Waitakere resident 30+ years, successful small business owner, experienced councillor, environmental advocate.   Chair, Regional Strategy & Planning; Director, Auckland Regional Holdings; Director, waterfront project; ARC deputy chairman 1992-95; Chairman, Environmental Advisory Group to Watercare; President, Manukau Harbour Protection Society.  Works constructively with people of all viewpoints and has achieved major win-win outcomes.  As both businessman and active environmentalist, brings clear, practical understanding of different perspectives.

Policies:   Fair and affordable rates.  Build a thriving, prosperous Auckland which gives real value for ratepayers’ dollars, treasures its superb environment, has minimum red tape, is safe and in tune with its communities.  Local Boards - a key part of the team - must get what they need to do the job properly.   Waitakere must have its fair share of resources and the opportunity to flourish. Reduce commuting times, get goods moving freely. No sale of strategic assets such as the Port or water/wastewater operations.

Top 5 Issues

1. Build an Auckland in which people lead decent lives within a thriving and prosperous region which values its great natural assets, diverse communities and builds on its unique past and heritage. Opportunities for all, local jobs, transport where you need it, when you need it.
   
   The remaining issues of my top 5 are the main things we have to do to achieve this.
   
2. Keep the “local” in local government
   This is the key issue this election, as if we fail to do this the new council will be doomed to being dysfunctional and all the other issues will not get addressed properly.
   The most important way to achieve this lies in the treatment of the local boards.
   
   •Local Boards must an integral part of the new council. They must be full members of the team, the same team as the council, rather than being treated as a second rate B team with a play-way agenda to give it something to do.
   
   •Local boards will have a different role, of course – just as forwards have a different job from backs on the sports field. But they must be trusted and allowed to get on with sorting what’s best for their local area.
   
   •To do this, Local Boards must be delegated to decide all things local, with the council retaining decision making only for those matters which transcend Local Board areas.
   AND they must be given the resources they need to get on with the job.
   
   •Where issues are of a wider regional nature, the local boards should be the ears and eyes of their community and have the job of recommending to the council what is needed for their areas' perspectives to be met.
   
3. Rates must be realistic, fair and value for money.
   This will present a particular challenge in the new council, with the Government's huge dowry of transition costs to find and the leaky homes time bomb it inherits. More than ever the council will have to keep in the real world of people's ability to afford rates.
   When my children were small, they wanted a Ferrari. Eventually they realised we had to live within our means. Councils are no different! It is a matter of spending money wisely and to best effect: not wasteful gold plating but also not mindless slash and burn to hack at costs without bothering about value for money.
   I do not favour volume based wastewater charging.
   
4. A comprehensive - rather than simple, quick-fix - approach to Auckland’s development.
   
   One of the key things the new Council has been charged with is to develop a “Spatial Plan”. This is supposed to pull together and coordinate all aspects of Auckland’s development, but is at risk of becoming a one-dimensional quick-fix which will fail Auckland in the longer term.
   
   Some of the important items which a comprehensive approach needs to include are:
   
   1. Ensure there is capacity in Auckland for both business and residential needs.
   
   2. Keep growth and infrastructure coordinated in order to:
   a) ensure we have good infrastructure to serve both residential and business needs.
   b) avoid the environmental impacts of inadequate infrastructure and ensure that the water of our harbours and beaches is clean.
   c) minimise costs of infrastructure
   
   3. Keep a balance between new residential areas and local employment opportunities so people have the option of avoiding long commutes. This saves time at the individual level, and at the Auckland-wide level it reduces the load on our transport networks.
   
   4. Ensure that as Auckland grows, it retains its sense of identity and place and doesn’t become a soul-less carbon copy of a metropolis that could be just anywhere. Key elements of this are:
   a) Value and preserve its great natural gems.
   Auckland has a unique setting, from its wild west coast to the Hauraki Gulf and its islands, built around its harbours, beaches and volcanic cones and flanked by the magnificent Waitakere Ranges, while to both north and south there is a valued and productive rural hinterland.
   b) Honour and value its unique past and heritage as Auckland builds itself a great future. Our historical links - places, buildings, maritime and transport heritage – are important aspects of who we are now.
   c) The extensive green open spaces and parkland, particularly the extensive regional parks network which will be a lasting legacy of the Auckland Regional Authority and Auckland Regional Council
   
   5. Keep urban sprawl under control. Urban sprawl has a number of major costs, including:
   a) It costs considerably more to service with infrastructure – which in turn will add major amounts to rates.
   b) It consumes vast amounts of otherwise productive rural land and/or important natural areas.
   c) It results in much greater travel time and costs, especially for those living near the edges.
   d) Its environmental costs are generally much greater.
   
