Viewpoint – Playing field not level

The Hibiscus and Bays Local Board made their final decision to adopt the Local Board Plan at their business meeting on the October 18 so now the way is open for the Plan to be implemented.

When we are elected it always seems to take such a long time to get things underway. Some of the simple things seem to take forever due to the processes we need to work our way through. The next process we are facing is the draft Long term Plan looking out 10 years, 2018–2028 for Auckland Council. There are huge issues as Auckland grows, we need more infrastructure to keep our city moving.  It would be great if we could employ more of our local people within our local board area as it is a fact that where people work they are more likely to shop which in turn provides a better economy for our local businesses.

The Government has been sworn in and we look forward to hearing what their intentions are for Auckland Council. They have announced the regional fuel tax for Auckland to close the funding gap of $5.8 billion. We need to think laterally and look at all the ways that the whole region can benefit, not just the central city. These and other issues will go out for consultation and we need all our people to have a say. Whether the regional fuel tax will be available to Auckland Council in time for the 18/19 rates only time will tell. The regional fuel tax is the easiest and cheapest of all the options to implement. My argument is until we have an efficient public transport system that we can rely on then people getting out of their cars is a big ask. We need to be able to get from North to South, East to West in the shortest and most efficient manner as possible. While public transport is a big focus of this new coalition Government we still need roads and Penlink is one of them. We need to be able to move freight around and ensure deliveries to local businesses to keep our local economy buzzing. We look forward to the conversation going forward. Many things in the public transport sphere are many years away but we need some immediate fixes and the CCOs need to listen to local boards more about how to fix these inadequacies.

My personal thoughts are we should be concentrating on the areas further out like Rodney West and North, the Hibiscus Coast getting their transport issues sorted and encouraging more to use Public Transport services instead of driving their cars making the journey in to Auckland city more palatable.

Recently the Rugby League World Cup 2017 started. Included in the price of your ticket you got free Public Transport to the game. People on the North Shore could get a bus from Albany but unlike the Rugby League Nines at Eden Park that took you straight to Eden Park, we had to catch a bus to the city then walk to a bus in Quay Street to be taken out to Mt Smart stadium. Why couldn’t the bus from North Shore travel straight down the motorway to the venue at Mt Smart? The people from the Hibiscus Coast couldn’t catch the bus up here – we either paid to go from the Park ‘n’ Ride to Albany or drove our cars to Albany. It is things like this that makes me wonder who makes these decisions.

To be honest I get a little annoyed about being told how we can’t do something, instead of looking at a solution and getting on with it.