Plan Change 120 gets massive push-back from Aucklanders as we farewell Bernard Orsman
Councillors and the public at the recent Policy & Planning Committee were at last given some, albeit carefully curated, information about what is going on with Plan Change 120 to which 10,500 plus Aucklanders lodged submissions despite the rushed pre-Christmas deadline insisted on by the council.
Before I start on that, I would like to acknowledge the retirement of NZ Herald senior journalist Bernard Orsman. As it happens the 10 March meeting which he covered was his last. Bernard has been reporting for the ‘Herald’ since 1990 – two years’ longer than I have been in Auckland politics - a long time indeed. It was Bernard who wrote my political obituary after the 2019 elections, a gracious and generous tribute in the Weekend Herald. It is with some sadness that due to the strange turns of fate - and politics – it is now he who is the one leaving and I the one staying - and therefore it is my turn to pay tribute to him. Bernard, a long-term Grey Lynn resident, has covered local government in Auckland for the past three decades. A true professional, Bernard’s carefully researched and crisply written exposės e.g. ‘Super Rich and the Super City - the companies pocketing $10b of ratepayers’ money’ and ‘Auckland Council spends $190 million on global accountants and big law firms in five years’ have shone a light in some of the darkest corners of the so-called ‘Super City’.
In the best traditions of public affairs journalism, Bernard’s work has shown him to be a true friend of Auckland and the people of Auckland. I wish him and his wife Cheryl a happy, well-deserved retirement. But he will be missed.
The committee meeting was called to update councillors on the PC 120 process particularly in light of the government’s response to the widespread backlash from Aucklanders, not the least from this ward. The mandatory 2 million extra dwellings has been dialled back to 1.6 million – but that still assumes some 5 million more people than Auckland’s current population - with no consideration for infrastructure.
While there is strong public consensus for intensifying around train and rapid transit bus stations, there is overwhelming opposition to high-rise towers, especially in special character areas. Council planners while willing to back off their plans in the suburbs are clearly signalling a determination to impose high rise towers within a 10km circle around the inner city. Making it obvious that the principal difference between PC 120 and its predecessors is to open up the inner suburbs for high rise luxury apartments, especially in locations with views over the Waitematā Harbour. One suspects the property interests who lobbied so hard to have the Port of Auckland moved out of Auckland (to somewhere – anywhere), in order to make way for high-rise development - something Mayor Brown was pushing to anyone who would listen when he was first elected - have shifted their focus from the waterfront to the northern slopes, notably the special character areas of St Mary’s Bay and Parnell.
Despite putting the blame on the government, and hapless (self-appointed) fall guy Minister Bishop, it is interesting how defensive Wayne Brown appears to be about this aspect of PC 120. During the meeting he made a needless gybe at opposition coming from ‘Parnell Nimbies’ and pointedly about the opposition of ‘a candidate trying to get re-elected.’ I wasn’t going to let him get away with that, so after I took the call, I asked the mayor whether in his reference to a ‘candidate trying to get re-elected’ he was referring to the candidate who was given a $617,000 in election donations, including from property development related corporates e.g. Tramco ($50,000), CP Group ($25,000); Precinct Properties ($10,000), Bayleys Real Estate ($10,000); and the Park Hyatt Hotel $18,400? I also made the point that far from being a ward of ‘nimbies’ Waitematā is already by far the most intensified location in the Auckland region.
Breaking News: As ‘Ponsonby News’ goes to deadline, private AI research commissioned by Cr Ken Turner analysing the 10,500 public submissions in ways council planners claimed was too difficult, has revealed remarkable information, notably the sheer scale of public opposition, with overall 64.8 % opposed, 28.9% requesting amendments and only 5.8% in support. Sadly, Bernard Orsman won’t be around to cover what is starting to look like a council-made debacle.
Saying goodbye to Bernard, Cr Chris Fletcher, Bernard Orsman & Mike Lee after Bernard’s Orsman’s final council meeting.
www.mikelee.co.nz
#ponsonbynews #iloveponsonby #loveponsonby #ponsonby #auckland #aucklandshippestrip #onlyponsonby #ponsonbyroad #Greylynn #freemansbay #westmere #ponsonby #hernebay #stmarysbay #archhill #coxsbay @followers #followers @everyone #everyone #waitematalocalboard @highlight
