Comment: Lists of planning applications must be freely available

People have a right to know what developments are planned for their area at the earliest possible time.

Under the Building Act, local authorities have to provide resource-consent information on specific addresses, if asked. As far as I can see, providing a general list of resource-consent applications for an area is no different.

I’ve done some research among my community-newspaper colleagues around Auckland and received a variety of responses.

On Waiheke, its local board publishes all the consent applications within its monthly agenda. Presumably, word of a different approach hasn’t reached the officials involved.

Community papers in Mahurangi and Hibiscus Coast have been told that the consent applications were about to go online, but have been held up by a lack of staff and computer issues.

Auckland Council needs to reverse this decision in the interests of a proper flow of public information.

Is it fair that a pensioner living in a small flat is denied information on resource consents in their neighbourhood due to cost, while subscribers such as developers, architects, investors and landbankers get access because they can afford to pay?

The move to restrict access compromises the ability to scrutinise planning decisions, and increases the chances of poor or unfair planning decisions slipping through unnoticed.

Rob Drent, Editor

Takapuna 10A Hart Road

2 1 2

Deceased Estate in Hauraki

- Freehold 491m2, elevated and positioned at the end of a driveway;

- Very cute solid timber Lockwood home built in the 1960s;

- Separate double garage, low maintenance gardens;

Auction

Thursday 29th June at 1:00pm

In Rooms (Unless Sold Prior)

View

Saturday/Sunday 10 30am-11 00am harcourts co nz/DP24565

- Ideal for first time home buyers or down sizers;

- Potential for renovation and personalisation;

- Highly sought-after neighbourhood with a friendly community a short distance to Hauraki shops and beautiful Takapuna Beach;

- In Zone for Hauraki Primary, Belmont Intermediate, Takapuna Grammar, Rosmini College;

- Executors say sell!

Jane Hastings 021 735 263 jane hastings@harcourts co nz

Jackie Mark 021 458 797 jackie mark@harcourts co nz

Jane Hastings 021 735 263

Jackie Mark 021 458 797

By Rob Drent

The Devonport Flagstaff and its sister paper, the Rangitoto Observer, are paid for by advertising, so far be it from me to rail against businesses promoting their products.

But there are ways and means and a time and place. A reader complained about this decal (pictured right), placed on the footpath outside the Devonport ferry terminal, which is run by Auckland Transport (AT).

The Flagstaff made a few inquires about how it came to be adhered to the paving, laid in a controversial Marine Square upgrade a decade ago (which made a cluster of nearby businesses almost go the wall).

We asked AT if it is possible for a commercial entity to advertise on a footpath.

“Yes, AT has contracts in place that allow our media partners (in this case MediaWorks) to on-sell media space on and within our managed assets (car parks, stations, billboards, buses etc).”

The advertising had to meet AT advertising policy (which can be found on its website).

“This decal has been there for some time and was subject to our internal sign-off process. It’s booked until the end of June. However, it can be renewed at any time.”

So, in theory, ads can be put on footpaths anywhere by an AT-approved media partner. Unlikely to happen, but it could possibly expand to selected spots on Victoria Rd.

I’m not quite sure if this is what Devonport is all about.

The Devonport Library Associates literary event to launch new works by C K Stead (Say I do This: Poems 2018-2022) and Kevin Ireland (A Month At the Back of My Brain: A Third Memoir) went ahead on 30 May, despite the death of Ireland two weeks before.

The night made the national news for all the wrong reasons – historian Rory Sweetman threw a glass of pinot gris at MC Steve Braunias in a belated response to a book review written by Braunias 20 years ago.

What would Kevin would have made of the shenanigans? Given his nature, he probably would have seen the funny side of it.

Auckland Council is apparently cashstrapped, but it is still a long way off operating under the imperatives of commercially focused business.

Take 3 Victoria Rd, for example: the former Devonport Borough Council building that has been unoccupied for 1804 days, after Council evicted all the tenants, saying it needed earthquake-strengthening and was apparently too dangerous to be occupied. (The Flagstaff recently asked for documents on this but had not received a response as this issue went to press.) Now, less than a month after the building was been sold to Peninsula Capital, it is up for lease.

Peninsula Capital has deep pockets – it later bought the Vista Linda portfolio of more than 15 commercial buildings, with the aim of redeveloping central Devonport. However, as with any investment, it is keen to make a return while future plans are being worked on.

The decision to immediately lease out 3 Victoria Rd is therefore a business no-brainer. The move makes it all the more mystfiying –and annoying for ratepayers – that Victoria Rd wasn’t rented out by Council. Pop-up stores, month-by-month tenancies, temporary art studios or installations – many options existed. Maybe it was just in the too-hard basket.

A cynic would have a field day with the new council initiatives for more adventurous children’s play options in our public reserves. Fallen trees become spontaneous new clambering structures (read, we don’t have to clean up parks after weather events)! Kids huts in street trees are now being encouraged as well.

The Flagstaff can remember when these were seen as angels of death by the council, and one popular hut in Wairoa Rd was removed to keep children safe. It looks like city hall has now seen some sense, with this new attitude to kids enjoying the outdoors.

Cut to board funding but less than forecast

More than $125,000 has been cut from the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s funding due to Auckland Council budget cuts.

The $126,240 reduction (an around nine per cent cut) was revealed to board members at a workshop on Tuesday.

The cut is however far less than the $810,000 it stood to lose (around 60 per cent) in earlier budget tightening plans.

Council has cut $4 million rather than $16 million from local boards.