The Spinoff has been doing some great coverage of Auckland issues including a weekly podcast. This week they talked about transport and invited Green MP Julie Anne Genter and me along to the discussion.
The podcast is embedded below or head on over to The Spinoff to listen.
Processing...
A shame JAG is so dismissive of road pricing.
From my discussions she’s not dismissive, just wants realistic alternatives provided before any implementation
Given that she is a Green Party MP it isn’t going to matter much what she thinks. They only get votes for 1 in 10 and their current support for Labour will probably ensure National gets back in.
Apparently the minimum parking for retail was an attempt at being anti-competitive. Or just maybe the retailers understand better than her how to make shops successful.
I’m fairly sure the end aim of anti competitive behaviour is to make your business successful.
Of course it was about being anti-competitive. They could easily manage their parking but chose the option of trying to make it harder for small retail to develop in places like town centres as the big retailers are the ones who could afford to provide the parking required
Let’s assume for a moment you get the rule you think you want. As soon as supermarkets face parking issues in the centres they will look for alternative sites outside of centres. If there is one available they will relocate, leaving the centre without an anchor and requiring people to make more car trips. How is that going to advance your public transport cause? The only time that isn’t going to occur is in really busy places like Newmarket where they already have different parking rules and management. I am not sure you guys have ever managed to get your heads around how things actually work in the suburban Auckland most people live in. The rules that work in the CBD are just going to screw up Meadowbank, Sunnynook and potentially New Lynn.
More about the likes of St Lukes who don’t want small potentially competing businesses setting up in the nearby town centres. And likes of Supermarkets still like to be relatively close to the markets they serve, e.g. Progressive isn’t suddenly going to quit their Valley Rd site.
And yes I get how suburban Auckland works, I even live in suburban Auckland
You don’t know what might happen in any of the smaller centres. Supermarkets need their parking to survive and if they can’t rely on it they can always build a bigger store elsewhere where they can protect their parking. The rule you are trying to promote might work in the more dense areas but may well backfire elsewhere and just create larger one owner developments. Just remember the history of commons goods isn’t the introduction of pricing as some economists might try and tell you. The history is enclosure and single ownership.
“how things actually work in the suburban Auckland most people live in.”
I thought the idea was to change how suburban Auckland works and make it less of a shithole, even if that wasn’t in the interests of certains businesses.
Yes and on this issue mfwic is fighting to prevent that. Going into battle on behalf of the incumbents for the regulated enforcement of the status quo and their hegemony over this market. The by-catch is a continuation of the dreary and undifferentiated autodependent centres. Is poor work, and it’s time he let it go, the trend is against this.
So how do you explain how successful the CBD supermarkets are with no parking?
The CBD has higher density than suburbs.
If you want to live within walking distance of a supermarket (let’s assume a 10 minute walk), it’s easy in the CBD — most apartments over there will do.
If you want the same in the suburb you’ll find the choice is much more limited. There’s usually no housing in the town centres, and there’s also not much higher density housing near the town centres. This will guarantee most people live further away, and that usually means they’ll need a car to get to the shops.
The key difference is that the small supermarkets that have gone in without parking are convenience shops catering to people already in the area. Supermarkets in the suburbs are destination retail that bring people in from a wider catchment. They can be used to anchor specialty stores to create a better centre. By contrast the inner city ones are not bringing people into the area. It is why every shopping centre in the less dense places makes sure to sign a supermarket first and offers lower rents per sqm. That value is lost when the go it alone outside of centres and part of the reason some older traditional town centres struggle. Look at the supermarket at Barrys Point Road which could have been in Takapuna if you want to understand the impact this is likely to have.
Also consider how long it actually took to get supermarkets in the centre of the CBD. For years the only ones were outside the CBD where parking was required rather than in the Central Parking zone where parking was limited. The proposed rule will probably just repeat that but with the lower order centres.