Newmarket slams Auckland Draft Plan

Media release

Monday, 23 September 2011

Newmarket slams Auckland Draft Plan

Newmarket Business Association Chief Executive, Ashley Church, is calling upon the Auckland Council to revisit its decision to side-line Newmarket in its 30 year strategic plan - calling the action 'commercially naive and irresponsible' and describing it as 'a massive failure of leadership'.

The Draft Plan includes a high-level development strategy which spells out 'areas of priority ' over the next 30 years - splitting these into 4 categories of 'City Centre', 'Metropolitan Centres', 'Town Centres', and 'Local Centres'. Many of the towns and suburbs which will form the basis of this network are specifically named in the Plan - however Newmarket, the second largest commercial district in Auckland, is not mentioned anywhere in the document.

Mr Church says that, while he understands the need to place centres of activity in strategic locations around the new Auckland, and the pressure on Councillors to feel that they've secured their share of funding for their constituents, these concerns should not over-ride the need to make Auckland as strong and economically viable as possible.

"In its current form - it's difficult to escape the conclusion that this Plan is more about looking after Councillors with an eye on the next election - and less about identifying those areas which will drive wealth and prosperity in Auckland over the next 3 decades"

Mr Church, who was consulted on the content of the Plan prior to the draft being released, says original discussions had reached agreement around Newmarket being included within the boundary of the proposed 'international city'. He said this made perfect sense as Newmarket is a substantial existing business district neighbouring the CBD and provides the obvious channel for further commercial expansion as the city grows by more than 1 million people over the next 30 years.

"So I was absolutely stunned to see that Newmarket had been totally excluded from the draft in what must have been a deliberate and politically contrived act"

Mr Church describes the proposal to expend substantial ratepayer funds on developing fledgling commercial areas in other parts of Auckland - while deliberately neglecting Newmarket, which already represents billions of dollars of accumulated development stretching back over a century - as commercially insane.

He says private developers readily recognise the importance of Newmarket and new projects, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, are already underway or on the drawing board for the next few years. However he is concerned that there is a very real risk of these being adversely affected if the Auckland Council sends a signal that Newmarket will not be afforded the priority it deserves in infrastructural and strategic decisions.

"Newmarket is already Auckland's most robust commercial district. It is a major transport hub, being home to the only junction of all train destinations in Auckland; it is the retail destination of choice for a substantial number of Aucklanders; it is the acknowledged home of high quality goods and services in the city; and it is the standard by which other business centres are measured. Why the Auckland Council is unable to see what everyone else, including private developers, can see - is beyond me".

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