Media Releases

February 1

• Auckland welcomes 1.5 millionth citizen
  The Mayor has welcomed the baby chosen as Auckland’s 1.5 millionth citizen this morning at Middlemore Hospital.
• Mayor in Chair in Wellsford
  Len Brown is heading to Wellsford for his first Mayor in the Chair event of 2012, on Monday 13 February.
• Free agricultural chemicals collection
  Rural residents with unwanted agricultural chemicals or other hazardous waste are being encouraged to sign-up for an onsite collection this month.
• Toll road charges rise
  The NZ Transport Agency says tolls on the Northern Gateway Toll Road (NGTR) on State Highway 1 north of Auckland will increase on 1 March by 20 cents to $2.20 for cars, motorcycles and light commercial vehicles, and by 40 cents to $4.40 for heavy commercial vehicles.

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Auckland welcomes 1.5 millionth citizen

 
The Mayor has welcomed the baby chosen as Auckland’s 1.5 millionth citizen this morning at Middlemore Hospital.
 
Ramonah Patience Toomalatai was born a healthy 9 pounds 9 ounces at 4.36am in Middlemore’s Maternity Ward to proud parents Sulia and Tutasi Toomalatai.
 
“Ramonah may have been four days overdue but she was right on time to reach this significant milestone for Auckland,” says Len Brown.
 
The Toomalatai family live in Panmure and Ramonah joins her sister to Janelia (6) and brother Patrick (4). Both her parents are Samoan born; her mother Sulia grew up in Tauranga and her father Tutasi moved to New Zealand eight years ago.
 
Statistics New Zealand determined that the 1.5 millionth Aucklander would arrive today and would most likely be a baby rather than a migrant due to existing growth patterns.
 
Population growth in Auckland has exceeded that of other New Zealand centres over the last 60 years and reached 1 million in the mid-1990s. Auckland is now home to 34 per cent of New Zealand’s population according to 2011 figures with estimates suggesting Auckland could reach 2 million before 2031.
 
“Our challenge is to ensure that by the time we reach the 2 million mark we can look back and know we made the right decisions, the tough decisions and built an Auckland that Ramonah will be proud of.”
 
The Middlemore Maternity Unit is the largest in the country with 6900 children born each year.

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Mayor in the Chair in Wellsford

 
Len Brown is heading to Wellsford for his first Mayor in the Chair event of 2012, on Monday 13 February.
 
Mayor in the Chair events are informal lunchtime sessions that allow people to get face to face with their mayor. People are invited to come along, wait their turn, then have a brief one-on-one chat with Len Brown, to ask questions or share their thoughts and concerns about their community.
 
They are held regularly in different locations around Auckland. The hour-long Mayor in the Chair sessions complement the Mayor’s Town Hall Meetings, evening public meetings held once a month in different communities, which also allow locals to discuss issues directly with their Mayor.
 
“I do these events all over Auckland and they are very important to me. It is a chance for me to hear directly from people in diverse communities about what is going on in their local area.”
 
“We’ve held them from Helensville to Pukekoke, Manurewa to Browns Bay. I’ve had good discussions about public transport, sports fields, mangroves, libraries, and all manner of other subjects.”
 
The Mayor will set up his chairs on Rodney Rd, on the footpath beside the pedestrian crossing near Station Rd East, from midday until 1pm on Monday 13 February.

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Free agricultural chemicals collection

Rural residents with unwanted agricultural chemicals or other hazardous waste are being encouraged to sign-up for an onsite collection this month.

During the ‘agricultural chemicals amnesty’ from February 20 to 24, Auckland Council will collect a range of agricultural chemicals for safe disposal, along with other hazardous waste by prior approval.

Registrations for the free service must be made prior to 13 February by calling 0800 426 5169.

“We know many farmers, growers and lifestyle block owners have stockpiles of unwanted or old agricultural chemicals. With this service we are making it easy for them to ensure this hazardous waste is disposed of safely,” says Auckland Council Solid Waste Business Unit Manager Jon Roscoe.

Council will accept agricultural chemicals including herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and drenches, but not fertilisers. Persistent organic pollutants such as such as PCBs, PCP, DDT, 2,4,5T and a range of out-of-manufacture chemicals will also be accepted.

Non-agricultural chemicals, such as used engine oil, and other hazardous items may also be accepted by prior arrangement.

January 31

Toll road charges rise

The NZ Transport Agency says tolls on the Northern Gateway Toll Road (NGTR) on State Highway 1 north of Auckland will increase on 1 March by 20 cents to $2.20 for cars, motorcycles and light commercial vehicles, and by 40 cents to $4.40 for heavy commercial vehicles.

The increases are the first since the toll road opened three years ago.

The NZTA’s Regional Director for Auckland and Northland, Stephen Town, says the increases are regrettable but necessary to ensure the toll road remains viable and on-track to repay its debt as planned within 35 years.

“Although the legislation covering the toll road allows for the tolls to be annually adjusted in line with increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), they haven’t increased since the road opened in January 2009. Inflation and the 2010 GST increase have both impacted on the NZTA’s ability to maintain its debt repayment level, so it has become necessary to adjust the tolls,’ Mr Town says.

Transaction charges introduced in August 2011 to some toll payment methods will not increase. They remain at 40 cents for payment by kiosk and $3.70 when payment is made by phone. Transaction charges apply each time one or more tolls are paid for.  For example, from 1 March the total cost of purchasing one toll trip at a kiosk will be $2.60 - a $2.20 toll plus a 40c administration charge – and the total cost of purchasing 10 trips at a kiosk will be $22.40 - $22 for the ten trips plus a 40c administration fee.

There is no administration fee for tolls paid on-line at www.tollroad.govt.nz, or for ‘set and forget’ toll accounts.
‘To minimise cost and time for road users, we encourage customers to pay by toll pre-pay account or via the website as neither of those payment options attract extra cost,’ says Mr Town.

The toll road is a 7km section of SH1 between Orewa and Puhoi which provides road users a shorter, quicker option to its free alternative – SH17 through Waiwera. Borrowing $158M of the total $372.5M construction cost, meant the NGTR was built 10 years earlier than it would have been under traditional funding methods.

As at the end of December 2011, the NZTA had repaid $17.5M of the debt.