Former National MP Christine Fletcher condemned RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop's housing fix for Auckland last week. Now the Whau Local Board, based in Avondale, has produced its own criticisms.
This is a transcript of Simon Wilson’s weekly newsletter Love this City – exploring the ideas and events, the reality and the potential of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
How big is a “walkable catchment”? This is the distance people can reasonably be expected to walk to get somewhere. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop wants 800m catchments around major train and bus stations, and he defines this as the area in which tall apartment blocks can be built. That’s about a 10-minute walk.
Mt Eden-based councillor Christine Fletcher and Ōrākei Local Board member Troy Churton say Bishop’s plans will ruin the special character of many parts of the city.
The Whau Local Board, which represents Avondale, New Lynn and Blockhouse Bay, decided this week to support Bishop’s desire for “increased intensification around rapid transit corridors”. But it declared its support in a way that reveals it doesn’t agree with Bishop at all.
One reason this is significant is that while Fletcher and Churton have centre-right political affiliations, the Whau board is solidly Labour.
Whau wants the walkable catchments limited to 200-300m. This excludes the big new apartment blocks in Avondale by Kāinga Ora, Ockham and others: they’re about 500-600m away from the station. It also excludes the Avondale Racecourse, part of which is likely to be developed in the coming years.
Board chair Kay Thomas confirmed this to me, saying they believe 200-300m is “adequate”.
The board also wants to redefine “rapid transit corridors” to limit the concept to “the City Rail Link, main trunk line and arterial roads of four or more lanes”. That would remove the rail line through Whau from the designation.
To me, this suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the core function of a rail corridor and the reason the CRL has been built. The entire rail network will become easier to live and work along, and the more people who do live and work along it, the more functional the trains will be. As the Avondale town centre develops, there’s likely to be much more housing demand from people wanting to live within a 10-minute walk of the station.
The Whau board had another big objection to Bishop’s RMA reform plans, and in this it joins with many others and, in my view, is on solid ground. It wants to stop proposals to remove the rural-urban boundary and fast-track more housing developments on the edge of the city.
It says this will undermine quality planning, ruin productive soil, allow more housing on flood-risk land and in places that lack water, wastewater and other infrastructure, and put at risk areas of special ecological value, like the Waitākere Ranges.
The board objects to the planned reduction in building standards. Dropping requirements for balconies and outdoor space could result in slums, it says, while allowing buildings and other impervious surfaces to cover more of a section will make the risk of flooding worse.
The board is also worried there will be more commercial risk to the council, such as there has been from the leaky-homes crisis.
RMA reform and the future of the Auckland Unitary Plan was going to be debated by the governing body of council last month, but that was delayed by ongoing ministerial announcements. That debate is now expected later this month.
It’s hard to know what Bishop thought would happen when he told Auckland Council to produce a new plan that allows a lot more density in the city, right before a council election.
The council can’t stick its head in the sand: population growth will happen whether we like it or not, and it’s much better to plan for it. But the minister shouldn’t be surprised at the rising clamour of election candidates who want to defend the way things are now.
Education Minister Erica Stanford was widely praised this week for announcing the end of NCEA, with a new assessment programme to be phased in over the next few years.
The issue is particularly important in Auckland, which has a unique distribution of schools. Under the old decile system, 10% of all schools in the country were in each of 10 groupings according to wealth: 10% in the wealthiest decile (decile 10), 10% in the second wealthiest (decile 9) all the way down to 10% in the poorest decile (decile 1).
This is what “decile” means: each of them is a tenth of the total.
But in Auckland, very few schools were in the middle deciles. Most schools were deciles 8-10 or deciles 1-3. This reveals that we have many schools where the kids come from wealthy homes, many where they come from poor homes, and not many in the middle. This distribution still exists, we just don’t use the decile system to describe it anymore.
This impacts not just the city but the whole country. New Zealand has correspondingly more schools that were located in the middle deciles, and fewer at the top and bottom.