   6. Ensure we respect the natural environment in general, and in particular maintain our region's natural biodiversity.
   Without it, not only will the various species suffer, we will too – from flow-on effects to parts of ecosystems we depend on to threats to our clean, green image.
   
   The way forward:
   Among the various outgoing councils are already the basic building blocks for developing a spatial plan which can set Auckland on course for the future, so there is no need to take a zero-based approach. To do so would be an extremely costly bit of dogma -costly directly in terms of ratepayers dollars being wasted repeating work already done, and indirectly in the delays it would cause to getting Auckland properly on track.
   
5. Auckland has a key role to play in the New Zealand economy, so its economic wellbeing is vital.
   
   Many aspects of council responsibility have a significant influence on how well Auckland performs economically, and the related synergy with the national economy.
   
   These include:
   
   1. Infrastructure
   Auckland’s infrastructural needs deservedly have a high profile. While transport rightly is the most pressing at present, other aspects of our infrastructure also need upgrading if we are to keep pace with the region’s economic potential and retain the environment Aucklanders enjoy. Some of this infrastructure is owned by the council or government, others such as the electricity network and telecommunications are privately owned. To optimise our potential we need a thorough strategic and coordinated approach to infrastructure provision, not an ad-hoc one in which individual providers consider only their own perspectives.
   
   One of the most critical aspects of infrastructure for business is the need to move freight efficiently – whether courier parcels or containers. For years transport strategies focused on just moving people to and from work but didn’t think about how to move what people produced at work. At last moving freight has a toehold on the transport planners' radar – but there is much work still needed to get freight moving efficiently in the future. To achieve this, freight needs as much attention as that very important question of how to get people to work.
   
   2. The port.
   New Zealand is an island trading nation. Auckland is a maritime city, built on its port, which as the country’s largest container port is vital to both Auckland’s and the country’s economy. Auckland’s port is of such a vital & strategic nature that it must remain here, and in public ownership.
   
   Occasionally there are calls for the port to be hustled out of town, with some suggesting it move to Tauranga. People making these calls overlook that:
   a) The presence of the port gives us an enormous competitive edge
   b) In the medium to longer term, studies have showed clearly that New Zealand will need the capacity of north Auckland and Tauranga ports.
   c) The main market for imports through the port is right here in Auckland, they are what keeps our commerce going. In the short term, moving Auckland’s port activities to Tauranga would increase both costs to business and increase our carbon footprint due to goods having to be transported back to Auckland.
   
   3. Ensuring there is enough land for business activities, and in the right places.
   o The original Growth Strategy of 1999 focused on where people would live – but not where they would work. As a result Auckland is facing a shortage of business land if we do not act promptly.
   
   o Good freight connections are vital. To function at all, business needs to move a wide variety of freight around the region, from small couriered items to large shipping containers.
   
   A number of older business areas (including some in the West) have become relatively isolated from the major freight networks, with the result that they are time consuming for the freight industry to service. Better locations avoid this additional cost and loss of productivity.
   
   o Proximity to workforce: There will always be some who need (or want) to travel long distances to work. However, given the opportunity, an increasing number of people work close to where they live. This gives big savings in time and travel costs, and reduces the loads on our transport networks. As Auckland grows we need to keep a balance between new residential areas and local employment opportunities if we are to have these benefits.
   
   4. Compliance costs
   Red tape and the associated costs can be major obstacles to the establishment of a business, or the success/viability of existing ones. Councils have important responsibilities as regulators of many aspects of our wider environment, but in doing this job they need to ensure that
   a) unnecessary and ineffective rules and regulations are avoided
   b) Any rules will make a difference – a real rather than theoretical benefit
   c) Rules are as simple as possible to understand – unnecessarily complex rules and regulations mean additional costs to get professional help to understand them.
   d) consents should not be default settings
   e) consents are processed on time and costs kept to a minimum
   
   
   5. Encouraging industry with a multiplier effect – local, national, export
   Economic matters are vital but cannot be viewed in isolation and must be considered in the broader context of Auckland and the whole country. While servicing Aucklanders’ own domestic needs is important, our regional economy has real potential to develop a stronger export base. This would strengthen the position and resilience of both Auckland and New Zealand.
   The Auckland Council should work with the Government and industry groups to develop a long term strategic approach to engage Auckland’s economic activity in this way with the rest of the country and the wider world.
   
