Less work, same budget in Takapuna street redesign

From page 1 remaining next to the existing footpaths, the carriageway from Auburn St to Lake Rd is effectively being narrowed to slow vehicles without the road needing to be rebuilt.

Asked by the Observer why the revised plans still carried the same budget, a spokesperson for the council’s property arm said this was because costs of construction and materials had risen since the budget was set.

“We feel that we are now only doing the work that is critical to creating a safe street,” the spokesperson said. This was in line with feedback received from public consultation last year that “people didn’t want to see improvements to the street aesthetically.”

More parking – 24 spaces and a loading bay, will be retained, up from 18 spaces proposed in the consultation. This drew 141 submitters, with a number saying much of the work was unnecessary in what was a thoroughfare and a wind tunnel.

A proposed raised pedestrian crossing outside the Sentinel plaza will be built, but a raised table further west will not. Just six major street trees are left in the plan, with a few more smaller trees to be added once locations are decided as work progresses.

The project, launched two years ago, included $400,000 from Waka Kotahi, the natonal transport agency. This was spent to trial various “Innovating Streets” measures.

Feedback on Auckland Council’s 2023/24 draft budget is well up on usual response rates, with 1599 submissions received from the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area.

City-wide, a record 34,922 people and groups replied to the Have Your Say process, with a late rush before the cut-off date in late March. The response was more than three times as many submissions as in 2022.

But its candy-striped planter pots, painted sections of road, chicanes and a gazebo offering no shelter did not win over the public, leading to the first of several redesigns.

The finalised design was presented to Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members for feedback late last month. Eke Panuku’s priority location director, Kate Cumberpatch, said the aim was to make the town centre approach safer and more attractive.

Board chair Toni van Tonder said she was pleased to see Eke Panuku being responsive to feedback. With more apartments being built, more people would use the central streets. It would be good if efforts were made to tie in their look with Hurstmere Rd, which had proved a design success, including in avoiding flooding, she said.

Cumberpatch gave no commitment to matching materials to those used on Hurstmere Rd’s footpaths, saying, however, that she would talk to Auckland Transport.

Other questions from board members included how well guttering and stormwater would perform with the tree bays and any leaf litter. The board was told they allowed for water flow and that pohutukawa were being looked at for planning, to tie in with the Lake Rd corner and the beach.

Deputy chair Terence Harpur called for the bumpy Lake Rd pavement between Northcroft and Huron Sts to be upgraded to better connect the whole area.

Council staff will now collate the feedback which will go to local boards in May to help members decide how to allocate reduced funding to support local activities. DTLB has $810,00 less discretionary spend.

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