Education issues in Auckland are, therefore, different from those in the country as a whole. A lot of the debate about “good schools” focuses on the high-decile end. To put it crudely: Grammar or Kings? EGGS or Dio?
But the most important education issues in Auckland relate to the other end of the scale. What do we do about kids who are failing? What schools with poor catchments are doing well and what can we learn from them? What are the other things we need to do in society, to give kids a decent chance?
These are all questions about poverty. Educator Alwyn Poole, who has run some very successful charter schools and alternative private schools, weighed into the debate this week. His view is that changing the assessment scheme is all very well, but it doesn’t address the core issues.
What are they? He listed six “key areas for the contribution of education towards our future”.
– “How to support parenting so that the vast majority of 5-year-olds arrive at school ready to fully engage and with the basics of a love of learning, good behaviours, as well as numeracy and literacy in place.”
Poole said this includes “parents reading to their children and being fully informed of key aspects of development”.
– “Massively improving school attendance.”
Poole said less than 1% of Vote Education is allocated to this, even though we know attendance is in crisis.
– “Significantly [closing] the gaps between those who achieve and those who don’t”, whom he noted are “concentrated among poorer families, Māori and Pasifika”.
In 2024, 16% of school leavers had no qualifications, but for Māori it was 28%. Poole called that figure “appalling”. But, he said, “I do not see a single ounce of effort from Stanford on this.”
– Every high school should have a 5-year improvement plan for outcomes, “including aims and how to achieve them”.
– Improving the quality of teachers.
– Reforming the “massive and inept Ministry of Education”.
Poole’s critique runs foul of teacher unions, because he sees collective agreements as a big part of the problem. And although he is open that his political views align with the Act Party, he and party leader David Seymour have fallen out bitterly over the way charter schools are being established.
This antagonism on both the left and the right of politics is a shame, because Poole’s central ideas – items 1-4 above – are vitally important. All the reforms in the world will come to nothing if the impact of poverty on education is not addressed.
I’m not sure whether to be grateful or fearful we don’t have a mayor like the one in Christchurch.
Phil Mauger is reportedly using his own money to pay for a street redesign that will rip out a cycleway. Grateful it’s not happening here too, or fearful that it might?
Ripping out a cycleway in Christchurch! Thanks to the post-earthquake rebuild, it’s only the leading cycle city in the country.
Christchurch’s 35 bike-lane counters recorded 4 million rides in the 12 months to June, up 40% on 2017. And that growth is accelerating: a third of it occurred last year.
This is an entirely predictable outcome from the city’s relatively strong investment in safe cycling: 3.3% of the annual transport budget. Compare Auckland, where we allocate only 1% of the transport budget and AT has not always managed to spend even that. As a result, the annual cycling count isn’t growing much: it bobbles around 3.5 million rides.
Mauger declared last year that people “should not be forced into particular modes of transport”, meaning cycling.
What? No one is being forced to ride a bike. It’s about creating realistic choices. The only people forced into “one particular mode” are drivers who don’t have good public transport, walking or cycling options.
Mauger also believes the cycleway he wants to rip up is causing congestion. But cars cause congestion. Alternative transport options take cars off the road, easing congestion.
The problem Christchurch now faces is bigger than an anti-cycling backlash. Mayors shouldn’t be designing cities to suit themselves. And they definitely shouldn’t be using their own wealth to do it.
Seen the new transit map? With the City Rail Link (CRL) likely to open in the middle of next year, Auckland Transport has released a brand-new map showing how it will work with the key public transport routes in the city.
While we’ve always known the CRL itself will carry trains in both directions in a loop under the city, there have been several options for exactly how it will work.
Keep the existing lines as they are, just running the trains around the loop and back the way they came? Join the Western Line to the Southern Line, or to the Eastern Line? Invent something more complex, to join them all up? And which stations will be key for rapid bus connections?
AT’s solution is a hybrid. The biggest single change to the existing setup is the combination of the Western and Eastern lines into a new East-West Line (E-W). You’ll be able to ride from Swanson into the central city, looping around Karanga-a-Hape, Te Waihorotiu and Waitematā, then on to Glen Innes and down to Manukau, without changing trains.
