
An afternoon rush-hour downpour has commuters and shoppers alike hopscotching their way down the city's main shopping mile, vainly trying to avoid a wetting from above.
Indeed the flash new floor coverings have only drawn attention to the tired old decor of the rest of the street. It's as though we've blown all the villa renovation cash on flash new axminster carpet and kidded ourselves that no one will notice that the walls are still covered with sagging wallpapered scrim lining which flexes away like a sail every time the wind blows.
Back in April 2004 when the $23.4 million makeover was first announced, I proposed that a communally owned veranda stretching the length of Queen St should be an integral part of the upgrade.
If the city wanted to create a mall-alternative that would bring shoppers back to the old Golden Mile, then guaranteed protection from the variable Auckland weather was an obvious priority.
Six months later, when upgraded plans were unveiled, then project manager Mark Kunath acknowledged the canopy problem and promised to work with property owners.
In December 2005, the cost had risen to $30 million and the promise to provide shelter for pedestrians was repeated.
"The council is aware that concern is often raised over the state of repair of existing canopies. The council will be working with Heart of the City and the Property Council in the New Year to encourage property owners to repair existing canopies, where necessary."
Almost two years on, absolutely nothing has changed. Notorious wet spots such as the Just Jeans Building and the Mid City cinema centre start behaving like Milford Sound waterfalls with every cloudburst.
Queen Street business lobby group Heart of the City points the finger at errant property owners, and at the city council for failing to force owners to keep gutters unblocked, and verandas water-tight.
Chief executive Alex Swney says officials are repeatedly asked to pressure owners to fix the leaks, but if they do approach owners they never follow through. "At meetings, the owners just nod their heads and say yes, we'll get on to it. But they do nothing, knowing these guys will never come back."
In September last year, the city council paid Australian consultants Essential Economics $80,000 for a report on "Auckland CBD Retail Development Strategy". Buried away in it is a possible reason why the council, despite all the threats, does nothing. "Council has no enforcement powers to ensure CBD property owners 'toe the line' on building standards and maintenance - this is evident for example in maintenance of canopies." It adds that "council does not 'walk the talk'."
In the report's summary of "key issues for the strategy to address", the "lack of standards for verandah canopies and signage" are identified as "critical" factors affecting decisions on whether or not to come to the CBD.
At last count, the bill for the Queen St upgrade had hit $43.5 million. You'd think the least the building owners who are benefiting from this vast dollop of public subsidy could do is to fork out a few cents of their own on basic veranda maintenance. Having spent all that money, you'd also expect the city to ensure, by regulation if necessary, that shop fronts and canopies are as First World as the new paving.
My hankering is for grand public verandas, straddling the new pavement, from the Town Hall through to the Ferry Buildings. Only existing canopies that are an integral part of the adjacent building - the Civic Theatre and the imposing, one-time Fay Richwhite palace at the corner of Wyndham St spring to mind - would remain.
But while I dream on, would someone please make the existing verandas less like the colanders they presently are?
