Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to Greg Wood,
Bloody good on them. Get those cars off the street.
It makes so much sense, in so many ways.
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to Matthew Poole,
NZTA has been having to (reluctantly, let’s be honest) build pedestrian/cyclist infrastructure alongside their new motorways out west, but those are the exceptions.
I think it's accepted that new motorways must now be accompanied by new cycleways.
NZTA did try and wriggle out of the part of the Waterview path that's underground (Section 8 of the link), but the Board of Inquiry made it very clear that wasn't going to wash. This is the relevant minute, basically promising the opening of a can of whoop-ass if NZTA didn't stop trying to get out of its obligations.
Minute and Direction of the Board – 16 May 2011
The Board has read paragraphs 2.11 and 2.12 of Schedule A to counsel’s 13 May memorandum. It will be finalising appropriate conditions for the Draft Decision. It sees the other parties’ version of the financial contribution decision as closer to the mark than NZTA’s. That is, their version should have words inserted to make it clear that the mitigation is required on account of inadequately mitigated significant adverse effects in sectors 7 and 9, but otherwise be drafted largely as they propose.
The Board has considered Ms Janissen’s Reply submissions (p29), and remembers her partial concession to the Judge at the time. The Board does not accept that the required condition has anything to do mitigation being needed in sector 8. It is to provide connectivity between these communities so that people can move between them to gain access to spaces/activities each has lost. NZTA has funding to undertake works in sectors 7 and 9. A corollary is that it is funded to sufficiently mitigate effects on sectors 7 and 9 if required by the consent authority. A further corollary must also be that if it can’t or won’t sufficiently mitigate effects in sectors 7 and 9, it may not get consent for those works. Equally if it fails to meet conditions of consent concerning mitigation of the sectors 7 and 9 effects, it may be stopped from carrying out the works there.
The Board has already offered the concession that the money not be payable unless consents and land ownership issues are sorted out by the Council and Auckland Transport. On which basis there is a possibility that it may never be called upon to pay up. Also, the Board refrained from requiring the preparation of a bonding condition, given that NZTA is a responsible public body. It is now wondering if it should change its mind on that.
The final sentence of Ms Janissen’s foreshadowed draft is totally unacceptable, providing as it would, yet more wriggle room (a cut-off date).
As to the following issue, The Board does not recall any evidence that 6 Barrymore Place is not owned by NZTA. It seems that condition OS.17 will have to be tailored to suit the new facts. The property has a value in the public domain, being a Capital Value of $1.130,000. There is unfortunately no other evidence of value, but CV will be sufficient for present purposes. If Public Works Act procedures or any other factor results in the property not being capable of being transferred to AC within 12 months of commencement of operation of the motorway in sector 9, there is to be a financial contribution paid to AC of that figure, upon terms similar to those in the connectivity condition except of course for the contingency about resource consents and land ownership.
The parties may revert to the Board with new drafts of these conditions by 1pm this Wednesday 18 May. Otherwise the Board will issue its own with the Draft Decision.
And let's be fair: the paths at both ends of Waterview are shaping up pretty well, especially the south end.
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to CoyKoi,
AT are just calling the footpaths “shared paths” and saying job done. They’ll do the same along western springs park (if that hasn’t been done already?)
Not yet. It's all been pretty vague.
But I could probably live with upgraded and widened "shared path" footpaths if that's what was on offer.
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to Mikaere Curtis,
So it already is used as a carpark, and I wonder if what needs to happen is that MOTAT need to think of it as a potential income stream on Saturday mornings.
I had a chat about it with MOTAT's CEO Michael Frawley (on Twitter) and he's wary about health and safety issues – perhaps more so if there's a through road from Meola – but didn't rule it out.
But if there are compliance costs involved, all the more reason to create corresponding income for MOTAT.
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The People's Review is released at 3pm today. I'll post it here as soon as the embargo expires.
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Access: Stroppy parents and battling…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
It was very hard to find any published material about her so it became one of those tricky but ultimately satisfying detective projects
Very satisfying, I'd imagine. Thank you for doing that work.
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But the Janet Fraser Memorial School was never built. The residents of Oriental Bay took a petition against allowing disabled children to be educated in their neighbourhood and the new National Party Minister of Education acceded to their wishes and withdrew funding.
Ye gods. You’d like to think this would be a scandal nowadays.
Would the Parliamentary Library have a copy of the actual petition? Sadly, it falls just outside the range of Papers Past.
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Hard News: Mike Moore: A pretty ordinary…, in reply to Tinakori,
After a Moore press conference in his office – when he was leader of the Opposition, – John Campbell said that it was like listening to a reading from Finnegan’s Wake.
That's brilliant.
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Hard News: Mike Moore: A pretty ordinary…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
He was also very socially conservative and no supporter of feminism.
In a later interview I did with him on 95bFM, he spouted a lot of hogwash about the impact of weed decriminalisation in the Netherlands. I corrected him pretty firmly live on air – and he actually backed down and apologised!
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Hard News: (Good) Friday Music: In and…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
The drummer had a Verlaines tee and one of the guitarists had ‘my’ Flying Nun ‘eyeball cherub logo’ tee on!
That is so cool!