I will continue to actively oppose the council’s / government plans to impose 50-meter high-rise towers across the special character areas of St Mary’s Bay, Herne Bay, Freemans Bay, Grafton and Parnell and to seek a pause in this ill-conceived process to enable full public consulation
I will continue to staunchly oppose the sale (‘recycling’) of council’s income earning assets e.g. remaining car parking buildings, and to sell or lease the Port of Auckland now earning $85.4m profit per annum. These legacy assets and the alternative income stream they provide must be retained for the benefit of present and future generations of Aucklanders
I support optimising the use of our existing rail network captalising of the enormous investment in the CRL, by extending rail services to Huapai Kumeu, restoring direct services from Onehunga to Britomart, returning regional train services eg Te Huia back to a freed-up Britomart and to serve Auckland University’s new campus on Khyber Pass restoring the Newmarket West station at Kingdon Street
I will continue to advocate for an extension from the main trunk (Southern Line) to Auckland International Airport in line with the expectation in the original Auckland Plan and popular demand
I will work to break the AT’s blockade of cars on Queen Street by opposing plans to extend the present ‘Authorised Vehicle Only/ zones to extend from Mayoral Drive to Victoria Street, remove the existing AVO restrictions and re-open Queen Street to private vehicles
I will, working with Heart of the City and City Centre Residents Group, make the restoration of Queen Street and the viability of its retail sector a priority, while addressing the growing social problems, rough sleeping, drug abuse & crime, with the police & mental health agencies
I support council actively promoting marine reserves including the Hakaimango-Matiatia (NW Waiheke) marine reserve (which do not cost a cent) not only to protect and enhance our threatened marine ecosystems but as an important component of a nature-first approach to reducing ‘blue carbon’ emissions
I will work to see that our popular legacy regional parks network is retained as united entity and under the governance of democratically accountable parks committee
I will work to deliver and open the long-promised waterfront Headland Park at Wynyard Point originally set aside by the Auckland Regional Council
I promise, building on the success I achieved for the Gulf Islands to continue my efforts to make helipads in residential areas a prohibited activity in the city
I will work with fellow-minded councillors to get Speedway and its supporters back into Western Springs Stadium from which they were most unfairly evicted
