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.
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 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
In 1994, Durban artist Sandy B released Amajovi Jovi. It was a six-track education on kwaito music, and a rare find, until Invisible City Editions lovingly reissued it in 2017. This weekend, Sandile schools us with bubblegum vs kwaito mix. Stunningly, it is full of shouts from other icons of the scene.
To round things out, we hear from one of our fave deejays - the Toronto-based Milch. Milch is a member of Invisible City Record Shop team and programmer for Invisible City Presents & Invisible City Radio. She shares a mix of bassy downtempo of all sorts, from sluggers and slammers to trip hop and chill-out.
The Auckland city council’s Value for Money Committee recently reported that the council exceeded its savings goals for the 2021/22 financial year.
However, there has been some controversy around overspending on cycleway infrastructure projects with some Aucklanders claiming that the council’s money is being managed loosely.
For Casper's fortnightly chat with Auckland city councillor Pippa Coom they discussed the council’s financial situation as well as the alleged overspending on some cycleway projects and what might be going on.
The High Court has ruled in favour of Auckland Transport in a case brought against the council managed organisation by All Aboard Aotearoa.
The case was over Auckland Transport’s Regional Land Transport Plan or RLTP which would lead to a 6% increase in transport emissions in Auckland.
For our fortnightly chat with Auckland City counsellor Pippa Coom, as part of our regular city counselling segment Casper and Pippa discussed the RLTP case as well as an update on the local election process.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has criticised Auckland Council’s cultural and economic agency, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, for spending $737k to boost positivity about the city through their ‘Happy Guide’ campaign.
Additionally, last week Auckland Council voted to move all speed racing to Onehunga, meaning nearly 100 years of speedway racing at Western Springs is coming to an end.
For City Counselling this week, Producer Sofia spoke to Councillor Julie Fairey about both of these topics.
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