Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) Community Liaison Group Meeting - Minutes 28 September 2022 DATE
Wednesday 28 September 2022
TIME
4.00pm – 5.30pm
LOCATION
Café Midnight Express, Victoria Street West
ATTENDEES
Link Alliance Matt Sinclair – Te Waihorotiu Station Manager Shaun Sutton – Community Manager Nicole Borland – Development Response Manager Diana Toki-Hu – Communications & Engagement Advisor Small Business Support Programme lead William Keung – Independent Business Connector Attendees: James Wickham (AT) Tania Loveridge (HOTC) Bruce (Mexican Café) Ann (Tony’s Lord Nelson Restaurant) Mike (Jam e Jam Restaurant) Parvi & Serkan (Midnight Express Cafe) Jack (Crockers property manager – 51-71 Victoria St) JD & Prateema (Victoria St News Agency) Jugdish (Roma Blooms) Helen & Connor (Property Managers - 87 Albert St)
Agenda 1. Introduction (Shaun Sutton, Community Manager) 2. Te Waihorotiu Station construction progress (Matt Sinclair, Station Manager) 3. Community interface (Nicole Borland, Development Response Manager) 4. Small Business Support Programme (William Keung, Independent Business Connector) 5. Feedback and Q&A Presentations Presentations from Link Alliance attached. No 1. 2.
Item Welcome Te Waihorotiu
Discussion Introduction to Community Liaison Group (CLG) - Next year: Moving from heavy construction into
3.
Station construction progress and upcoming milestones Community interface
4.
Small Business Support Programme
5
Q&A
station fitout and streetscape works, which will be the focus for the next CLG. - See attached presentation for further information and photographs. Safety & Security - Overnight security presence - CCTV in place - Canopy lighting 24/7 - Mirrors on walkways - Daily graffiti clean-up - Rubbish and street cleaning Dust and Cleanliness - Window cleaning took place recent for all ground floor local businesses on Victoria Street. This can be extended as required. Local Activations - Support Local & Win campaign - ongoing - Free Coffee sponsorship in September - Underground tour for business owners – all welcome - Free parking vouchers continue to be available Placemaking - New attractive neon sign installed - New “Shops Open” scrim installed - Additional rubbish bins have been ordered - More lighting has been installed on hoardings - Tourism – Wayfinding updates to be rolled out to support tourist visits Activations & events in October - Public tours - Heritage Festival - Art in the City Independent business connector reported high numbers of participation in this year’s SBSP programme with some great initiatives going ahead to enhance business profile and marketing. A reminder that 2022 applications close 31 October. Public toilets Some attendees commented on a lack of public toilets available for the public to use in the city centre. Business owners are experiencing public urinating in front of their business doors and difficulty in turning away rough sleepers using their toilets. There have been instances of theft when rough sleepers have been allowed in to use toilets. It was noted public toilet provision in the city centre is the responsibility of Auckland Council. Rough sleepers Some attendees commented that rough sleepers in the area can be abusive and harm the wellbeing of business owners,
locals and visitors. It was commented that in some instances they may repel potential customers. Link Alliance detailed its security and safety programme, and directed further enquires to Auckland Council and NZ Police. Heart of the City also spoke about its safety and security initiatives. Graffiti Shaun (Community Manager) says that Link Alliance employs a dedicated person to clean graffiti from the area including from private property. Please contact us if there are specific instances to address. Site workers Serkan (Midnight Express) commented about an incident of a worker behaving inappropriately. Shaun (Community Manager) advised Serkan to let Link Alliance know of the detail so this can be addressed.
Construction of new streetscape – loading zones Attendees commented that more loading zones are needed in the finished streetscape designs of Wellesley/Victoria/Albert Streets.
Hospitality season Ann (Lord Nelson) indicated that December – January are important seasons for hospitality. What works will be happening outside my shop then? Matt (Station Manager) commented there is a two-week works shutdown period, however streetscape works are due to start early next year. This is the final stage of works near Tonys Lord Nelson Restaurant. Hoarding walls Jugdish raised a concern about the long duration of the hoarding walls. Matt (Station Manager) addressed this by saying that although hoarding walls have been up for some time, they are necessary due to the works within. Next year, the hoardings will be reduced to allow streetscape works to take place.
Next Steps -
Minutes will be uploaded to CRL website and circulated to relevant organisations Attendees are welcome to contact the Link Alliance team for an underground tour to see the amount of work that is happening underground Next CLG will focus on upcoming streetscape works and urban realm