Auckland’s crossroads

By Penny Webster, Rodney Councillor, Auckland Council

The last few weeks have been interesting as Councillors have spent many hours listening to submissions on the Auckland Plan. Many submitters have pointed to the fact that although they agree with a compact city and don’t want sprawl, they also want to maintain their style of living, leafy suburbs and wide open spaces. Comparing Auckland to overseas cities has always been a problem. We are different both geographically and in make-up. Many citizens, from many nations, come here because they like the way we live as compared to where they have come from. The myth that Asians, for example, love to live in apartments doesn’t ring true when you look at developments around Botany and Howick.

But what people don’t understand about the Auckland Plan is this: It’s not a choice between two extremes. The plan advocates forcing people into ugly 1960s style high rise council flats as much as its opponents want to force people into bland 1960s style urban sprawl, all the way from Whangarei to Hamilton. It advocates choice in housing as Auckland expands. And that means an extra 100,000 homes built outside the metropolitan urban limit. It’s time to get away from the propaganda and focus on the facts.

Hearing so many talk about public transport has also been interesting. According to some people, cars are a no-no, an evil that we should do everything to erase. Very few people think that any more roads should be built and somehow we are all going to live in this Utopia City and view the rural landscape from afar. Again that is not the case.

The Auckland Plan talks about the importance of roads like Highway One north and the Onehunga-Mt Wellington link as much as it does about rail. That message doesn’t seem to be getting through. Sometimes it gets quite depressing.
And when I point out there is much of New Zealand and Auckland outside the city limits, some people get a glazed look in their eyes and shrug. We do need to continue to sell Auckland to New Zealand as much as we do the rest of the world. Internal tourism is as much a part of our future as international tourism. Still, 2012 will offer its own challenges. We are at a crossroads as far as Auckland is concerned. At least with the uncertainty overseas, New Zealand and Auckland are seen as safe havens. Long may it be so. I wish everyone a great holiday and a successful 2012.

Published 18 January 2012