Jobs top of wish list in eco-city

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Lincoln Rd in Henderson, once a mix of vineyards and sprawling car sales lots, is the bold new face of Waitakere City as it tries to tackle its most pressing problem - creating jobs for its citizens.

King-sized sites for businesses are taking over from the vines and fruit trees along this major link between the Northwestern Motorway and Henderson.

The city council is pushing the transformation of what it calls the Vineyards Business Campus.

It sees the development of clean, smart businesses as the key to achieving its goal for a self-contained sustainable city rather than just a home base for Auckland's workers.

Each day 60 per cent of Waitakere workers commute to jobs elsewhere. The resulting congestion, pollution and waste of fuel and time goes against the grain of a council with ambitions to be an "eco-tech city".

Countering the traffic effects resulting from growth of jobs and homes is a mighty task facing the council in its next three-year term.

It will consider an option to ease congestion at the Lincoln Rd-Northwestern Motorway interchange by adding a city-bound lane, while it follows a plan to double the percentage of citizens who do not drive to work. At present that figure is 22 per cent.

The plan relies on improving bus and train services and getting more people out walking and cycling.

During the present council's term, the prospect of a more frequent rail service became brighter.

Work started on an Auckland Regional Council project to duplicate the western line and the city council was offered a regional grant of $9.5 million towards its proposed "son of Britomart" bus-rail interchange in Henderson.

The new council will need to keep the pressure on to have the double-tracking works continue from Mt Eden all the way to Henderson by early 2006, in time for the new interchange's opening.

A key design feature is a $2.5 million airbridge across the tracks to a proposed civic centre.

The council weathered a storm of criticism over its decision two years ago to relocate its chambers from Lincoln, a move it justified as an economic lever to trigger Henderson township's redevelopment.

The present civic centre has been sold to Unitec Waitakere for a campus. But new councillors can still put their hands in the moulding clay for the revamped Henderson.

Next door to the proposed civic centre, the council has 2ha of spare land to develop.

The costs to the ratepayer of the civic centre move, estimated at $30 million, will be a sensitive issue for the new council.

Managing debt and growth will be its big issue.

Borrowing for new works will push debt from last year's $148 million to $217 million by the time the new council gets to review the new 10-year budget.

Waitakere City

Population: 168,750

Ethnicity: European 71.9 per cent, Maori 13.4 per cent, Pacific Island 14.6 per cent, Asian 11 per cent

Median income: $20,785.

Voter turnout 2001: 38 per cent