The Wire with Joel

This morning a cyclist was critically injured after being struck by a car in South Auckland. The debate around cycle lanes and cyclist safety is an ongoing discussion here in Auckland. Simon spoke with Patrick Morgan from the Cycling Action Network about cyclist safety, bike lanes and about rebates for e-bikes and began by asking Patrick what can be done to improve safety for cyclists on our roads.

At the Posie Parker event last weekend, Marama Davidson's comments on violence spun up a controversy in the mainstream news cycle, with party leaders calling for her resignation as a result. But little has been discussed about the source of the clip, Counterspin Media, a local far right conspiracy disinformation producer previously involved with QAnon and anti-COVID movements. Spike speaks to Byron C Clark, disinfo researcher and author about Counterspin and their history. 

Statistics New Zealand recently released data showing no improvement for children living in material hardship over the past year. 

Arno spoke to Molly Grant, a researcher at the University of Auckland conducting a survey of over 5000 children in a project called Growing Up in New Zealand. She has uncovered some of the symptoms of childhood poverty and is calling for policy changes to help urgently increase some of the country’s lowest incomes. 

Arno started the interview by asking if New Zealand was “the best place in the world to grow up”, set as a government goal four years ago.

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.