Britomart negotiations continue

Auckland City is continuing negotiations with the Bluewater Consortium over plans for the development of the Britomart area.

“Yesterday was the deadline for negotiations with Bluewater and we’re aware this has now passed,” said Councillor Douglas Armstrong, chair of the council’s Britomart Working Party. “These have been complex negotiations because the council needs to fully protect its objectives for this important area.

“We are hopeful that all outstanding issues can be completed by the end of next week. Auckland City and Bluewater have agreed that no further public comment will be made until negotiations are concluded.”

The Britomart aboveground development, located alongside the Britomart transport centre in downtown Auckland, will be the largest heritage protection project ever undertaken in New Zealand. It covers a 5.2 hectare site between Quay and Customs streets, Britomart Place and Queen Elizabeth Square.

The next full council meeting is scheduled for Thursday 22 April.

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>