10 Days of Fashion in the City 2014

Fashion history was rewritten on March 8th with NZ’s Longest Catwalk (all 125m of it!) on Queen Street, and other highlight events included The Height of Fashion at The Sugar Club, Britomart Fashion Sessions at Atrium on Takutai, Hello, We are the NZ Fashion Museum in the Silo 6-pack and the Workshop fashion show in Vulcan Lane.

It was a busy 10 days for fashion retail too, with shoppers making the most of over 100 stores making exclusive offers for the duration of the event.

Photography by Bas Van Est, Sam Lee and Norrie Montgomery.

Art Week 2013

From 11 – 20 October 2013, an outdoor exhibition at the back of the St James Theatre in Lorne Street and satellite exhibitions across the city, showcased some of the most striking images submitted as part of Heart of the City’s Love Your City campaign. 

Our expert selection panel (Auckland Art Gallery’s Ron Brownson & Ngahiraka Mason, St Paul St Gallery’s Vera Mey and independent curator Kolokesa U. M­­āhina-Tuai) and facebook fans of Heart of the City selected the images for display from over 7,000 images shared on Instagram with the hashtag #loveyourcityblc.

The ten day exhibition took place alongside a host of other creative events and activities in the city centre as part of Artweek Auckland 2013.

A good day....A very good Day

After three long days deliberating on the Unitary Plan there was some merciful relief when the much vexed issue of the Ports expansion arrived on the agenda.

The Mayor led out with two new amendments that fairly and squarely set a new landscape for this debate. He set a new ‘default’ position not only calling for the definitive study on the Ports and the implications for Auckland beyond their red fence but went a step further in an impassioned speech when he declared that there would be no further reclamation's by strengthening the planning status of the area around the Port declaring that any expansion would be a “non-compliant activity.”

The meeting understood that it was about more than any plans for reclamation and that it was just as much about how we handle the substantial growth in containers through the city – a city where the Unitary Plan is supporting substantially increased density. Chair of the Takapuna Devonport Local Board, Chris Darby summed it up and received some relief from a rather dour meeting when he warned about a huge increase of freight trains rumbling through Orakei and the “vibrations in the Orakei china cabinets.”

He has heard Aucklanders desire for something better on our waterfront and responded emphatically.

Heart of the City is one of many groups that have been actively campaigning on this issue alongside Ngati Whatua, the NZ institute of Architects, Committee for Auckland, the Urban Issues Group, Westhaven Users Assoc and the Auckland Architecture Assoc. for Council to push the pause button on the Ports agenda to rush expansion plans through the Unitary Plan process. Alex Swney of Heart of the City describes this as a “red letter day for Auckland and quite possibly one of the defining decisions of Len Browns Mayoralty so far. There is still some way to travel in this process but today’s decision could be as defining for Auckland as the progress being made on the City Rail Loop.”

Alex 

The BarWatch Radio Programme is a success

“Barred from One, Barred from All” is the motto of the BarWatch programme, a growing initiative by a network of city centre bars and clubs aimed at keeping troublemakers out of premises and making the city centre safer for everyone at night.

Bars and clubs in the Heart of the City’s Fort St and High St precinct and in the K Road Business Association area have joined the BarWatch network and using two way radios to warn other bars about any anti-social behaviour, intoxicated patrons or other community safety issues. The  BarWatch radio link means that troublemakers who are refused entry at one bar will find that other bars have been promptly warned not to allow entry elsewhere – a big step forward in making Downtown Auckland safer for regular night time visitors.

Feedback from NZ Police as well as the bars themselves indicates that BarWatch has been effective in helping with a quick and appropriate response to incidents and enabling bars to build communication between themselves to identify troublemakers. The BarWatch trial has had input and assistance from the Police Alcohol Harm Reduction team, who see the programme as a way for bars and clubs to contribute to reducing major trouble and intoxication issues and to increasing night time safety in the inner city.

BarWatch was launched earlier this year, as a Heart of the City initiative following the Mayoral Task Force on Alcohol which highlighted city centre issues associated with alcohol and safety. Heart of the City funds and supports the BarWatch trial which provides two-way radios for a network of 12 bars in the Downtown area, and adds to the KRoad radio scheme funded by Accident Compensation Corporation. A radio coordinator, also funded by Heart of the City, is able to sit alongside the Police CCTV operation on Friday and Saturday nights to provide direct communication with CityWatch patrols and with Police when their assistance is required for an urgent incident. The BarWatch Radio link can help communications between bars and other services, but bar staff still need to call 111 in any serious incident or emergency.  

