Yet another waterfront stadium plan is being put forward for Auckland. Modern-day stadium naysayer Hayden Donnell summons his stadium-supporting past self to debate the merits. I used to support a waterfront stadium. It was 2006. Trevor Mallard was the minister of sport and he was offering Auckland $700 million to build a 50,000-seat facility across … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Nat Cheshire, self-described ‘fake architect’. About ten … Read more
Set to deliver 100,000 homes in the next 10 years, Kiwibuild is the government’s ambitious $2 billion plan targeting first-home buyers. But how is it changing Auckland’s wider landscape? Read more: Eye in the sky: a visual guide to Auckland’s housing boom This week, more than 85 potential first-home buyers will be holding their breath to … Read more
Just about every Aucklander has at some point shaken a fist to the sky after being kept awake by the hovering police helicopter – one man has made more than 150 complaints. Dylan Reeve’s curiosity prompted him to seek a night in the air, to find out whether it was all worth the whirry bother … Read more
Preliminary calculations based on the tally conducted last month point to about 800 people living without shelter in NZ’s biggest city. Initial results from Ira Mata, Ira Tangata: Auckland’s Homeless Count have this afternoon been published. The first region-wide “point in time” survey estimated that 800 people are living without shelter – a figure extrapolated … Read more
Auckland has erupted into furious debate over a proposal to adopt a 30km/h speed limit in the city centre. Hayden Donnell comes up with a solution sure to please everyone. A few days ago news broke that Auckland Transport may lower the speed limit in Auckland’s CBD to 30km/h, in an effort to make fewer … Read more
A challenge for the Auckland mayoralty is looming next year, with John Tamihere today turning up at Auckland Council to rattle some cages. But what is he actually standing on? And will he really run? Alex Braae went along to the JT show. John Tamihere came in early, to stake out a claim on a … Read more
To mark Auckland Council environment month, Mayor Phil Goff writes about the challenges facing the city and surrounds – and how the new targeted rate will be used to address them. Auckland is blessed with a beautiful natural environment. It is sited on three harbours, with 1,000 beaches, numerous maunga and reserves and flanked by … Read more
Late on Monday night saw an unprecedented, large-scale ‘point in time’ census of Auckland’s homeless population, ‘Ira Mata, Ira Tangata’. Toby Manhire went out counting, together with about 700 others. Think about it like this, said Wilf Holt: “You’re going to be visiting people in their bedrooms.” He said: “If tomorrow night someone flashes a torch … Read more
Auckland Council has nitpicked its way into rejecting two high-density apartment developments on public transport routes near the CBD. Hayden Donnell asks whether council’s consents department really believes in the vision of the Unitary Plan. The Unitary Plan was supposed to fix things. When it passed in 2016, huge swathes of Auckland were rezoned for … Read more
Russell Brown talks to Moira Lawler of Lifewise Trust about Housing First, a programme designed to get the most vulnerable homeless people into stable accommodation irrespective of mental or physical wellbeing or any history of substance abuse A while ago, Moira Lawler got a concerned call from Wellington. Something bad had happened with a Housing First tenant … Read more
Blocked drains, borked stormwater and an ankle-deep swamp under the house, yet the family renting the property in south Auckland feel powerless. The housing minister says it’s an ‘absolute disgrace’ and underscores the need for reform of tenancy rules. Zac Fleming reports for RNZ’s Checkpoint programme. The Housing Minister has described a Papakura “swamp house” … Read more
A rogue Auckland Council email footer has sparked a wave of angst and recriminations in the sleepy North Shore suburb Takapuna. Hayden Donnell explains footergate – and how it fits into the broader conspiracy culture in local government. These are the facts we know about the email the lobby group Generation Zero sent out to its … Read more
The objections of a few wealthy Mt Eden residents have succeeded in killing a much-needed central Auckland housing development. How does this keep happening? Dominion Road has been marked for major transformation with over a billion dollars to be invested in high capacity light rail that will traverse the length of Auckland’s most famous street. … Read more
The launch of a new aerial imaging company in New Zealand gives a bird’s eye glimpse of Auckland’s rapidly changing landscape, allowing us to compare some of the city’s major infrastructure projects in places like Hobsonville, Mount Roskill, Papakura, Flatbush and Drury before and after construction. As a wise man once said, it’s about time … Read more
