Waterfront calls for people's input

Extending the heritage tramway on a state of the art light rail system from Wynyard Quarter to Britomart and beyond to St Heliers, a new island within Westhaven Marina and making the Waitemata Harbour a 'blue highway' with more ferries to coastal areas and islands are just some of the proposals put forward in the Draft Waterfront Plan launched today for public consultation.

Building on the previous plans and strategies for developing Auckland's CBD waterfront, Waterfront Auckland is taking a fresh look at how the waterfront can be transformed over the next 30 years.

The purpose of the Draft Waterfront Plan, as part of the Auckland (spatial) Plan, is to seek feedback from the public. Waterfront Auckland Board Chairman, Bob Harvey says it's in the best interest for all Aucklanders to get involved:

"International examples show that transforming waterfront areas positively impacts cities socially, culturally and environmentally, as well as economically and the more public feedback we have on this, the better."

"Some proposals we are putting forward already have wide support and can easily be delivered over the next three to five years. Other projects are perhaps more visionary, more complex and costly however they have the potential to be transformative in scale and unlock significant opportunity."

The waterfront is expected to be a major driver of Auckland's economic future. By 2040 the redevelopment of the Wynyard Quarter alone is forecast to contribute $4.29 billion to Auckland All economic projections are taken from "The economic value of the redeveloped Auckland Waterfront", November 2010 by PriceWaterhouseCoopers..

Over the next 30 years this newly redeveloped area of Auckland is expected to directly support 20,000 new fulltime jobs in Auckland and contribute indirectly to a further 20,000 jobs across the region. The cruise industry, tourism and events and construction will play a huge role in this.

Nearly 14,000 people are expected to be employed across the waterfront in a range of industries including business services, food/beverage, retail, cultural/community services, marine and fishing. Waterfront employment will also be more concentrated and therefore more productive - trebling over the next 30 years lifting labour productivity by 16%.

These economic outcomes can be realised by improving the ways people can get to and from and around the waterfront, providing improved infrastructure including new ferry terminals and cruise ship facilities, making space for events and water activities, and continuing to provide a home for businesses such as the port and the fishing industry.

Waterfront Auckland's Chief Executive, John Dalzell says: "It is critical that the Waterfront Plan is based on accurate evidence and projections, is supported by stakeholders, and is robust and sustainable commercially, environmentally and socially.

"The Draft Waterfront Plan proposes ways to retain, stimulate and grow new business and communities so that the waterfront contributes to the region as a whole well into the future and ultimately helps achieve the Mayor's vision for Auckland to become the world's most liveable city."

The Plan focuses on four main goals - a public waterfront, a working waterfront, a growing waterfront and a connected waterfront.

Waterfront Auckland's Manager, Planning and Design, Rod Marler says: "While set within a strategic context to achieve the four main goals, the Waterfront Plan will be implementation focused - an action plan.

"We have taken a design-led approach using international exemplar projects as inspiration, and have ensured that our proposals fit within a New Zealand and Auckland context. We have also taken feedback from the public into account as we progressed the design phase and now we want to know what people think."

The Waterfront Plan, to be completed in early 2012, is being developed alongside the Auckland (Spatial) Plan and the City Centre Masterplan. Integrated by shared objectives and projects, these plans will all help to realise the Mayor's vision for Auckland to be the world's most livable city.

People have an opportunity to give feedback online and in person on the draft plan from today until 25 October2011.

Further information is available at http://wwwwaterfrontauckland.co.nz

ENDS

© Scoop Media