Sunday 9 September 6pm For Immediate Use

Auckland Citizens and Ratepayers Now Delighted With Campaign Launch, Release Transport Policy

Auckland Citizens and Ratepayers Now (ACRN) successfully held their launch at the Novotel in Ellerslie on Sunday afternoon. Over 150 people were in attendance, including mayoral candidates John Banks and Matt McCarten.

"I am delighted at the huge turnout we had today" said ACRN Chairman John Collinge. "We are the largest local body ticket in Auckland City, and the numbers of members, supporters and general public we had today prove that we are the predominant and most united ticket in Auckland local body politics" said Mr Collinge.

"We were also privileged to have mayoral aspirants John Banks and Matt McCarten speak to us briefly. While ACRN will not endorse any mayoral candidate, we were fortunate to have both John and Matt attend to give us their perspectives on Auckland City and their respective campaigns¹ said Mr Collinge.

"ACRN were also fortunate to have a waiata performed at the beginning of the meeting by the kaumatua and whanau of Michelle Werekake-Apelu, one of our candidates for council in Penrose Ward. ACRN is truly fortunate to have a wide breadth of diversity amongst its candidates. We celebrate such diversity and look forward to bringing this diversity to Auckland City¹s council chambers, and to get Auckland Moving" said Mr Collinge.

Team Leaders Scott Milne (Council), Phil Warren (Regional Council) and Charles Lowndes (District Health Board) also spoke on the campaign, on teamwork and on ACRN¹s transport policy for Auckland City. The meeting was concluded to the sounds of "Moving On Up" by British Pop Band "M People".

The transport policy is released as follows, and is available from www.aucklandmoving.org.nz

- All Aucklanders recognise there is a transport crisis in Auckland. We can see that too little has been done to solve it. The revised Britomart development is a great first step. But that alone won't solve the crisis. The Auckland Citizens and Ratepayers Now team are committed to tackling the problem head on. We're different because our policy supports what Aucklanders choose to do. With your support we can make the difference. It's our number one priority for the next term on Council. We will Get Auckland Moving.

- We desperately need to complete the regional Motorway network. That means linking the North-Western Motorway with the end of the Airport Motorway at Hillsborough. It will also mean progressing the Eastern Corridor to allow motorists an alternative route into the city through the Eastern Suburbs. To do that will take extensive consultation. We're committed to taking into account the full economic, social and environmental impact of the scheme to give the best possible outcome for everyone.

- ACRN recognise that most of us use cars as our first choice for transport. Much more needs to be done to improve the safety and efficiency of the roads around the region.

- ACRN supports cost effective public transport. We realise that travel by car is not the only transport solution. People want choice in moving around the City. That means expanding bus, train, ferry and cycling initiatives. It means developing a fast, frequent, affordable and reliable network that's all linked together. Aucklanders need to have a fully integrated transport system where we can travel anywhere on one ticket. We also need safe, clean and modern terminals.

ENDS

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