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CHLÖE SWARBRICK: MP AUCKLAND CENTRAL
from PONSONBY NEWS '21
LOCAL NEWS CHLÖE SWARBRICK: AUCKLAND CENTRAL MP
We’ve done this before and we can do it again. While the ‘unprecedented’ clichés recede in the more than a year since Covid-19 first hit our shores, we’ve learnt a lot and evolved our systems accordingly, but unfortunately so too has this regularly mutating virus.
The Delta strain is doubly more transmissible than its ‘ancestral’ strain, and we’ve seen just how critically valuable our snap lockdown was as locations of interest rippled across the city and down our country, contacts and case numbers growing, but controlled.
Walking down an eerily quiet Ponsonby Road for some statesanctioned exercise during Alert Level 4, there’s a strange sense of pride in how we’re all doing this together, apart. On the scale of disruption, a global pandemic is really up there. There are some fascinating lessons in that for the challenges we’re so evidently strong, creative and collaborative enough to confront - like that facing our climate, but that’s an article for another day.
It’s strange to think that just a few weeks ago, one could enjoy a spontaneous evening at Ockhee, followed by some Duck Island dessert and a round at Ponsonby Pool Hall. Lockdowns can give us some space from those norms to reflect on what we take for granted, what we value, and where we’re going.
But we need to remember that these lockdowns are not experienced equally across the bubbles that fill our city.
We know that for many of our small business owners and employees, particularly in hospitality and retail, that these can be incredibly difficult times. We know that for those without shelter, secure income or food supply, each day is somehow discovered to be even more precarious than before the pandemic. For these reasons, I want to make sure everyone across Auckland Central knows that my brilliant team and I are working constantly to help with anyone experiencing issues, unclear of their rights or entitlements, or in need of some help. Please, do not hesitate to email us.
The weekend prior to the week that brought us into Level 4 lockdown, I had the great privilege of hosting a public meeting around the future of our city’s waterfront with the wonderful insights of our local councillor Pippa Coom, Waitematā local board member Kerrin Leoni, architect and urbanist Julie Stout and economist Shane Vuletich. We unpacked some of the visionary ideas on design of, and public access to, our Waitematā Harbour from the heart of the city.
Chlöe with panellists Kerrin Leoni, Pippa Coom, Julie Stout and Shane Vuletich at a public meeting on 14 August
We discussed the costs of action and the costs of inaction, tackling the vexed question of the port and its kilometres of reclamation. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t agree that it’ll be moving at some point, but the challenges appear to be a matter of when, where, and who pays. It’s for these reasons that I’ve stayed engaged with the Minister for Transport, Michael Wood, on the critical National Port Strategy.
But when crisis calls, there’s a massive shift in priorities, and we act accordingly.
For the past weeks, I’ve spent much of my day on the phone, in the emails and on Zooms across our constituency and – virtually – in Parliament. I’m stoked to have worked with our incredible Northern Region Health Coordination Centre to have facilitated a dedicated walk-in testing station in the city centre for the more than third of people who don’t own a car in our electorate. I’ve been speaking every other day to our front-line NGOs, business associations, schools, local board members, health centres and more to help and advocate for our communities.
Most importantly, though, I’m here to help you. If there’s anything we can do to support you during this most ‘unprecedented’ time, until we can all walk back down Ponsonby Road for some impromptu ice-cream and pool, please give us a shout. (CHLÖE SWARBRICK) PN
CHLÖE SWARBRICK, T: 09 378 4810, E: chloe.swarbrick@parliament.govt.nz
KIA ORA PONSONBY
Please get in touch with any local issues. My office is here to help.
Chlöe Swarbrick MP for Auckland Central
09 378 4810 chloe.swarbrick@parliament.govt.nz
Nightmarkets Grey Lynn
@ GREY LYNN & AROUND
Despite warnings that the Covid-19 lockdown in response would be swift, it was impossible for some retailers and the hospitality sector not to be caught with highly disposable products and thus unavoidable costs through subsequent waste.
As always, the health response in the circumstance is not debatable, but what is debatable is whether businesses can continue to absorb such costs. We acknowledge the Government stepped rapidly up to the mark with two support packages but on this occasion they are likely to be inadequate.
Costs are escalating so fast, whether it be rates, rents, supply chain disruption, or wages, that it is proving difficult to understand just what shape business will be in at the end of this lockdown. Last year one of the most successful strategies deployed was support for businesses to engage mentoring, particularly in the technology space.
There is an assumption that most businesses now have a robust electronic platform. Recent work by the GLA would suggest that in retail well over 50% of businesses still don’t have a web page or use email, or have anyway of reaching their customers other than face to face. Interestingly many businesses are unaware of the regular up dates provided by the likes of MBIE or Inland Revenue and are reliant on their accountants to make touch with them. So perhaps there’s also room for the Government to reinstate the 100% small business grants to facilitate engagement of professional advice. This is just a thought.
A month-long lockdown with a gradual step down of levels presents some very steep challenges. It’s been great to see more businesses operating but there’s still extensive debate around “contactless deliveries”. As we know many hospitality businesses are more than capable of preparing and delivering quality meals but are unable to do so. Equally there’s been some very innovative solutions, such as the dairy selling the products of the bakery next door. The very real question we have is: can we open up more businesses to contactless transactions or for businesses to continue to provide services but with a fully vaccinated work force? We must look for solutions because as we are now told Covid-19 is going to be with us for a very long time just as flu has been for centuries. Equally it is going to be really critical when we come out of lockdown that we get in behind and support our local businesses.