Councillors and council officers are forever going to public meetings to receive bad advice from angry people who mostly don’t know what they’re talking about. Hayden Donnell asks why. In Takapuna last week, Mayor Phil Goff, councillors and council officers stood in front of a packed meeting and got yelled at. They’d committed the crime … Read more
Your third place is the place you go that isn’t home and isn’t work. It’s where you like to hang out – and ideally, it doesn’t cost you a cent. Jessica Rose of Women in Urbanism offers a few suggestions on improving Auckland’s third places for those who need them most. At this year’s Urbanism … Read more
Fifty-two people were trapped on an Auckland train last night with no access to toilets, no food and no information from Auckland transport, for over three hours. A city bound train on the Eastern Line struck something outside the Meadowbank station just before 8:30pm on Thursday and the train was still stuck there at 11:50pm, … Read more
Auckland’s golf courses are huge tracts of heavily subsidised land lying vacant in the middle of a housing crisis. We need to seize them all back, argues Hayden Donnell. Some of the proposals to fix Auckland’s housing crisis are debatable. Jailing all Boomers. Seizing Howick under the Public Works Act. Permanently exiling the land banking … Read more
After the release of an Auckland Transport survey claiming two thirds of Aucklanders support more cycleways, Mike Hosking stepped into the ring to fight Statistics. Madeleine Chapman reports. David v Goliath. Roe v Wade. And now, Mike Hosking v Statistics. These will be the battles oft referenced in classrooms, bars, living rooms, and courtrooms for … Read more
This World Refugee Day, and always, I hope the portraits and voices of our resettled community in Aotearoa can guide us in our efforts to ensure they feel valued, writes Áine Kelly-Costello. What is cultural pride? It is not pretending that any culture is perfect, or making comparisons between cultures to argue that one is above … Read more
Cheat sheet: According to numerous reports, close to half of the Auckland Council have signed a letter expressing ‘no confidence’ in Phil Goff. But have they really? So nine councillors have signed a letter expressing ‘no confidence’ in Phil Goff? No they haven’t. Less than nine? No. Nine signed the letter. And wasn’t that a … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Toby Manhire tries the freshly launched burger at vegan fast food outfit Lord of the Fries Meat. On the one hand it involves the institutionalised slaughter of animals, carries a range of grave health risks and presents a menace … Read more
This morning, news reports confirmed that the speedway will be leaving Western Springs. In today’s cheat sheet, we explain where it’s going and what’s going to take its place. Hey, so I hear the speedway is getting kicked out of Western Springs… Well, kinda. According to my former-colleague and still-neighbour Simon Wilson, the operator of … Read more
Last month, David Farrier discovered a mysterious film festival that was confusing the hell out of people. In part 2, Farrier slowly went crazy trying to find out who was actually behind the festival. Now, the mysterious AIFF has finally come to pass. OK, so where were we? That’s right. A man called Mitesh Patel, … Read more
Auckland Council have passed the Regional Fuel Tax on a 13-7 vote, but concerns about how it will disadvantage low-income communities remain. Better public transport would help – but so would greater access to e-bikes, argues Auckland University’s Dr Kirsty Wild. I am a cycling researcher who drives a lot. When my son was little … Read more
The visibility of hologram technology was given a major boost in New Zealand when the prime minister used it to make a Techweek speech. So how might the technology be used in the future? If holograms are the future, what exactly are they the future of? Anyone who saw Jacinda Ardern striding out onto the … Read more
Councillor outrage over a secret stadium report shows how much the mayor needs to learn about consensus building, writes RNZ’s Auckland correspondent Todd Niall. What’s the difference between being the Minister of Auckland, and the Mayor of Auckland? It’s something Auckland Mayor Phil Goff may need to ponder half way through his first term, after … Read more
In modern sport it’s hard to tell what’s more important: the hi-tech equipment, or the athlete themselves. Ahead of his appearance at Techweek’18, Olympic cyclist and America’s Cup cyclor Simon Van Velthooven talks to Madeleine Chapman about the increasingly important role of technology in sport. When you achieve something as impressive as an Olympic medal, it’s … Read more