Auckland City Council - City Scene

A message from her Worship the Mayor, Chris Fletcher:

I would like to say a big thank you to Aucklanders for your good humour, cooperation and patience during APEC.

There were significant disruptions to the life of our city. None of us will miss the helicopters hovering over our homes and the CBD, or the endless motorcades.

World leaders like President Clinton have complicated and special security arrangements, which involved months of detailed planning causing some inevitable and frustrating inconveniences for everyone, including me.

But through the disruptions Auckland has demonstrated an outstanding response, and shown the world that we can hold large forums and be friendly hosts.

All of the preparation work ensured the event ran smoothly. Everything was superb from the arrival of the leaders at the airport, to the easy travel around the city, the presentation of the meeting venues and hotels, and warm hospitality.

The city looked beautiful and it would be wonderful if we could maintain such a high standard.

I also respect that there are a range of different views on APEC, and thank those who voiced those views in a peaceful way.

To commemorate the event, especially acknowledging the East Timor situation, and reopening of the Domain, there will be a planting of native trees there within the next few weeks.

Auckland has demonstrated that we can achieve great things in a small country and we can take great pride in our wonderful city.

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