This week on City Counselling, I spoke with Councillor Pippa Coom about the Councils 2022/2023 Budget being approved for public consultation.
Items for consultation include a proposed Climate Action Targeted Rate to support a billion-dollar climate action package and moving to a simpler payment method for rubbish collections.
We also discussed concerns surrounding the growing number of private helipads in residential areas.
Seeded from a curious Reddit post, Ivan's research into multi-player video game music has taken him to dissertation level and beyond. Was does an 'anthropological' study of game soundtracking entail? Does music affect gamers' behaviour? Do purists switch it off while playing or leave it on?
The intrepid Kermath returns to us straight from the boozy arms of the Melbourne PAX Festival, with many a gaming world tale to tell. Ably joined by gaming veteran Mack, the pair discuss the increasingly monetised world of eSports and muse upon its seemingly massive future.
On this week's city councelling interview Casper spoke to Pippa Coom about the Auckland fuel tax. This tax has been a topic of discussion since National party leader Christopher Luxon announced in his state of the nation speech that, if elected, his party would scrap the regional fuel tax. Auckland mayoral candidate and Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck also announced that a part of her platform is scrapping the Auckland regional fuel tax. Casper and Pippa talked about Auckland’s regional fuel tax, what it funds and the tradeoff between increasing already high fuel prices for Aucklanders and funding essential public transport projects.
Earlier in the week, Jacinda Ardern announced a temporary slash to the regional fuel taxes and public transport costs across the country.
These cuts are intended to ease the cost of living for New Zealanders and will last for a period of three months.
For this week’s fortnightly chat with Auckland city councillor Shane Henderson as part of the regular city councelling segment, Casper and Shane discussed the announcement, what it will do and whether it might play into permanent policy.
They also discussed the Auckland city councelling budget consultation and why it is important that young people submit to it before it closes. Casper first asked Shane how he feels the announcement will affect Aucklanders.
A motion was recently brought before the Auckland city council by councillor Jo Bartley which would back Chloe Swarbrick’s proposed private member’s bill on community alcohol harm reduction.
The bill would give more autonomy to local councils when it comes to the distribution of alcohol, and would also limit the advertising alcohol companies are able to do.
For Casper's fortnightly chat with Auckland city councellor Pippa Coom they discussed the motion, which she supported alongside the rest of the council, as well as a final reminder around the annual budget consultation submissions.
Casper began by asking Pippa what the community alcohol harm reduction bill is and why it was supported so strongly by Auckland council.
Auckland Transport’s safe speeds programme is a part of a national ‘road to zero’ strategy to reduce deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand.
In the third phase of the safe speeds programme Auckland Transport is proposing reductions to the speed limits on many Auckland roads, including 90% of the roads on Waiheke.
For Casper's fortnightly chat with Auckland councellor Pippa Coom they discussed the proposed speed limit reductions and how much of an impact they might have on Auckland drivers. Casper started off by asking what Auckland Transport’s proposed changes are and how they fit into the safe speeds programme.
Auckland council released for consultation their proposal to rezone parts of the central suburbs for medium and high density housing development.
The proposed changed come after the government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development which requires city councils to zone more areas for higher density housing.
For Casper's fortnightly interview with Auckland city counsellor Shane Henderson they discussed the proposal, what it will mean for Auckland’s housing development and how people can contribute to the feedback process.
Casper started off by asking about the council’s proposed changes and how they relate to the Government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development.
Submissions can be made on the council’s proposed zoning changes at akhaveyoursay.nz/housing
The Council has recently made some major pre-budget announcements regarding Climate Action and cycle implementation around Tāmaki Makaurau.
The new Climate Action Targeted Rate aims to continue supporting public transport implementation and protect the cities low lying coastal areas from floods.
They’ve also implemented new funding for the cycling business case with aims to continue implementing cycle lanes and provide more safe areas for cyclists.
To learn more Liam spoke to Councillor Pippa Coom on our regular City Counselling segment about the changes, first discussing that the CATR is and what it holds for the future
As part of the 2022 budget allocation for transport the government announced a two months extension to the half-priced fares scheme. The cheaper fares have been a part of the government’s response to the cost of living crisis but are currently only a temporary measure.
For Casper's fortnightly chat with Auckland city Counsellor Pippa Coom they discussed the extension of this scheme announced in the budget, how it’s been performing so far and what might be possible as a permanent solution.
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