In my last post I discussed a few things that I love about Auckland so as to shed some more light on our “shared but unstated values.”
One of the key values underpinning this blog, I think, goes something along the lines of ‘Auckland is a fantastic city but it could be so much better if it got its transport, land use, and urban design sorted.’ My last post catalysed an outpouring of comments on the many reasons people loved Auckland and we also gained a degree of consensus around the ways in which Auckland could do better; transport was unsurprisingly high on the list.
Also buried in among the many comments, however, was a few hints as to why readers of the Auckland Transport Blog sometimes disagree with each other. The most significant divergence seemed to reflect differences in our underlying political values, i.e. whether you fall on the right or the left of the political spectrum. This is in my experience rather common: A lot of people believe that support for public transport naturally comes from the left side of the political spectrum, whereas support for private transport is the domain of the right.
I don’t want to spend too much time on this issue right now, but I will say that I find this view infuriatingly simplistic. To provide a recent example of how such a view does not really play out in reality, we find the Labour Party pledging support for Transmission Gully while opposing Puhoi-Wellsford. For Labour it seems that wasteful transport spending is OK so long as it’s in Wellington. Well my precious social democratic petals, you can’t have your cake and eat it too: You either oppose wasteful transport spending or you do not.
One can find similar, more positive, examples of the complex interface between transport and politics at the local government level. Which brings me nicely to the primary objective of this post: I want to highlight what I think is the outstanding contribution made by Christine Fletcher – a former Member of Parliament for the National Party and now leader of the Citizens and Ratepayers Association – to Auckland’s public transport renaissance in particular and its urban renaissance in general. For those who don’t know much about Christine (who seems to be called “Chris” by her friends), here’s a photo of her enjoying a laugh at the “Fast track the City Rail Link” meeting that was organised by the Green Party in 2010, with Alec Swney in the background (photo credit).
While I have never met Christine, I personally feel a huge debt of gratitude to her for efforts to make Auckland a better place and here’s why …
In 1990 Christine was elected to represent the Eden electorate as part of Jim Bolger’s National Government. Re-elected twice in 1993 and 1996, Christine subsequently resigned from parliament over her opposition to the forced sales of public assets that had been held under the Auckland Regional Services Trust.
In 1998 Christine was subsequently elected Mayor of Auckland, where she took over from Les Mills. Under Les Mills’ leadership Auckland City’s proposal for Britomart had morphed into an enormous development consisting of an underground train/bus station and numerous sky-scrapers. The latter were supported by 5 levels of above ground car-parking and necessitated the demolition of many heritage buildings. All of this destruction would be wrought, I believe, at quite a high financial cost to rate-payers and had aroused not inconsiderable opposition from a variety of quarters, many of whom doubted the value of investing in rail full-stop.
Upon being elected, Christine worked to scale Britomart back to it’s core components (underground train station supported by surface bus stops) while engaging a private corporation to coordinate the revitalisation, rather than destruction, of heritage buildings. I understand this corporation subsequently split into two warring factions, but nonetheless by the time Christine (tragically) lost the Mayoralty to John Banks in 2001, the construction of Britomart was well under-way.
That’s not to suggest that Britomart is perfect, but by gosh at least Christine got it built – and in the process contributed to a downtown renaissance that continues to this day.
Losing the Mayoralty to John Banks was not the end of Christine’s contribution to Auckland; she then set about opposing Banks’ proposal to construct an Eastern Motorway across Hobson Bay, which I’m fairly happy to say did not proceed. Christine now sits on the Auckland Council, where she has expressed ongoing support for the City Rail Link.
We need to celebrate people like Christine for their efforts to lift transport debates above the parochial political fray; she seems to understand that the economic, social, and environmental benefits of a well-functioning public transport system are quite independent of political preferences, but are instead linked to understanding what it is that makes cities “tick”. My only (very weak) criticism of Christine would be that sometimes she has not been a particularly outspoken advocate for improving Auckland’s buses, but I guess you have to leave something for future generations to do ;).
So thanks Christine; consider yourself the first recipient of Auckland Transport Blog’s “hindsight hero” award. I look forward to more people on both the left and right side of the political spectrum following your lead on transport issues.
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Afternoon Stu
Having met the Hon. Chris Fletcher at a C&R Public Meeting and the various times I have stumped up to Council hearings on The Auckland Plan, Long Term Plan Forum and The City Centre Master Plan I can easily second your call their Stu on those grounds. Warm, friendly, advocate and approachable is Christine Fletcher 😀
Okay on some issues I might draw criticisms towards Christine (voting for the V8s being one) but that is part and parcel of democracy – you do not agree with everyone on everything.
I wonder if she might have a tilt at Mayorship next year 😉
But in any case keep up the good work Christine 😀
Lucky! I’d like to meet her some day and get her onboard with the bus revolution that is coming to Auckland in the next few years. Simpler, more frequent network of lines that allow for connections will improve efficiency, reduce peak hour buses volumes downtown, and allow for greater diversification in fleet (hybrid double-deckers on main routes and small-medium sized buses on smaller routes).
