Trees, traffic and road safety, music, noise, drunkenness, vomit, sleep deprivation and villas at risk - versus protection and monitoring of amenity values.
But we also know that there may be no cafe or bar within miles, no musical venues, no daily paper delivered, no bookshop, hair salon or shoe shop.
Those who abandon the city for the quiet rural life don’t mind about that, and are happy to drive to the local township, maybe Kohukohu, maybe Opononi, maybe Rawene.
But those of us who choose to stay in inner city Auckland are being severely challenged by population intensification, commercial encroachment into residential streets and increasingly by anti-social behaviour around local bars and nightclubs.
A former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr J Morgan Williams wrote a comprehensive, 108 page report on the future of urban amenity values under population intensification. This report is now nearly 20 years old, but many of its recommendations have never been implemented.
The report called for all territorial authorities to identify and manage amenity values while intensification proceeds. The report stated, “a lack of identification of core amenity values exposes significant parts of our cities to the risk of amenity loss.”
Amenity values include public space, heritage protection, trees and gardens, safety issues, views and noise levels. Residents in the Ponsonby News catchment area are beginning to feel the pressures of population intensification. Indicators include increased traffic, more noise, more on-street car parking and safety concerns, especially around schools.
Few communities have described their neighbourhood amenity values through a consultation process. Williams’ report urges local groups to do that and present findings to, in our case, the Waitemata Local Board, so appropriate management systems can be put in place. Monitoring is critical to amenity protection.
Ponsonby News has discussed this issue with several local groups. One group living close to Ponsonby Road, freely acknowledges the advantages they have living close to a range of local businesses. They enjoy being able to meet just up the road for a coffee or a wine and a chat. However, they have become increasingly concerned at the anti-social behaviours around the entertainment hub, bars and nightclubs, drunkenness, and noise at all hours of the day and night.
No one is calling for a return to six o’clock closing, but these concerned citizens should be able to sleep instead of enduring noise, car doors slamming, and teenagers drinking and smoking outside their homes at three, four or even five o’clock in the morning. Early risers, perhaps taking baby for a pram ride, don’t want to have to dodge vomit on footpaths, broken glass and other detritus from the previous night’s revelry.
The group of mothers with whom we spoke is concerned at the dangers of crossing Richmond Road and Surrey Crescent with their young children on their way to Grey Lynn School. They maintained to Ponsonby News that Auckland Transport does not seem willing or able to reduce the safety risks on these increasingly busy roads.
Much of this understandable angst could be eased if local communities had a set of amenity values which were documented by the Waitemata Local Board, understood by council, and managed and monitored regularly. At the moment residents often do not know who to go to for help. Waitemata Board members say call the police; police have law enforcement powers, noise control can be called. But this should be a two-way accord, with host responsibility playing a part, and council having clear guidelines on what locals want and don’t want.
These amenity values will often be the same Auckland-wide but there is a need to tailor them to smaller precincts where amenity values may differ. The Williams report said, “the subjectivity of amenity values reinforces the need to identify, interpret and define the amenity values of specific areas.”
The report also said it should not be left to the planners and developers to set the agendas. It stressed over and over again the importance of monitoring and enforcement by councils, so people can really continue to enjoy their ‘sense of place’. We urge residents to form local groups to identify and set out the amenity values they wish to protect. (JOHN ELLIOTT)