Lack of planning co-ordination under fire
April 23rd, 2009
High profile Auckland regional councillor, Joel Cayford, has hit out at an alleged mismatch between transport and land-use planning for Auckland saying it is an energy-draining drag on the nation’s economy. “It’s like driving the economy with the choke out all the time – like leaving the lights on during the daytime. I don’t know what more we need to do to persuade the powers-that-be of the need to link land-use planning with transport planning.”
Dr Cayford, who is also a board member of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, is critical of proposed changes to a Govt policy statement on transport including a diversion of $420m to State Highway construction from other categories of the national land transport fund, such as public transport, walking and cycling. He notes NZ uses up 45% of its primary energy resources for transporting people and goods, a proportion “way more than any other Western economy. It’s not productive – we don’t export transport.”
Auckland has a particularly bad record of allowing growth of industries and jobs away from main routes. Cayford cites research by an Australian academic which estimates 14% of Auckland’s gross domestic product is spent on transport, against 5% for most modern European and Asian cities. He believes this needs to be emphasised to the Govt, given its stated priority of investing in transport infrastructure for economic growth.
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