Bar owners and door staff have been enthusiastic about the benefits of BarWatch, seeing that a community network of bars can make a big contribution to keeping the inner city safe. More bars are now keen to join the current 12 bars in the Downtown area including Fort St, Fort lane, High St and Vulcan lane, with another 12 in K Road.

The 6 month trial scheme has been a great success thanks to very positive uptake from bar owners and great support from NZ Police. Heart of the City, with the assistance of Police, is now looking at ways to ensure the scheme continues and expands to include many other bars in the city centre. We believe that BarWatch will develop as a community network of bar owners, encouraging responsible bars and clubs to support a safe night time environment in their area, with door staff who are encouraged to use the radio link to prevent persistent troublemaking.

 It’s exciting to see the positive gains made by the Barwatch programme so far and we’re keen to see it continue to help create a safer city centre for everyone. 

Last chance to have your say on the Draft Auckland Unitary Plan

Consultation on Auckland Council’s Draft Unitary Plan closes at the end of the month. This is your chance to give feedback on the rulebook that will shape development in Auckland over the next 30 years.  In the city centre, the challenges of growth will be especially important and exciting, as the CBD will experience major changes in our economy, the shape of our transport network, and the building development needed to meet the demands of the projected growth.

While the population of the Auckland region as a whole is expected to grow to 2.5 million, some of the most dramatic impacts of that growth will be felt in Auckland’s CBD. There will be no other city centre in New Zealand that will experience such an intense focus on economic growth and development. The city centre will play a pivotal role in Auckland’s economic success, as a hub for employment, business and financial services. 

While much of the debate in the media has been about intensification faced by Auckland suburbs and smaller metropolitan centres, many Heart of the City members will be interested in submitting on the outcomes which the Unitary Plan will propose for the CBD.

The Unitary Plan aims to deliver the Auckland Plan’s strategic direction of delivering a stunning city centre, in line with the promised transformational goals of the City Centre Masterplan and the Waterfront MasterPlan. The Draft Unitary Plan will give shape to the way in which a quality, compact city centre will be achieved.  There  are many aspects of the Plan that will control the future of the city centre, but  some of the key sections of the Draft that are likely to be of interest to our members include the development rules covering commercial intensification in the city centre, and the City Centre precincts which include special provision for these city areas: Britomart, Cook St Depot, the Learning Quarter, the Port, Quay Park, the Queen St Valley, Victoria Park Market, the Viaduct and Central wharves, Westhaven and Wynyard Quarter. A tool for understanding the rules of the Unitary Plan, and for ensuring quality development in the CBD, will be Council’s  Auckland Design Manual, which will  provide guidelines for commercial retail and industrial design as well as residential  - although the ADM is still in the process of being developed.

Building a resilient transport network that feeds into a compact urban centre is one of the most important challenges for the city centre. HOTC members will be aware of the discussion around how to achieve this by implementing improved public transport networks, including improved bus access to the CBD, the proposed construction of the City Rail Link, and other initiatives to improve our choice of transport access and reduce congestion. Another key issue for enabling city centre growth is implementing reforms of city car parking, and the Draft Unitary Plan gives special attention to parking reform, with parking maximums rather than minimums becoming the rule for development in the CBD. We can expect the parking reforms already begun in the city centre will continue. 

Feedback to Council will be considered in the development of the Auckland Unitary Plan, which Council expects to be notified later this year.On notification, the public will have the right to make submissions and be heard by a hearings panel.

The opportunity to feed your views into the process of shaping the Auckland Unitary Plan finishes on 31 May, so visit http://shapeauckland.co.nz/ to have your say and fill out the feedback form.

Ports of Auckland Expansion – the HOTCity Perspective

The debate around plans for Ports expansion is an issue that has exercised our minds here at Heart of the City over the years. It goes back before the huge public debate about the proposed waterfront stadium for the Rugby World Cup. It is hardly surprising that we would take a keen interest as the waterfront is one of the major attractions of our city.

