Unitec Development Details Emerge
Yesterday the government announced a fast track consenting process for a bunch of projects. I’ll talk about that in a separate post but one of the projects that it will be used for is Phase 1 of the Unitec development.
The government announced back in early 2018 that it was going to take over and develop the Unitec site with 2,500-4,000 homes (possibly up to 8,000 people) but there has been no information about it since then.…
110 Comments Submit on the Council’s Emergency Budget
The council are currently consulting on their emergency budget with submissions closing this Friday.
COVID-19 has punched a $525 million hole in the Auckland Council’s budget. That’s because about 60% of the council’s revenue comes from things other than rates and those ‘other things’ have been severely impacted by the wider economic and social impact of the virus.…
Weekly Roundup – 12-June-2020
Perhaps it’s because we’re back to Level 1 but there’s a lot to cover this week. Commercial Bay opens
Commercial Bay finally opened yesterday, over four year after the old Downtown Mall closed and of course with a couple of rail tunnels running underneath it.…
Is Auckland getting its ‘Fair’ share?
The impact from COVID-19 on the Council’s budget has been severe and even with a 3.5% rate increase, is set to see funding for projects slashed, with safety and cycling some of the worst hit. All up Auckland Transport estimate it could see $312m to $352m of “shovel ready” projects paused and more concerningly that could see up to 10 people die and 40 people seriously injured on roads that would have otherwise had safety improvements.…
Housing after the Lockdown
I had grand plans at the start of 2020. I was excited to be back on Greater Auckland and writing seriously about housing.
And then a Covid-shaped curveball came along, and didn’t seem to leave space for much else. I’m not sure how you all spent your lockdown (Interesting stories?…
Increasing PT use after we’re back to ‘normal’
With the country now at Level 1 and ‘back to normal’ it means all of the restrictions have now lifted. That means that many more people will soon be heading back to the office. Universities will likely take a little longer and not be back till the start of the next semester.…
Appointment of Auckland Council Chief Executive
Tomorrow the council will make possibly its most important decision for a long time, and for a long time to come: Who will be its Chief Executive.
The importance of the decision has been highlighted by the recent ‘emergency budget‘ which has seen projects slashed and delayed in the wake of decimated revenues following the disruptions caused by COVID-19. …
Weekly Roundup – 05-June-2020
It’s a short week but still lots to talk about. Here’s our roundup. Transmission Gully omnishambles
Transmission Gully continues to be in the news and not in a good way. A few days ago Newsroom reported that it now might not be completed till 2022 and that as well as the issues we’ve already heard about before, such as workers no longer being in the country, there are a bunch of new issues too.…
What longer-term transport impacts might Covid-19 have?
With COVID-19 essentially eradicated from New Zealand, life is slowly returning towards normality. So it seems like a good time to take a look at the longer-term – especially in terms of what (if any) lasting impacts the COVID-19 epidemic might have on our transport system.…
Alert to Changing Default Speeds
Yesterday, Auckland Transport announced:
New and safe speed limits on more than 600 roads across Auckland will come into force from 30 June 2020 onwards.
In an email they also advised:
This tranche will be completed by November 2021.
It’s a huge relief that these changes bringing in safe speeds have not been cut in the emergency budget.…
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