There was an article in the NZ Herald today about where the different parts of the new Super City will be located. Here’s what the article says:
Details about the location of council services are contained in a memorandum from the agency designing the Super City, obtained by the Herald.It says the Auckland Council head office will be located in the central business district, with the Mayor and Auckland councillors.
No decision has been made about the location of the mega-transport council-controlled organisation (CCO). One option is the new Waitakere City Council headquarters in Henderson.
The water CCO, Watercare Services, will have its headquarters in Newmarket.
The full service centres, delivering all council services, will be located in Central Auckland, Takapuna, Henderson and Manukau.
Local service centres will be located at Orewa, Waiheke Island, Papakura and Pukekohe.
Neighbourhood service centres will be located at Warkworth, Huapai, Helensville, Great Barrier Island and Waiuku.
So it would certainly seem as though the Auckland Council itself will be based in the city centre. That probably means the existing buildings used by Auckland City Council and the Auckland Regional Council (who share a building with ARTA).
In terms of where Auckland Transport will end up, I guess the choice is either somewhere in the CBD, or in one of the three other city council buildings. I am guessing that perhaps Waitakere City Council’s building has been suggested in this article because it’s the newest and flashest out of it, Manukau and North Shore City. It also happens to be the only one of the three that’s currently located near a railway station – which is probably a fairly good look for a transport agency.
But I actually think there’s a third option here, which nobody has thought of yet. I think it could be a good idea to build a big new building out in the middle of Flat Bush for Auckland Transport! Now I know that sounds stupid, but if we did that and then didn’t provide much parking at all, everyone working for Auckland Transport would finally realise how utterly terrible public transport is for suburb-to-suburb travel. That would also give Auckland Transport huge motivation to construct the Howick/Botany Railway Line, who the ARC have written off as supposedly “not popular enough“. It would also be a classic lesson for those involved in planning transport and land-use in Auckland over the years that allowing so much development out in that part of Auckland, without providing anywhere near the necessary transport infrastructure, is probably the biggest planning mistake ever made in Auckland.
Of course I am joking…. or am I?
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You are joking, Jarbury. And what would you achieve with your idea except lots of costs to ratepayers, and even more company cars (they’d build a car park after a week).
I heard rumours from several consultants and NZTA that Auckland Transport will be in the current Waitakere Council buildings. I REALLY like the idea. That building is practically seamless with the rail station, and I believe that that would be more than just a token gesture. Something like that can really influence the thinking (not to think of the travel habits) of an institution’s staff.
It will be less convenient for me than downtown Auckland, but still, I can just take a fast train out there, can I? Like Jarbury, I am only half-joking (i.e. it will be a while before the trains out there are as seamless as the Council building’s integration with the train station).
I like the idea of it being out west, partly because that’s where I live and so it helps to keep the focus on improving my area (just being a bit selfish). In reality though it would be a good idea for it due to the close nature of the train station and bus interchange. Perhaps they should give all staff train/bus passes to encourage them to use the services. That way they it will be in their interests to improve the services they use
Max – The western line can be pretty slow in places but I’m hoping that when we get our new trains that will improve slightly. A trip from Britomart is currently scheduled to take 42 mins however this is more like 45-50 at the moment. I hope that when New Lynn is completed it will be more like 35-40 and around 30 with electric trains.
Max, yes of course I am joking. It would be kinda funny though – putting them all out there, not building any parking and seeing how they deal with the 75 minute bus trip from there to the CBD.
Having them all at Waitakere would help boost Western Line patronage I suppose. If I was a staff member currently working at the transport department of Manukau City Council though (for example) and living in south Auckland, I’d much prefer to be based in the CBD.
I think we should house them in a new, 4 km, tunnel shaped building under the CBD… If it doesn’t work out I’m sure we can find another use for it…
One advantage of the Transport CCO staying in ARC’s Pitt Street building would be how keen they’d be on getting that K Road station.
Interesting that NZTA’s offices are now located a stone’s throw from Britomart. I wonder how many of the staff there catch the train (or are they banned from it??? LOL)
Politicians & Bureaucrats? — NIMBY.
I have it on pretty good authority that they will be located in Henderson.
“Interesting that NZTA’s offices are now located a stone’s throw from Britomart.”
And the ferry terminal. The only thing they can barely see is the motorway…
I fear being so far away from the main Auckland Council office will increase the division between transport policy and the urban design/land use policy. Also staff that live on the shore or Manuakau may be put off and will look for another job. On the other hand you would hope this would force council staff and the mayor to use the rail system much more, showing them its problems and potential.
The problem is that if you live on the North Shore and their office was in the CBD, chance are you’d take public transport. If you live on the North Shore (or in Manukau really) and the office is in Henderson, you’re most likely to end up driving.
Being serious, I actually think Auckland Transport should be located in the heart of the CBD.
The carpark at the Waitakere Council chambers isn’t that big and there’s never enough space for the existing staff to park their car. I think they planned it that way so the Waitakere staff could walk, bus or train as a lot live locally.
Unless they want to pay for all day parking, the AT staff may not get a choice.
Yup I think you’re right TopCat. I remember hearing that Waitakere City Council’s building has very little parking for something its size. Hypocritically the council still demand that everyone else provides tonnes of parking.
50 mins from Henderson to the CBD is nuts. Why take the train when it’s quick to bicycle? (we’ll it’s nice to read a book every now and then)
Thats if Transit don’t trash the NW cycleway when they widen SH16.
NZTA are actually looking to extend the cycleway right into the heart of the CBD, so I would be very surprised if they did anything like trashing it.
That would be great, even now bike is the quickest way from Henederson to town in the morning. Though I’m expecting some disruption when they start widening the causeway.
I think that once New Lynn is finished and we get our new trains it should be about 30-40 mins to Henderson which will make a bit of a difference. Even less when the CBD tunnel is built 🙂
“NZTA are actually looking to extend the cycleway right into the heart of the CBD, so I would be very surprised if they did anything like trashing it.”
The cycleway is getting better pretty much along the whole length from Te Atatu to the city, except at the Rosebank Road warehouse, where they intend to shrink the width from 3m to 2m, which would be a pretty disappointing outcome, but still clearly outweighed overall by the benefits elsewhere.
It’s that strange situation that with their pockets full of motorway money, it is actually not that hard for NZTA to fund good mitigation along the motorway, including cycleways. All the new motorway projects around Auckland seem to see more money being poured into footpaths and cycleways than the Councils have (or are willing to spend).
The NZTA have done an okay job in building or leaving space so far for other forms of transport, Waterview and the NW widening will be the true test of their mettle though…
Cycleway improvements as part of the Waterview Connection are disappointing actually. They are done well through Allan Wood Reserve, and then done OK at the Waterview interchange end… but there’s a giant hole in the middle where people seem to be expected to share a footpath with pedestrians or risk life and limb cycling along one of the busiest arterials in Auckland.
Hopefully that will be resolved in the process going forward…
In many ways West Auckland (including the western suburbs of Auckland City) has the best variety of transport options available, it would be interesting to see if there is any difference in the percentage of people driving compared to other parts of the city.
One issue is that there are comparatively very few jobs in West Auckland. I think only around 35%ish of Waitakere City’s residents actually work in Waitakere City. The rest go elsewhere.