Posts by J Browning
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Sacha,
"....ask them, by all means"
Have also spoken to Senior Managers, Elected Members, representatives from every division of Council all the way to the Mayor's office...and not one person could - or was willing - to explain how the Unitary Plan actually flowed from the Auckland Plan.
Can you explain it?
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Sacha,
that's not their job
Riiiighhhhhttt....so, they are employed in a silo to write "a Plan". Without any idea how it fits in with anything else....hmmmm....
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Chris Waugh,
is a serious problem that can be easily remedied by dropping all the individualist nonsense we've been fed since 1984 and re-engaging with each other.
How do you propose this happens, exactly...attend a Green Party fundraiser?
Excuse my cynicism, but as someone actively involved in a wide variety of community groups, pretending all we need to do is "drop the nonsense" is not an answer...
We need to face the facts - we live in a different world now; very few find time to attend community meetings unless they feel directly threatened by something...very few take the time to pick up litter they see on the street...very few visit their elderly or at risk neighbours...very few look outside their own backyards.
This is reality.
If we want to change it, it means coming up with new ways to engage, new ways to consult....
Over and out. This debate should be appearing elsewhere...
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Graham Dunster,
"So I’ll ask the question again – what Strategy or Plan does the Unitary Plan correspond to?"
From the draft Auckland Unitary Plan:
The dUAP specifically states that the Auckland Plan sits at the top of the strategic framework and describes the 30-year vision of Auckland as the world’s most liveable city and provides the strategic direction for other council plans and strategies. It further states that the dUAP is Auckland’s key resource management document prepared under the RMA, and is one of the most critical parts of the strategic framework...I am aware of where the Unitary Plan is "supposed" to sit.
However, the lovely chart prepared by Council and related commentary is academic, nothing more.
When Planners have been directly asked about how the Unitary Plan fits with the Auckland Plan and the other myriad of strategic plans, they can not tell you.
This is because all they have simply done is consolidate all the old rules into one document and fiddle around a bit with them.
The Unitary Plan does not flow from the Auckland Plan, plain and simple.
What is even more suprising is that on the Council's own chart showing how everything fits together, the Unitary Plan sits alongside the other strategies and plans, so clearly there was never any intention that these would inform it.
Another issue no one has touched on so far - I understand the Unitary Plan development commenced while all these other Plans were in progress...they have been running on concurrent timelines...
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Just because some people are selfish doesn’t mean everyone is.
Exactly. And what really leaped out at me from that story:
"It is great that the Government is stepping in but we need to help our own communities too. That's the way life used to be and somehow we've lost track of that," says Farrelly. "I hope people can look at what has happened at Randwick Park School and be inspired to find the people around them who need help.[my emphasis]
Well done; you seem to be illustrating my point quite nicely on your own.
I am not saying I support the view that individualism is the goal; I merely point it out because it is reality, whether you like it or not.
Who was it that said - "don't interact with the world they way you would like it to be; interact with it the way it is..."
If we really want to bring about change, it is not going to happen by pretending we're all one big happy family...most people in our city don't even know who they live next door to, let alone who lives on the other side of town.
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Speak for yourself. Last I checked humans were still very much social animals and naturally put the needs of the group ahead of those of the individual. Individualism, to put it politely, is the aberration.
Phew; what a relief...
All these years, I thought my neighbours in Ponsonby couldn't give a monkey's about their brethren in Manukau, Albany and Henderson, but clearly I was wrong.
It's great to know we're all campaigning for the rights of those on the other side of town...
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Russell Brown,
I'm saying no, it doesn't.
Pleased to hear it.
So I'll ask the question again - what Strategy or Plan does the Unitary Plan correspond to?
The reality is, for all the documentation that has come out of Council proclaiming they have a unified vision and strategy for Auckland, there is no rule book that aligns with this.
The Unitary Plan is merely a conglomeration of all the old property rules across various Councils into one document with a bit of loosening up here, and a bit of tightening up there.
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
I also agree that the Unitary Plan is full of vagaries and planner-speak. Some PR on the Auckland Council's part would not have cost much.
Auckland Council employ some of the largest PR teams in the country.
If you've ever had any dealings with them, you would understand why it was actually a good idea they kept their mouths shut...they are trained and briefed to "respond", not to inform or promote.
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Its architects had hoped for it to be a rubber stamp for their wider agenda. As far as they're concerned, Len Brown stole the keys from John Banks and hijacked it, and now they're fumbling for the override switch.
By override, do you mean the upcoming local government elections?
The fact we're in election year is the main reason we have the situation we have...
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Hard News: A plea for sanity on the…, in reply to Sacha,
Yes - I am aware of this; why have a team at ATEED and at Auckland Council both employed to manage and deliver major events...