This morning on our weekly catch up with Mayor Phil Goff we spoke about the NZ Bus lockout, Auckland's new composting city-wide contract, and swimmable beaches around the city. Whakarongo mai nei.
Today on the show, Jessica Hopkins speaks to Victoria Vasyliuk, a resident of Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, around 70 kilometres from the border with Poland, about what it is looking like for refugees fleeing the war.
Charlie Parker talks to Nina Santos, campaign spokesperson for MindTheGap, about their new pay gap registry.
Sam Clark speaks to Unions Auckland Spokesperson Sarah Barker about their endorsement of Manukau Ward Councillor Efeso Collins.
Charlie discusses the impact of Long COVID with Dr Anna Brooks from the University of Auckland.
Lastly, Charlie interviews Chloe Wollard and Shane Henderson from Auckland City Council about property revaluations and how this will affect the annual budget.
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.
Various criticisms have been levied at the level of infrastructure funding available in West Auckland, especially when compared to other areas in Tamaki Makaurau.
This comes after continuous issues with the western line train services, which are being consistently cancelled for repairs without a substantive bus system to replace it.
There’s also bee chat about delays in building a new complex in the North West of Auckland, which has been in talks for years but faced various delays.
To learn more about what the council is doing to curb these issues, Liam spoke to Shane Henderson, the councillor for the Waitakere Ward.
On Friday 15th of December, Auckland Councillors discussed the Mayor’s draft proposal for the annual 2023/24 budget.
While the budget proposal passed and was sent for public consultation, it has proved controversial as it includes deep cuts to services and selling Auckland Airport shares.
Mayor Brown also caused controversy when he suggested Auckland Airport would be seeking capital investment before the Airport themselves announced it.
David spoke to Councillor Mike Lee about the topic
As part of the Auckland Climate Grant, Auckland Council is allocating $225,000 to community-run climate action groups. The funding round is set to open in March 2024.
The Council is reviewing its 10 year budget proposal. A consultation will take place in February, in which the public can make submissions about the topics that matter to them.
Beth spoke to Counsellor for Manukau Lotu Fuli about the Auckland Climate Grant and the review of the first proposal for Auckland Council’s 10 year budget, and began by asking her what the Council hopes to achieve with the grant.
Auckland Council has made the decision not to support the building of a second Waitematā harbour crossing, which would cost $56 billion dollars and involve the construction of two underwater tunnels and light rail connecting the North Shore to the CBD.
And in the past 12 months, Auckland Council has spent $7.4 million on recruitment.
Beth spoke to Counsellor for Waitakere Shane Henderson about these decisions.
The government has announced it will be repealing the Three Waters programme, criticising the co-governance element, which would have given Māori with mana whenua to the area a 50 percent presence on strategic oversight boards. It also would have shifted management of drinking, waste and stormwater services into 10 large independent entities.
National, ACT and New Zealand First voted in favour of repealing the programme, while Labour, the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori were opposed.
Beth spoke to Counsellor for Waitakere, Shane Henderson, about the potential impacts of the government’s repeal on the Council, and how it will affect its planning of water infrastructure, particularly in light of climate change and the severe weather events we saw last year.
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