On Thursday 30 March the Auckland Council Planning Committee will receive an internal report on compliance and decide how to better regulate helicopters within the planning system. This follows years of advocacy from residents in Herne Bay and Waiheke who are frustrated by the proliferation of helicopter pads and the significant impact they have on the wellbeing of people and animals nearby. The report suggests compliance is adequate and notes there are few complaints. However, there has been no consultation with residents who make the point that there is no proactive enforcement of compliance. The council relies on complaints to act and discourages feedback by providing no avenues to complain, noting on its website that it does not deal with aviation noise. When people do complain about breaches of consent they are required to know exactly what helicopter is used and the address of the consent holder. This creates an impossibly high bar for most people to meet. However, it was clear from a notified submission in Cremorne St last year which attracted 130 submissions, all in opposition, that feelings in affected neighbourhoods run high and that local residents with experience of living near private helipads want them banned in urban residential areas entirely. Waiheke local board chair Cath Handley and Elena Keith of Quiet Sky Waitemata talk about the issues, why Auckland is an outlier, the changes in approach needed and why they want National Planning Standard 15 for helicopter noise measurement to be incorporated into planning decisions immediately.
Holy satanic buttplug, it's Gigi and Kiki of Hex. Discussing inspirational hatred, their Valentine's Day album release, vacuum packed supermarket coffee bricks, their Kings Arms gig tomorrow night, hankies vs. serviettes, fundraising to get to SXSW, _and_ their brand new single 'Sight Beyond the Line'... try and keep up, will you? (Russell did.)
Tickets HERE. Donate HERE. Pre-order The Hill TempleHERE.
Last week, the government’s ban on gang patches officially came into effect. Under the new law, gang insignia is now officially banned in public places and police now have the power to break up large groups in public for causing fear and intimidation and can issue orders preventing gang members from associating or communicating for up to three years.
While hailed by the coalition government as a bold step in their “Tough on Crime” approach to law and order, the law has been questioned by experts and even a number of police officers themselves, who say that a suppression approach to policing gangs is likely to push gang activity to the periphery instead of eradicating it, and that it would disproportionately target marginalised communities.
For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendedz-March about the gang patch ban coming into effect and the party’s take on it.
They also had a discussion about the fall in New Zealand’s ranking on the Climate Change Performance Index, as well as the Ministry of Health's evidence brief and position statement on puberty blockers.
Established in 1997, RM is Aotearoa’s longest running artist-run space. The gallery seeks to engage with the practices, discourses and modes of presentation that aren’t well-supported or easily accessible in Tāmaki Makaurau, placing the work of local emerging artists alongside more seasoned practitioners.
Published by RM with the support of CNZ, RM25 is a non-exhaustive selection of scans and screenshots from the RM archives (physical and digital) presented in broadly chronological order.
Sofia spoke with longtime member, Nina Dyer, about the book and the history of RM and artist-run initiatives in Aotearoa.
Jami-Lee Ross talk Auckland's Fuel Tax, and weather labour is spending outside of their means in order to accomodate gold plated public transportation.
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