The Grey Lynn Business Association

Some thoughts on the importance of belonging to respected advocacy groups.

As a business owner I have come to hate those orange cones with a passion - a passion I know that is shared throughout the communities of Garnet Road/Old Mill Road/Surrey Crescent and Richmond Road. They symbolise the disturbance created by an ill-planned and ill thought-out change and one now all parties are focused on trying to find the best solution. Of course what 'best' looks like is quite challenging because it depends on perspective.

For businesses, both large and small, this is more easily developed under the umbrella of an association but to be effective all businesses must belong. An association’s strength is derived from the diversity of opinions it represents, the ability to form sensible solutions and then consistently articulate those views. This is particularly critical for business as we know from recent experience that urban landscape redevelopment can both positively and negatively impact us. In joining and becoming a member of the Local Businesses Association we accept our mantra as being “on a high-tide all boats rise”.

Grey Lynn became the 'poster child' experiment for village shared space (people walking, cycling, private and public transport co-existing) not simply because AT thought this a nice thing. Rather it was because there is a very strong group of articulate and influential proponents for change in our urban environment. However, as is pretty typical for such groups, in my experience, they forgot or overlooked the matter of how to effectively get to yes.

And so we find ourselves with cycle lanes that suddenly start and then stop for seemingly no reason, a vastly increased amount of concrete or tarmac and/or weeds on the berm and a firm undertaking that the orange cones will not go forth and proliferate. The process we are now in is re-consultation with reference groups, urban designers and seemingly polarised views of what should/must and must not happen.

Unlike many of the business districts in the inner city, our business association is not well funded. Our board is entirely voluntary as is membership. In this scenario it is easy to conclude Grey Lynn was 'selected' as the experiment for urban redesign because of a perceived weakness in our DNA. For as long as this remains the situation it is going to be extraordinarily challenging. Businesses must be sustainable to provide the raft of services and products that make living in the wider Grey Lynn community attractive.

As representatives of our business community we have for some time discussed what makes Grey Lynn - we know we are not a Ponsonby or a Parnell. There are things that do make us quite different such as the large number of eco-centric businesses, the large artistic and dominant musician community and our distinctly Polynesian heritage. We are totally local - most of our businesses are owned by people who live in our community and many of the owners are working in the businesses behind the counters or providing the services.

We’ve also been talking about how Grey Lynn is geographically defined as an urban hub in its own right, establishing a distinctive brand and working towards telling the Grey Lynn story. This is the work we do at the strategic level.

We are also absolutely committed to getting a good robust solution to our current issues with AT and Auckland Council. These include 'the cycle-way project', design and development of our two village centres (Grey Lynn and West Lynn), enhancement of amenities and the impact on business of the proposed residential restricted parking zones and other potential parking changes.

To ensure we do not get 'dealt to' in the future if you’re a business within the boundary of Richmond Road, Old Mill Road, Surrey Crescent; Arch Hill and Northern slopes of Great North Road excluding Ponsonby Road, come join us we need your skills, talents and energy to work on future-focused projects. Contact us via www.glba.co.nz
(Irene King. Joint Co Chair with Jacob Faull)