Posts by Christopher Dempsey
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Wearing elected rep hat:
Relocated my ass, my old flat got completely bowled.. :-(
I was made to understand that the two houses that were on the land that now forms Wairepo / Swamp Walk were relocated, rather than bowled.
That’s confirmed now? Huzzah!
Yes, more or less. That is if Joyce doesn't find out about it and decide that the money is needed more for his holiday highway.
Doffing said hat...
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jamming my hat on again...
Oh, Aotearoa works in wonderous ways. Railway lines are always bicurious. Nothing straight at all about them indeed. It's that NZ Gothic thing going on...
And NZTA funded cycleways, well, no. They don't fund those. But they do fund cycleways that are laid on land owned by them. Which is why they spent $3m on the cycleway just below Kingsland - it sits on land owned by them, which is for all intents and purposes, the (very wide) margins of the NW motorway. And legally, it is a 'road' of sorts which means pedestrians aren't allowed on it.
And which is why they'll fund the extension of that cycleway through Spaghetti Junction down to Wellesley St, all on land owned by them, which is what they are planning to do next. Good on them.
Doffing said hat...
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Wearing my hat...
Mayor Brown wasn't responsible for graffitti policy that Shields was operating under (Auckland City Council was), and nor could I expect him to get on top of such policy, given he was sworn in less than four months ago. Additionally, staff have publicly said that they were at fault. Given this Mr Ranapia's position is odd.
Doffing hat with a flourish cause I really need a blardy G&T right now and I don't have any tonic...
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Hard News: Getting dressed for the party, in reply to recordari,
Wearing that hat...
Billy Apple's artwork are striking, but they were paid for out of that $3m.
Doffing said hat...
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Wearing that blardy hat again...
The name Wairepo / Swamp references the swamp land that Eden Park now occupies. Look at the photos at Fridge Cafe - they are in the back room - you'll see one photo of the swamp prior to it being drained for Eden Park.
Doffing blardy hat...
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Wearing my battered ER hat...
Some points of clarification:
- The name that was favoured by the old Eden Albert Community Board was Swamp Walk. This was indeed a suggestion from Kowhai School. Members weren't in favour of naming it after a person because of real, and continuing fears of a child being killed on the walk - which is technically a road so vehicles are permitted to hoon down there. It was pointed out that it wouldn't be good to link a space where a child would be killed with someone famous.
I added in Wairepo (meaning swamp) as we are a bi-cultural nation, but sought guidance from Nagtai Whatua beforehand - unfortunately, they choose not to respond.
It had always been my intention for signage to be bi-cultural, so you had Wairepo / Swamp walk, not the nonsensical Wairepo Swamp Walk (Swamp Swamp Walk). I pushed for good signage and correct use of the name, but I'm afraid my efforts failed.
- that walk didn't cost $3m. There was a package of works which includes the construction of the 'walk', widening Sandringham road, new footpaths, bus shelters, relocation of housing, relocation of utilities and construction of the new plaza at the corner of Sandringham and Walters Rd.
This package cost $3m, but received NZTA funding for 51% of the total cost. Funding from NZTA can only go towards roadworks, which is why the walk is technically a road, and was designed to be a road. Council officers aren't silly, and will happily structure things to get a subsidy even if it means creating dangerous situations.
- the train lines during RWC games will be switched so that both lines from Kingsland will run to Britomart, and both lines from Morningside will run west. This will be in place after the game finishes. So this means both platforms at Kingsland will be used to carry fans away from the area and hightail it to Britomart and thence to that cloud that will invariably leak like a sieve.
Doffing said hat...
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Hard News: The Wall and the Paper, in reply to peter mclennan,
Wearing my Elected Rep hat...
Mayor Brown's statement is correct.
doffing my hat...
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Hard News: The Wall and the Paper, in reply to Russell Brown,
Not that I'm aware, no. I think.
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Wearing my elected rep hat...
Mr Brown asked the following question:
What powers does [Rob] Shields have, what policy was he acting under, what are the damn rules anyway?
I asked officers and got the following reply from Mr Sheilds:
Council contractors mistakenly painted over an aerosol art work on a wall in Poynton Tce after a complaint about it by a member of the public.
The authority of the property and business owners was not sought by council officers for the removal. Council is taking full responsibility to rectify the situation and install a new artwork as soon as possible. The relevant stakeholders including the property and business owners, the Karangahape Road Business association, and the original artist are being consulted during this process.
This incident is the first of its kind that we are aware of and has provided us with the opportunity to work more closely with business and property owners and our anti-graffiti volunteers to ensure murals painted with permission are not removed by council contractors.
What officers don't know is that I know the name of the member of public.
I'm aware that the reply doesn't actually address the questions ask. I'll try again.
Whipping off said hat...
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Ahhh, well then, it is entirely possible that Banks did order replacement of pansies with sensible and macho griselinias.
I don't know what the maintenance problems were, other than the use of that phrase tends to be code for 'it was too much trouble and we couldn't be bothered'.