Plans for our City's future...B+..with potential for A+

So, like so many other Aucklanders, we too are wading through the various tomes that outline the vision for our region, and our central city (in between watching some great games of footie). This is really exciting times for the city, and there are some fantastic, transformational ideas here, particularly in the Central City Masterplan and the Waterfront Plan.

The emphasis on great design will make fantastic places for people, following hot on the heels of the success of spaces such as Wynyard Quarter, Fort Street and Elliott Street. The idea of the CBD rail tunnel reincarnates something that many Aucklanders lament – Robbie’s dream of a metro system. 

Proposed: A green carpet along the length of Victoria Street connecting Albert Park and Victoria Park

We love many of the ideas. All bold and good transformational thinking. We are heartened that the role of the business and retail sector in the Central City is highlighted, and we know that many of our precincts will flourish with the additional public realm improvements proposed in these plans, and be attractive for the Tourist dollar.

The future of High Street to support the precinct's boutique dining and retail?

If we have concerns, they are around how the fine words and pictures all ‘fit together’ – the need for the transport strategy that will conclude how cars and buses will be accommodated, in a more people focused future. 


The Ports expansion is an important economic driver but we would like to know how our roads would handle a quadrupling the number of container trucks, and how this meets the needs for the future vision of a more downscaled Quay Street. 

The future for Quay Street, but what happens to Port traffic? 

We would like to see the Walking and Cycling across the Harbour Bridge acknowledged in the documents, and feel that Heritage should feature more prominently.

We think these plans are a really good start, and if we had to give it a rating we would give it a B+ pass .. the challenge now is, amongst all of this RWC excitement, that Aucklanders make time to engage in the process and make it into an A+ as the timeline for submissions is perilously short – one month!!

St Patrick’s Cathedral Shines On

St Patrick’s Cathedral is, finally, all lit up. The Cathedral’s incredible architecture is now permanently lit at night, following the official opening of the long awaited lighting project on Sunday 11 September. This completes a trilogy of projects, including the square’s award winning upgrade in late 2009 and the Cathedral’s restoration earlier in 2007, and we love it.


This is the perfect way to kick start the city’s heritage festival, opening later this week. http://www.biglittlecity.co.nz/Events/Auckland_Heritage_Festival_2011 


Images Courtesy of St Patrick’s Cathedral Archive

Auckland’s Restaurant Month – Serving up the BIG little City with great success!

Auckland Restaurant Month has wrapped.  Held in August 2011, the inaugural event featured more than 60 participating restaurants in the central city, and raised awareness of the fantastic offering we have here in the central city. We couldn’t think of a better way to hunker down from the last of the winter chills, with delicious delights from across our city’s finest. 

And what a huge 3 weeks they were, of great eating and thousands of amateur Auckland foodies-turn-food-critics. After an outstanding 5,215 People’s Choice votes received during the course of the month, the winner of the 2011 BIG little City People’s Choice Restaurant Winner, was Ebisu. A new star in the city’s eating experience.

Other Auckland Restaurant Month Awards, voted by the public went to:

Best Experience - Ebisu

Best Food - Ebisu

Best Ambience – Bruschetteria

Best Service – O’Connell St Bistro

And it doesn't stop there. MarketView Limited were commissioned by HOTC to determine how consumer spending was impacted by the event (Marketview traced 10,000 customers that used BNZ credit cards to dine at the target restaurants between 28 July – 14 August 2011, and compared this to all Auckland restaurants. The results were outstanding.

….“Overall spending with the target restaurant list (Restaurant Month participants) increased by 44.9% over the same period as last year. There was a corresponding lift in transaction volumes and customer numbers (40.9% more cardholders spending during ARM). Spending at other restaurants in Auckland was up during the same period by only 3.4%. The increase in customer numbers brought people into town from throughout the region.

Auckland Restaurant Month was about drawing great attention to the city centre’s dining offer, during the quieter colder months of winter…but that’s no reason to stop enjoying the best of the central city now that the weather has turned warmer….there’s plenty going on to keep us entertained, and not least Rugby.

We can’t wait till Friday night’s opening event and the fun, great rugby and buzz that the tournament is sure to bring to the central city and the wider region. Get out there and enjoy it Auckland!