After the disappointments of West Lynn, Simon Wilson proposes some principles to help the council with its suburban town planning. The possibilities for Auckland are no better expressed than on Great North Road: that wide slow slope down the ridge from Karangahape Road to St Joseph’s, the views across to the upper Waitemata and to … Read more
Does your house earn more than you do? For almost every Aucklander the answer is yes. So, asks Don Rowe, what sort of job would you need to do if you wanted to earn as much as the home you live in? With the new property valuation figures released today by Auckland Council, we now … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today, Kenneth has a message for Auckland – stealing road cones is not OK. OK? Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos
Mayor Phil Goff has announced the results of his first round of spending cuts and, as Simon Wilson explains, they’re full of surprises – not least for him. Phil Goff is not going to slash and burn the council’s spending on promoting Auckland to the world. That’s despite a good deal of gnashing of teeth … Read more
The Herald says communications spending at Auckland Council is out of control, but is that true? Simon Wilson looks at what council comms should be doing and why. The water went off in parts of Auckland yesterday. But Watercare didn’t post anything about it on its website and it put out no information on social … Read more
Winston Peters has ideas about what should happen to the Auckland port, but this week the Auckland Council took matters into its own hands. Simon Wilson was there and reports on the latest round in the battle of the Auckland port. Fifteen months ago the council received a report from a Consensus Working Group that … Read more
A year into the job, Mayor Phil Goff is having big problems with his budget. And with water, transport, housing, the America’s Cup, the rest of council and the whole of government. And he’s still trying to beat up on the city’s tourism and economic development agency, ATEED. But somehow, says Simon Wilson, he also … Read more
Auckland mayor Phil Goff talks tough on the need for a dedicated Māori seat on council. So here’s a cat to throw into the government coalition talks: the Auckland Council wants the new government to let them have a Māori ward, elected by voters on the Māori roll in the same way they elect MPs … Read more
Sometimes, the Auckland Council does some very good things. The new plan for the city centre and waterfront, says Simon Wilson, could just be one of them. Although it does have a few problems… Auckland councillors did something a bit unusual the other day: they gave council officials a standing ovation. (Well, that’s what a … Read more
Auckland’s rail services are now carrying 20 million people a year. That’s double the number just four years ago and we’ve reached the milestone three years faster than the planners expected. Matt Lowrie of Greater Auckland looks back at how the city’s commuter train travel was saved from extinction. This story was first published in … Read more
The vote was 20-1, almost everyone joining hands around the table with Cr Efeso Collins to reject trading in Auckland on Easter Sunday. So to speak. The Easter Bunny was there and so was Simon Wilson. Efeso Collins, a councillor from the Manukau ward, said: “I want to tell you a personal story. It’s a … Read more
When businesses and others respond to customer demand they do their best to be fast and flexible. So why, asks Mark Knoff-Thomas from the Newmarket Business Association, doesn’t the council work the same way? It’s interesting to observe the lightning speed with which certain things are approved by Auckland Council, when it wants to act … Read more
It’s 10-year planning time. The time when the mayor sets out his vision, his plans to realise that vision and the budget he will use to do it. But there’s a $6 billion hole in the money that needs to be spent on Auckland, and right now Phil Goff has no idea where the council’s … Read more
There’s a big carpark on Takapuna’s Anzac Street and the council wants your imaginative ideas for what to do with it. Councillor Chris Darby has been thinking about movies… When does a carpark become something better than a carpark? Panuku Development Auckland, the development arm of Auckland Council, is asking for ideas from the public … Read more
It should be one of inner-city Auckland’s most-used stations, but the newly opened Parnell Station is already looking like a lame duck. So what went wrong? One word: Disneyland. Harriet Gale explains. This post was first published on Greater Auckland. A friend inspired this post with her attempt to use Parnell Station recently. She phoned … Read more
The super city is broken, says eminent sociologist Ian Shirley – but it doesn’t need another review. It needs the government to fix the problems we already know about. Recently the NZ Herald published an article by Terry Dunleavy, a member of the National Party, under the headline: National’s ‘super city’ for Auckland is not … Read more
Last September a meditation centre in the Kaipara discovered the council had allowed a shooting club to move in almost next door. Simon Wilson went to a public meeting to find out how the battles lines are drawn. The little community hall at Makarau smells of mice and dry rot, but mildly, like it’s what … Read more
Yes folks, hold on to your rates, it’s time for the other budget! This week’s council budget is set to get a lot of people’s backs up, writes Simon Wilson – and some of it might not even be legal. NB: An earlier version of this story attributed the distribution of white feathers to The … Read more
Mike Lee, councillor and former chair of the Auckland Regional Authority, explains why he thinks the Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Michael Barnett has got it wrong on a port sell-off – and why Mayor Phil Goff is an even bigger problem. This is part two in our debate on the future of the Auckland … Read more
The Storm in the Port is a new series in which the key players in the debate over the future of the Auckland port put their cases. First up, Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Michael Barnett, who argues that selling it off could be one of the best things to happen to the city in … Read more
Devonport is getting that new retirement village but developer Ryman Healthcare has agreed to make it more like, you know, a village. Is everyone happy now? Well, almost. The citizens and architects of Devonport have won their dispute with Ryman Healthcare. The company is now just one legal step away from building its new 600-unit … Read more
Heads should roll, writes Simon Wilson. Auckland Transport is preparing to ask for government funding to build an expensive and inefficient bus route through the central city, blocking plans for a new park, despite its own analysis revealing it has chosen the wrong option. Why? How do senior executives at Auckland Transport manage to keep … Read more
The minister of finance just announced a multi-billion dollar spend up – and Auckland should be very worried. Simon Wilson explains how the government’s traffic plans are badly stuck. Congestion for motorists on Onewa Rd isn’t any better than it ever was, Cr Richard Hills told his colleagues on the Auckland Council today. Despite all … Read more
Auckland Transport wants a rail line from the CBD to the airport. Council does too. So why does a start date seem further away than ever? Simon Wilson examines what’s gone wrong and how to make it right in the dispute over rail to the airport. Light rail is trams and heavy rail is trains … Read more
Here’s a quick and easy and inexpensive way we can all get more excited about Auckland. Change the names of things! No really – Simon Wilson is serious about this. There’s free burgers or something if you can answer all five of these quick questions: What’s the CRL? What’s the LTP? What about the UP? … Read more
Hoping for more green space in the city centre? Auckland Transport has other plans, and there are just three days left to tell them what you think. Remember the City Centre Masterplan? Possible not, at least not unless you’re a policy wonk working for (or possibly against) the council. But it was a good thing, … Read more
When the council took a much-loved piece of playground equipment out of Grey Lynn Park, the kids fought back. Monkey bars – remember them? That moment you found the courage to walk upright on the top! And when you discovered you were strong enough to hold your own weight, swinging from one rung to the … Read more
A razor gang at the Auckland Council led to yesterday’s announcement that the city’s libraries are cutting 74 members of staff. Former Auckland librarian Ethan Sills reports. Libraries are magical institutions. It can feel unreal that they still exist, given how fantastical the idea of them seems. Buildings where you can go and borrow books … Read more
Just when you thought transport planning in Auckland was beyond all hope, here’s a plan to save us all. Or something close to it. Welcome to the Congestion Free Network, version 2.0. Do you have to be a nerdy traffic analyst to fall in love with a map? Probably. I like to think I’m not … Read more