Posts by Sacha
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to DexterX,
The unfettered market will provide! Invisible hand, pink fistmobile, etc, etc.
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Govt created the conditions for the problem in the first place
It's certainly a critical piece of the puzzle, and I believe you'll find it sprinkled through RWC threads here.
Govt interfered with local planning that had been going on for years between the region's various former Councils and associated agencies. There are good people involved. Though undeniably some failure too.
Main thing is making sure the rest of the RWC visitor experience goes properly. Other stuff can be sorted after that, if dangerous dolts like McCully and Joyce stop playing politics now.
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Russell Brown,
O'Sullivan is scathing.
Murray "Muzza" McCully's talent for micro-management will again be exercised as a result of the Government's decision to seize control of the enlarged Party Central for the duration of the Rugby World Cup.
It is obvious that Muzza's panzer movement is the result of a prime ministerial kick in the proverbial to any Cabinet minister who could be construed as bearing even part responsibility for Friday's fiasco.
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It was Prime Minister John Key, after all, who promoted the relatively small Queens Wharf as Party Central.
The upshot was the event planners from the former Auckland City Council and Auckland Regional Council switched attention away from the original proposal to have a number of decentralised fan zones across wider Auckland operating in time for the opening game celebrations.
And why didn't McCully listen to Michael Barnett earlier in the piece?
A fortnight ago, Barnett - who was hand-picked by McCully to take charge of the Cloud project - said he expected some 120,000 to 150,000 Aucklanders to roll up to the wharf for Friday's party.
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Russell Brown,
McCully's bizarre claim yesterday that they would be turned into new fan zones
We may need a psychologist's opinion about his overweening crush for the waterfront.
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Russell Brown,
the major issue remains that the designated area was not big enough
The whole thing was in the wrong place, putting crowds right over limited transport access routes to trains and ferries, which were not protected.
Core question is how that decision was made, and why the ongoing obsession with the waterfront when there are other tried and tested options like the Domain?
Cayford suggests:
The easiest would be to pedestrianise Queen Street from Quay Street to Aotea Square, and to relocate some attractions to Aotea Square. And an associated media campaign to direct crowds to different attractions at different destinations.
A strong, but organised and directed police presence would be essential (not on horses). Crowd monitoring (helicopter or whatever) would provide info to a crowd control office. This info would be used to manage the police presence. Their job would be to firmly direct and redirect pedestrian movement. This would not dampen party spirits. It would give people confidence the event(s) would be safe to attend. Sending people onto Captain Cook Wharf at this late stage is not a good option.
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Informative piece on Radio NZ Nine to Noon with Mike Coleman and Chris Ryan from the Insurance Council seeming refreshingly straight-up about where the industry is at (31 mins, listening options).
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Former regional transport committee chair Joel Cayford gives useful context, including some of the contractual relationships.
Auckland Council permitted two hugely popular events at each end of its main railway line (Eden Park and Britomart). Auckland Council anticipated about 60,000 at one, and at least 100,000 at the other. But only contracted with Veolia to get 15,000 to Eden Park.
Auckland Council and Auckland Transport appear to have made no effort at all to stop crowds of people from flocking to station and ferry platforms all over Auckland, and - as both Len Brown and Veolia's CEO said - overwhelming the system.
...So yes. The transport systems were overwhelmed.
But it is not because of Veolia that there was chaos.
The chaos arose because Auckland Council did not plan properly for the inevitable crowds. Central Govt shares this responsibility also. They now need to share the management of Plan B.
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Tom Semmens,
how does an elected representative verify what his/her highly paid, experten officials are telling them?
Getting contestable advice from other experts is a challenge for anyone in a governance role. This country is not so good at it (a component of our productivity), and our small population doesn't help. Engaging with professional forums and suchlike is one practical step - in this case, in the events and transport planning sectors. Of course, you have to be prepared to listen, which is where ego comes in.
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Russell Brown,
It took McCully until this morning to come up with that line
It's in one of those clips last night, to be fair. And he seems to believe himself when saying it, though you'd think the effect on the good faith working relationships would seem pretty obvious to any experienced politician.
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Sacha,
However, he and the Councillors share responsibility for not adequately verifying the assurances they were fed by the staff who report to them and to the CCO Boards largely appointed by the govt.
Kathryn Ryan discusses that this morning with right-leaning Councillor Cameron Brewer who has taken on the left-leaning Mayor over potential risks for some time (10 mins, listening options).