At GLA we are trying to do this in a number of ways; for example, when we are undertaking projects such as ELEMENTAL, we use local providers.
A lot of work is going in with Auckland Transport at multiple levels. Currently there are three projects underway – two of these quite minor, (Grey Lynn Safer Schools and West Lynn remedial work) and one a large project – the re-envisaging of Great North Road.
We’re also looking at how we become a Business Improvement District (BID) with Waitemata Board advising that they accept our recommendation to examine becoming a BID. It was also pleasing to receive confirmation that the Waitemata Board would continue to provide an operational grant to the association for the next 12 months.
We’re busily rescheduling our business accelerator event which was to feature Professor Bill McKay speaking out re-envisaging urban design in our busy local villages. We ourselves would like to see very green leafy villages where “cottage” bee friendly planting accompanies much safer streets for us all.
Even these small changes present challenges, as it's Auckland Council and not Auckland Transport that we have to convince. Both entities undoubtedly are being impacted by the resurgence of Covid-19. PN
www.greylynn-around.com
At last, after sustained pressure from us all, council staff have sent a memo to the Waitematā Local Board, outlining a path for upgrading of the Leys Library and Gymnasium. The Local Board has copied the memo to Friends of the Leys Institute and asked that it be circulated.
A huge thank you to everyone in the community who advocated for the Leys with Councillors and the Local Board - our persistence has paid off.
The memo outlines a timetable for developing the detailed business case, then planning and implementing the works. The Council's Covid Long Term Plan Budget allocates around $11m for seismic strengthening of community facilities in 2023, and the same in 2024. We assume this is the budget that will be accessed for the Leys upgrading.
It also states that there will be full consultation with key stakeholders, including Friends of the Leys Institute. We certainly expect to be part of the proposed steering group, along with the St Mary’s Bay Association, Herne Bay Resident’s Association, Freeman’s Bay Resident’s Association, and we hope, library staff.
While the seismic strengthening and restoration of our precious heritage library and gymnasium is still at least two years away, we will need to keep a close watch on the process. We will have to ensure that the commitment by the Council is honoured, as we have already waited for nearly two years, with no action.
Our membership continues to increase every month, and now stands at 221. Anyone interested in becoming a member of Friends of Leys Institute can email co-ordinator Helen Geary at heleng@maxnet.co.nz, and follow the Friends of Leys Institute Facebook page. PN
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LOCAL NEWS LISA PRAGER: Stop, Look, Listen
We can all agree that keeping children safe in our community is paramount. However, using child safety as the excuse to justify narrowing Surrey Crescent to a single lane is simply an abuse of power.
There was never any congestion on Surrey Crescent until Auckland Transport shortened the traffic light sequence, narrowed the road, erected 118 fluro orange hit sticks, built asphalt humps and dumped concrete planter boxes over meaningless painted coloured fragments on existing parking spaces. All this without even bothering to repaint the original faded pedestrian crossing so critical for the safety of the Grey Lynn Primary school children. Parents are now forced to compromise their children’s safety, stopping in the middle of the road to drop them off. A dangerous dance that plays out twice a day before and after school.
In 2018, the Cohaus development commissioned a traffic report from Flow Transportation Specialist Ltd as part of their Resource Consent, it said, “In the section of Surrey Crescent between Richmond Road and Prime Road, for the five year period 2012 to 2016, a total of seven crashes were reported including three that resulted in minor injury only. The reported crashes are all low severity, appear random in nature, and do not indicate any specific safety concerns".
Auckland Transport then suddenly announced that there were major road safety issues outside Grey Lynn School opposite the new build!
Without any consultation or engagement with local businesses, apartment dwellers or the wider local community, Auckland Transport, Auckland Council and NZTA deployed their favourite new tool, 'Innovating Streets', a technique to disrupt the safe, smooth, flow of our roads under the guise of being more people friendly.
Despite all their failures - Queen St, High St, the City Rail Link, West Lynn Village, Henderson Town Centre, Karangahape Rd, Mt Albert and now Surrey Crescent, their Orwellian plan is spreading like a concrete cancer of lumps, bumps and humps in our city streets.
It is no secret that creating congestion is Auckland Council’s policy. They believe disrupting people’s ability to move around will force us to flock onto privately owned public transport.
We all know public transport in Waitematā/Western Bays is a shambles. No buses go to Westmere shops from Grey Lynn, they simply turn around at the Meola roundabout and head back to where they came from, leaving the young, the elderly and disabled with no way to access Westmere Village or to continue on to Jervois and Ponsonby Road.
Under CEO Shane Ellison, Auckland Transport has gone rogue, over spending and wasting our money on vanity projects like this, that are more about social engineering than child safety. Meanwhile local and multi-national infrastructure companies are laughing all the way to the bank, as these trials called 'Tactical Urbanism' get built and then demolished as public outrage grows.
As a local resident and small business owner and a regularly user of Surrey Crescent, I was appalled to find Sandy Webb of Auckland Transport directing traffic as concrete cutters screamed and the road gangs in high visibility gear looked embarrassed when we insisted they stop work destroying our neighbourhood.
All this proves is that Auckland is now a battle ground between the coneheads in local and central government and citizens who juggle busy lives and struggle to pay ballooning rate bills while bureaucracy turn our streets into a three ring circus. (LISA PRAGER, Community Advocate, Save our Streets) PN