V8s also not my cup of tea but nevermind – relatively small price to pay for a major event I suspect and if it gets the Bogans out spending some money and having some fun then I don’t mind too much.
She is on the AT board so I suspect she has a decent idea about what is happening with the bus changes that are coming up.
Whenever I think of Christine Fletcher I think of the Britomart rail station and her efforts to get it built. I love coming into and moving about it. It has a wonderful design I think, for Auckland. We’re not blessed with much interesting modern architecture. The roof and domes. I should research to see who designed this.
I think the leader with the most input during a project’s development should be the one on the plaque. Not the mayor at the opening – John Banks.
The electric trains from next year will only add to the station’s atmosphere.
That is the only thing that annoys me most when working through the Main Entrance at Britomart, seeing John Banks name on the Plaque rather than Fletcher’s…
Maybe a life sized Statue of her somewhere 😉
I love Britomart too; it’s a sign of things to come.
Britomart was designed by a Californian architect called Mario Madayag. I also think that the station set a good example some of our future stations. With Newmarket and New Lynn we now have a couple of other stunning stations on the network.
In conjunction with local architecture company Jasmax if I’m not mistaken?
Yes.
Jeff,
I truly hope you are wrong on this point:
“The electric trains from next year will only add to the station’s atmosphere.”
Having EMUs in Britomart will, we all hope, actually remove something from the atmosphere – (most of) the stinky Diesels and the PM10s that come with them 🙂
But I know what you mean, having modern looking and efficient electric trains, in a modern and efficient looking train station – well, we could be in Europe (or Vancouver!).
(until the trains go outside Britomart that is), then the vista gets even more stunning as you gaze across the road to the Container terminal and the harbour beyond…
This is actually something I’ve wondered about a bit: Does removing the diesel trains from Britomart suggest that we might want to have a little 10-year spruce up down there? By that I mean is it worth washing down and refitting some of the facilities that may have become a little grotty over time, especially with all the diesel exhaust in the air? I think it’s important we keep Britomart in top-top shape going forward; it’s the world’s window into our train network.
Sure the rest of the network is not as flash, but that’s OK: The Big B is by far the busiest station on the network.
I’m pretty sure they do clean it from time to time but it must be a hell of a job as the weaved metal finish looks quite intricate. Hopefully it means that without the diesels it means it doesn’t need to be cleaned as regularly which would bring down costs. I think that in general the station has been kept in fairly good condition.
One thing I really hate about transport in NZ is how politicised it has become. As you say it shouldn’t be about left or right but about what’s best for the country which isn’t what we are seeing. On to the topic of the post, we have a lot to thank Christine for and hopefully she can convince her colleagues, both locally and nationally, to support getting the CRL over the line.
Indeed. Look at the UK government spending billions on rail. Transport doesn’t have to be a left/right issue.
You will find that transport is INTENSELY politicised everywhere. PT or not PT just isn’t automatically a party-line issue in many countries, which would be a relief here.
By the above I mean that due to the costs involved, and the fact that it directly affects large amounts of the population, it isn’t exactly a quiet, back-bench topic. That doesn’t invalidate the fact that some countries like the UK spend a lot of money on rail etc… – but they too, have serious and acrimonious transport debates (not necessarily on project X, but certainly on project Z, Y and variants of Z and Y).
Exactly – come on National drop the ideology and start playing footsie with Auckland Council about how to get the CRL over the line in a way that is acceptable to both parties.
Transport is politicised in NZ because this government has made it so, not because anyone advocating for change wanted to.
Yes Britomart. Nice to have such things in our city to be proud of. Off topic but as Mr Anderson has commented, it’s interesting the UK government has invested heavily in rail infrastructure for the Olympics (despite heavy debt and now a double dip recession) including the new Javelin line but hardly anything on roading (which the cabbies have complained about). They know how to move people about over there.
Britomart has really kickstarted the transformation of Auckland from sleepy backwater to an international powerhouse city (well yes, still along way to go but going in the right direction). Agree public tranpsort shouldn’t be a political issue. I do feel it is popular opinion that people accept tranpsort improvements are vital for the city.
Again I have no political loyalty but probably more right leaning than anything. I find it abusrd to see people with blind loyalty to political parties. Would rather make decisions on who can provide what is best for the city and country.
I’ll go with all that. Thank you for your many years of hard work and good decision making(something todays leaders lack).
I totally agree with sentiment, she has done great things in the past and this blog wouldn’t have much to talk about without her! Sadly since becoming leader of CitRats Chris Fletcher has become much more unhelpful, and fitted right into their mold. Seems to be positioning as main in challenger to take on Brown. Yes she supports CBDRL but with many caveats and is not suggesting any helpful ways to fund it, and she is arguing against more debt, rate rises and not too keen on the other revenue raising ideas either.