We have long advocated for a wide ranging study about the best use for our central city waterfront. At HOTC we are questioning the need to do any further Ports reclamation while the case for it has not been made.

We have long contended that there are substantial supporting investments e.g. road, rail, dredging, environmental and social impacts that need to also be taken into account.

After several renditions POAL are now saying that they are going to rearrange their port to make it more efficient and that would allow for container growth for 30 years on a slightly less reclaimed Bledisloe Wharf – 179 metres and in return would make Captain Cook Wharf available for public use. Of course this is comforting but still doesn’t answer questions around the costs associated with the movement of 2.5 million containers each year (treble the current level) off the port and through the city. They describe new investments in road and rail as being investments required for car and public transport uses, not for them.

View from waters edge if proposed expansion was to go ahead

 
Yesterday Council reaffirmed their support for the Port on its current site for the short and medium term and if I had to pick it think they have an appetite for some sort of reclamation and the need to get something in the Unitary Plan.

As a result of yesterday’s much publicised Council meeting Council has now agreed to conduct public consultation over the next 2-3 months with a view to changes being made in the Unitary Plan in August/September.

So, the debate is still alive and we expect to play a fulsome role over the next few months by continuing to ask the hard questions.

 Alex

The History of Skypath: Bringing Walking and Cycling Access to the Waitemata Harbour

Here at Heart of the City, we’re big advocates of the Auckland SkyPath, the proposed walking and cycling path across the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

Skypath is a transformational project that will deliver a world-class facility with the potential to be as iconic on Auckland’s skyline as our Sky Tower, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge or Sydney’s Harbour Bridge. The pathway ticks all the boxes; economically for its investors, socially for the Aucklanders and visitors who use the crossing and environmentally as an alternative to travelling across the harbour by car, bus or ferry.

The project has gained a lot of traction recently, with a conditional tick from Auckland Council’s Transport Committee and the support of the New Zealand Transport Agency. The next step is consideration by Council’s Finance Committee in June; subject to approval at this level, the project would proceed to resource consent, community consultation and finally construction.

But where did it all begin?

In 2003, forty four years after the bridge was officially opened to vehicular traffic in 1959, a petition organised by Cycle Action Auckland gained 6,700 signatures in support of walking and cycling access. Subsequent to this, Transit (now NZTA) carried out a feasibility study on the proposal, with the finding that this access would not be considered before the construction of a ‘second bridge’.

In 2007, strengthening work was undertaken by Transit on the bridge’s clip-on lanes, with future-proofing for potential cycle and pedestrian lanes, however, in 2008 NZTA advised that this access would not be possible and that there would be no further investigation.

A public walk across the bridge was planned for its 50^th anniversary in 2009, but NZTA refused to permit the activity on the grounds that it would be too popular. However, the walk proceeded later in the year anyway, organised by the GetAcross campaign as a public demonstration of support for cycle and walking access. More than 5000 Aucklanders participated in this march.

Participants in the 2009 GetAcross march across the Harbour Bridge

In 2010, NZTA agreed to review the Pathway concept, working with engineering consultants Beca to assess the feasibility. The following year, newly inaugurated ‘Super City’ Mayor Len Brown included the Pathway in his list of development priorities for the Auckland region. NZTA agree to permit the Pathway, but confirm it will not fund the project. Later in 2011, the concept design for Skypath is launched by Mayor Len Brown and Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye, with Aucklanders asked for their feedback.

One of the  Skypath concept designs presented in 2011

Last year, Auckland Transport commissioned Ernst & Young to review Skypath’s business plan. Fifteen potential investors were approached, with the Public Infrastructure Partnership (PIP) Fund making an offer to 100% fund the project.

Early in 2013, NZTA adopted Skypath as its preferred option for walking and cycling access across the Waitemata Harbour, recognising that the crossing could be integrated with plans for an additional Harbour crossing. Auckland Council’s Transport Committee gave its provisional support to Skypath, sending it for consideration by the Strategy and Finance Committee in June 2013.

We look forward to seeing Skypath’s success at this next milestone and to watching the continued development of the project. We’re hopeful, along with the Skypath team, that the pathway may be complete and open to the public in 2015. 

Artist's impression of the Skypath illuminated by night.