The Southern Line won’t do this: renamed as the South-City Line (S-C), it will travel from Pukekohe to the central city, loop around and head back.
The Onehunga Line will run to Newmarket, as now, but instead of carrying on into the city it will join the Western line and head to Henderson. Onehunga passengers on the Onehunga-West Line (O-W) wanting to go right into town will have to change trains.
Like most transit maps these days, including the Auckland map it will replace, the design is inspired by the London Underground map. That’s a good thing: clarity and style are virtues.
It also makes a point of showing how the trains will connect with major bus services. That’s good too: the city is building an integrated transit network and we’re being encouraged to think of it as such.
At Greater Auckland, they’ve suggested this could go a step further. Instead of calling the integrated network “Trains and Rapid Buses”, why not take the chance to rebrand? That’s a very good idea. GA suggests Auckland Rapid Transit.
What’s this all going to mean? “You could be shopping at LynnMall and if they don’t have what you want, jump on an East-West train straight to Sylvia Park to see if they do, all within the $50 weekly fare cap,” said AT’s chief executive Dean Kimpton when he released the map.
He’s right, and that’s not the end of it. Several of the city’s other big shopping malls will also be directly connected to every suburb with a rail line, including Commercial Bay, Westfield in Newmarket and Manukau, Dress Smart in Onehunga and WestCity in Henderson.
For many people, the even bigger attraction will be the rail network’s easier connection of home and work, not to mention home and the entertainments of the city. Live in Onehunga and work in Henderson? One train ride. Live in Glen Eden and work in Panmure? Also one train ride.
Live in Avondale, or Glen Innes, Papakura, Parnell or Ellerslie, and want to go clubbing on Karangahape Rd or soak up a big concert in the Aotea Centre? One easy train ride.
Is this the optimum use of the CRL? Time will tell, and there is scope for change.
One service not included on the map, although it will use the S-C line, is Te Huia, the train to Hamilton.
City Vision’s candidate for the Waitematā ward, Patrick Reynolds, suggests these trains could run to the Maungawhau Station. There might need to be some rejigging of other services, but that’s a big, four-platform station, it’s on the E-W and O-W lines, and there is ample scope to develop a proper terminal for inter-regional rail.
Far better than the current terminal at the Strand, which isn’t close to or connected to anything.
By the way, here’s a map of the Tokyo transit system. The odd thing is, by all accounts it works. Important to know your colour coding, I imagine.
The council has been consulting on a new Deed of Acknowledgement for the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area (WRHA), which will establish a partnership with the local iwi, Kawerau ā Maki.
NZ First’s Shane Jones says the plan looks like “co-governance”, but it’s hard to see how.
There will be no change of land ownership, no change to private land, no new restrictions on public access and no change to the existing decision-making powers of the council and the Government.
A total of 2251 people and organisations have shared their views on the proposal. The council says the process confirmed “the deep significance the Waitākere Ranges hold for Aucklanders”.
There was “a wide range of views on how the area should be protected and governed, with a majority supporting a more inclusive and enduring partnership model” between the council and iwi.
Feedback came from residents, iwi, schools, marae, local and recreation groups and environmental organisations. In total, 51% of submitters supported the proposal, 39% opposed it and 10% were neutral or unclear.
People living within the boundaries of the three local boards were more supportive of the proposed partnership than the wider Auckland community. Henderson-Massey residents were 78% in favour and for Whau residents it was 75%, while 54% of submitters living within the Waitākere Ranges area supported the plan.
What’s proposed in this new Deed of Acknowledgement? As partnerships go, it’s not very revolutionary.
An historical account will be published, outlining and acknowledging Te Kawerau ā Maki’s enduring relationship with the ranges and recognising their role as kaitiaki.
There’ll be a non-statutory strategic plan with work programmes and a monitoring role for the iwi.
An advisory forum will be set up with five council members, five from the iwi and one from the Department of Conservation. This forum will not have any decision-making powers or be able to tell anyone what to do.
