Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea)
Community Liaison Group Meeting - Minutes
13 June 2023
DATE Tuesday 13 June 2023
TIME 4.00pm – 5.30pm
LOCATION Caffe Greco, Wyndham Street
ATTENDEES
Link Alliance
Matt Sinclair – Station Manager
Shaun Sutton – Community Manager
Nicole Borland – Development Response Manager
Diana Toki-Hu – Communications & Engagement Advisor
Patrick Gibbs – Project Engineer
Auckland Council
Richard Northey – Local Board Member (Waitematā LB)
Ben Maw – Programme Manager – Development Response
Josephine Newman – Stakeholder Engagement Manager
Auckland Transport
Graeme Gunthorp
James Wickham
Beth (Intern)
Attendees
William (SBSP)
Tania (HOTC)
Ann (Tony’s Lord Nelson)
Hanoz (The Altruist – School of Bitcoin)
Bruce (Mexican Café)
Jugdish (Roma Blooms)
Colm (The Fiddler)
Cindy (Manhattan Apartments)
Mike (Jam e Jam Restaurant)
Agenda
1. Intro (Shaun Sutton)
2. Te Waihorotiu Station construction progress (Matt Sinclair)
3. Streetscapes update (Patrick Gibbs & Nicole Borland)
4. Small Business Support Programme (William Keung)
5. Auckland Transport (Graeme Gunthorp)
Presentation
Presentations from Link Alliance and Auckland Transport attached. No
1. Welcome - Shaun
Welcome and update about recently completed footpath works on Victoria Street outside Mr Taco and Tony’s Lord Nelson Steakhouse. Victoria Street progress is tracking well and the end of construction is now insight for businesses there. Significant focus on safety & security across the construction site.
2. Te Waihorotiu Station construction update – Matt
- Architectural cladding will installed later this year in the Wellesley Street Entrance Structure building
- There will be several vertical transport units (lifts and escalators) installed throughout the station. There is a total of 13 escalators and 6 lifts throughout.
- Fire safety, hydraulic and other services in the station and back of house are well underway.
- Recently we reached a significant milestone with the last platform concrete pour done which is the final section of major structural station work.
- 275,000 metres of cables will be installed in Te Waihorotiu Station.
3. Streetscapes update – Patrick and Nicole
- Streetscape delivery is on track and the intention is to complete most Victoria St footpaths and road by approximately end of this year.
- Ann asked about outdoor dining – this will likely be possible with wider footpaths.
- Jugdish wanted confirmation whether pedestrians will be diverted back against the property line once the concrete footpath base is complete – yes this will happen though further diversions will be implemented when pavers are later laid.
- Concrete to doors is poured outside of business hours or as per business preferences in order to maintain access.
- Ann emphasised the need for clear signage for any upcoming pedestrian diversions.
- Nicole covered the range of support programmes in place for businesses, such as ‘Win Win Wednesday’, florist activations, Auckland Festival of Photography activations for the 2x photo shops, King’s Birthday scones at Coffee Club and gift voucher competitions at other businesses. The Small Business Support Programme has also launched again for a third year.
- There have also been more public rubbish bins added to the area with new Keep New Zealand Beautiful signage.
4. Small Business Support Programme – William
- There have been approximately ten businesses that have applied and been approved for the Small Business Support Programme (SBSP), in just a few weeks. More applications are also coming in.
- The SBSP encourages forward thinking, and a highlight so far has been the huge interest in outdoor
dining.
- If anyone has any questions at all, please get in touch with William.
5. Auckland TransportGraeme Loading and servicing in Midtown and the City Centre
- Graeme from Auckland Transport presented an update on work he and others at AT have been doing since the last CLG with regards ensuring loading and servicing needs are met in the city.
- The scope of this work includes looking at the CRL scope, and importantly beyond/outside that as there are limited opportunities within the CRL area due to the large station entrance structures on Victoria Street and the bus priority lanes on Albert and Wellesley Streets.
- There is limited space within the city, and all loading/servicing options come with some trade-offs.
- Parking fine amounts are outside of our control, although we have asked council and government to increase the fine amounts so enforcement outcomes can be improved.
- AT is also developing a comprehensive parking management plan that aims to be delivered by 2025.
- Ann mentioned the need for tradies and suppliers to be able to load/unload near businesses. Tradies often haul large materials/items so the distance from loading zones to businesses is of the highest importance. Ann also mentioned the need tourist buses to be able to drop people off in the area – this is important to her business.
- Jugdish says one lane of traffic on Victoria Street in each lane is impractical, as couriers etc will simply stop their vehicle to deliver/unload - thus blocking the entire road. He says couriers already struggle to deliver to city businesses. Jugdish feels that AT have been ignoring calls for more loading zones over the past several years, despite pleas from the community to change the CRL design and design of other projects in the area.
- Graeme acknowledged these concerns and confirmed AT is working hard to identify more loading and servicing opportunities in the area.
Next Steps
- Minutes will be uploaded to CRL website and circulated to relevant organisations
- The team will continue to be in touch with stakeholders as soon as further information and details are received regarding the next stages of the 2023 streetscape works
- Underground tours for stakeholders – all are invited and please contact the team if you wish to have a tour.
- William will continue to be in touch with stakeholders for the Small Business Support Programme