Interesting comment Luke C – maybe we need to keep a watching brief on Christine’s hindsight heroes award then?
Am very happy that transport issues in Auckland have achieved wide political support (Quax and Brewer excepted) and Christine a big part of this. I just think we need to keep on her tail. Is easy to support the CBDRL but needs to be questioned how exactly she supports it, and also if she is lobbying the government about this issue.
I nominate Greg McKeown, chair of the transport committee when Banks was mayor, Auckland City probably installed more bus lanes on his watch than in other periods
Yes, I’ve heard that Greg did a lot of good work under rather challenging political circumstances.
Just a wee point of clarification, the earlier Britomart had five levels of underground carparking, not above ground Rather it was one level of combined rail station and bus terminal, and four levels of carparking. The interesting thing was the first level down was carparking, then transit, then back to carparking. I guess they couldn’t handle the idea of putting cars second best to transit entirely.
The worst part of the enormous hole in the ground idea is that it necessitated levelling the whole block of buildings (but saving just their facades, a horrible limbo to leave a building in). They also decided to underground part of Quay St, ostensibly in the name of providing bus access to the station but really just to maintain six lanes of traffic on the waterfront. I guess the idea of just restricting traffic or eliminating it was simply inconceivable, so an enormous complicated tunnel was needed to give a little bit of pedestrian priority downtown.
On mayoralty contests, I’d much rather see Brown vs Fletcher than Brown vs Brewer, the councillor opposed to everything. The CRL has its best chances of surviving under either of Len Brown or Christine Fletcher.
On transport priorities and left versus right, I see it as more of a generational thing. Labour didn’t really stump up much support for balanced transport expenditure in Auckland until their last term. And I would expect National’s transport priorities to balance better once the current generation of leaders have moved on. I wonder if the likes of Nikki Kaye, for now having to toe the party line, are waiting for that to happen.
The question would of course be whether Fletcher has any better chance of getting funding for the CRL from the government, and I say a 10% chance is, under those circumstances, not much better than a 5% chance.
As for Nikki Kaye, I remain very unconvinced of her convictions.
Could Nikki Kaye and Christine successfully lobby John Key to reallocate most of the Puhoi-Wellsford funds to the CRL? He’s unlikely to care about transport arguments, but the political arguments would be the “clinchers”:
– it would get rid of the millstone that parts of RONS have become
– reduce leakage of Auckland votes to Labour and the Greens over transport issues, and take transport out of the election
– show that the government listens to findings of a study it has commissioned
– retains a promising young conservative politician in the seat of Auckland
Nikki could do this in her role as government representative on the CRL study. Brownlee doesn’t appear understand political issues in Auckland (that the local conservative side of politics supports the CRL), and he’d be “tapped on the shoulder” by Key and told of the change in policy.
It’s surely a bit optimistic to say that “the local conservative side of politics supports the CRL”; they are divided at best, and on the basis of public announcements, perhaps slightly leaning against. I thnk Brownlee’s kneejerk “nobody uses trains, everyone drives, build roads not rail” message finds a fair amount of (mostly) right wing sympathy around the region. The Auckland is too spread out for trains meme is particularly firmly embedded.
None of that is to say that the political argument couldn’t be made to Key by Kaye and Fletcher, just that he is as likely to be hearing other local voices saying the opposite.
Agree, David. Which is why I think the electric trains “propaganda boost” (if it isn’t watered down by extensive teething issues) will be a very needed public perception tool. Shame it may come too late to play a full role in the next elections (local and national…) – electrification will take a while to actually “become real” for most Aucklanders who don’t already use the trains – even if there will be lots of photo op opportunities before these elections.
Ingolgson – I predict it will play a huge role in the next national election. By 2014 they should be starting to arrive on a regular basis and by the time of the election at the end of the year we will likely see them in regular operation on the Onehunga Line and one of the major lines, probably the Western. The current government will be no doubt trumpet this as ‘proof they support PT’ to help take the transport debate out of the equation.
What I mean is that I am not sure it will have “sunk in” yet. Also remember how long they will all take to arrive, and that – judging from Wellington – they will have a period of fits and starts and testing runs that may go for many months before they operate (or operate without hitches). Then you need the new quality to filter through into public perception, not just the actual riders. THEN you finally have the PR boost at the best level. And I worry that 2014, well, it just won’t have filtered through fully yet. Sure, people will know we have electric trains, but it won’t have sunk in yet, or led to citeable patronage increases.
While I agree with most of your post I can’t agree that the opposition to the Eastern Transport Corridor was a good thing. Not least because it actually had both train and bus lanes incorporated into the design.
All those who opposed it – where is our public transport out east now? Banks was right – by killing the Eastern Transport Corridor back then none of us will now see rail on the Eastern side of the Tamaki Estuary in our lifetimes.
Don’t remember ever seeing that project including rail east of the Tamaki River. All I remember was a giant motorway duplicating the existing railway line. Which made bus lanes the stupidest idea ever as it would have just duplicated the existing rail corridor.