Mostly, that means the council remains in charge, although the forum is expected to “play an important role advocating for the protection and enhancement of the Waitākere Heritage Area and promoting its national, regional and local significance”. Community participation “will be welcomed” at the forum’s meetings and activities.
The council says, “the deed confirms a shared commitment by all parties to work together - and alongside the community - to care for the Waitākere Ranges through a collective vision, coordinated action, and mutual accountability”.
Local boards have been signing off on the plan this week, ahead of its presentation to the full council for approval next Thursday.
“I live in Paerata Rise,” a reader wrote to tell me this week, “and there’s a bus service that runs from 4.30am to around 10pm, from here to Pukekohe train station. The total passenger numbers would be three or four people daily. To me, this is absurd and part of the reason why Auckland Transport costs so much. They’d save most of the cost by issuing taxi chits to people who actually use the service. At the very least the number of buses should be reduced by 90%.”
My correspondent thought the service probably costs around $200,000 a year.
Is he right? Paerata Rise is part of the enormous and very rapid expansion of suburbs in the far south of the city. It will have its own railway station soon, but for now, residents have to drive to get anywhere, or catch a bus. Clearly, very few choose the bus.
On the one hand, it’s easy to see that an under-used service is a waste of money. But there is another side to this. If those buses are “reduced by 90%”, the service will become effectively useless. People will decide they can’t catch the bus because it never comes.
So the question for the residents of Paerata Rise becomes: do you want public transport or not? If so, AT would like to think you’ll use it. But if not, you’ll reinforce your current status as a car-dependent culture.
That may seem fine. But if the hundreds of thousands of people who will be living in Auckland’s far south in the decades to come remain as car-dependent as they are now, they will require a massive expansion of roads, and car parks.
And the cost of all that will be exponentially more than the cost of efficient public transport.
The crunch will come with the trains. The CRL will open, allowing the trains to run much more often. Three new stations near the end of the South-City line will open, including Paerata Rise, making rail an easier option for tens of thousands more people.
And unlike when you’re stuck in the car on the motorway, you can spend your train commute on Facebook, TikTok, doing emails or, gulp, even reading a book.
The Takapuna Golf Club has been told its hopes of keeping an 18-hole course cannot survive, because the council needs half the land, which it owns, for vital flood resilience work for Milford and the Wairau Valley.
The club and the council have worked together to find a solution acceptable to both parties. But nothing came of it, and the council resolved last month to proceed with its plan to create a wetland on the park that will double as a floodwater detention sink when required.
The plan is part of the council’s Making Space for Water programme, which has already proven its worth in places like Northcote and Oakley Creek.
But the golf club isn’t giving up. It’s produced the “Shoal Bay Solution”, a plan to “safely redirect water through a landscaped green channel and underground pipe system”.
The channel and pipe would prevent flooding in the Wairau Valley and Milford by funnelling it away from the golf course, under Northcote Rd, under nearby Smith’s Bush and the motorway and out to Shoal Bay. Instead of flooding to the north and east of the park, the water would flow south.
The club says its new plan could be built quickly and cheaply, and would “safeguard hundreds of trees and important natural ecological areas”. The 18-hole course would remain and there’d be no need to confront “the environmental impacts and long-term maintenance issues” of a wetland.
I can still remember what Watercare’s Andrew Chin told the council in the wake of the devastating 2023 floods. There was so much water in the Wairau Valley “it would not be possible to build a pipe big enough to carry it all safely away”.
But I’m not an engineer. The golf club’s new plan was created by engineers and perhaps they’ve cracked it.
I asked the council what they think of the Shoal Bay Solution. Barry Potter, director of resilience and infrastructure, told me: “Last week we met with North Shore Takapuna Golf Ltd’s technical advisers, with a brief follow-up earlier this week with two of their advisers, and we will be meeting with them again on Friday, 15 August. We have nothing further to add until we have had these discussions.”
More to come on this!
To sign up for Simon Wilson’s weekly newsletter, click here, select Love this City and save your preferences. For a step-by-step guide, click here.