   6. Take a wholistic approach to Auckland’s development.
   All too often someone comes up with a cunning, glamorous plan which has a lot of surface appeal, but which can carry many hidden fish hooks.
   
   
   The tank farm – a case study
   
   Early proposals to redevelop the tank farm were very narrow in their outlook. They saw the area as a bit of glamorous waterfront land which could be filled with apartments that produced quick bucks. Existing activities were to be hustled off ASAP as their leases expired to make way for this bigger and better use of the land, and where they went was no concern of the land owners/developers.
   
   However, from a regional economic perspective the situation was quite different. The industries currently using the tank farm area – fishing, marine servicing, and bulk liquid terminals - provide a mix of key infrastructure and services for Auckland and between them account directly and indirectly for several thousand of jobs and well over a billion dollars of Auckland’s economic activity. These industries need a connection to the sea in order to function at all. To completely displace these activities, with nowhere for them to go to, risked a considerable amount.
   
   A considerable amount of effort has gone in to identifying how to move forward on redeveloping the tank farm without losing the benefits these industries provide to the region’s economy. In summary this is:
   • The fishing industry will continue to be based in the area, and has the opportunity to showcase its products.
   • The marine servicing industry, a growing export earner thanks to an enviable reputation in quality refitting of superyachts, will also remain – reconfigured to make the most efficient use of the land it has and to strengthen the synergy of its cluster. This will result in increased international competitiveness of the industry.
   Apart from securing their wider economic benefits, retaining both of these industries in the area will add depth and authenticity to the urban renewal around them.
   • The bulk liquids terminal, which supplies all manner of products used in manufacturing a wide range of items, will eventually exit the area. However, rather than tossing it out on its ear, the ARC (and soon the new Auckland Council) is working with the industry to find a new location for it and to ensure a seamless transition so the supply lines to the region’s industries can continue relatively uninterrupted.
   
   It is important to note that while these industries are located in the CBD, their employment benefits are scattered throughout the region. For example:
   • The marine servicing industry provides a base for the West’s superyacht manufacturers to fit their masts and carry out commissioning work as once the mast is fitted these vessels cannot get past the harbour bridge.
   • Manufacturers which use the resins and other chemicals imported via the bulk liquids terminals are in locations ranging from east Tamaki to Henderson.
   
   At a recent function to mark agreement on this way forward, I was publicly acknowledged as having played a major role in the change of approach which recognised and secured the regional benefit of these industries.
   

Personal Profile

What others say about me:

Mike Lee, Chair Auckland Regional Council:

 “Sandra and Paul have been stars of the ARC in recent years. They form a remarkably strong, compatible and balanced team. Sandra and Paul have been extremely effective advocates for the West and its communities. They also have a big picture regional vision.”

Kerry Stotter, Chairman, Sea + City Projects Ltd – the present Regional Council’s CCO which is redeveloping the ‘Tank Farm:

“Paul adds real value in his role as a colleague director on this board.   A very effective strategist, Paul ‘keeps his feet firmly on the ground’, focuses on the actual real issues, and always has at least a plan B.   He has made a major contribution to keeping the Council and its CCO on the same page.”

 

 My Background

I have lived at Laingholm with my wife Bronwyn for 35 years, and in that time we built our own house, had 4 sons and established a successful motor trade business which supplies new parts for classic British sports cars.

My election to the Auckland Regional Council had its roots in my work with the Manukau Harbour Protection Society.  Having grown up in Waikowhai, Mt Roskill, and now being at Laingholm, I have always lived near this harbour which was at the centre of much of my recreation – local beaches, Manukau Yacht Club, fishing etc.   During the 1980’s the ill health of the harbour became widely known and the Protection Society was at the centre of community efforts to improve its lot.  

One of the principal problems was the discharge of semi-treated sewage from the Mangere treatment plant.  Initial proposals were to relocate the discharge to deeper water, initially in the harbour as a first stage, but later off the west coast.   The cost of doing so was huge, and it seemed to me that the money would be better spent treating it properly – particularly as it appeared that this course would also be cheaper than the massive pipeline.

However, the ARC, which at that time had just morphed out of the old Auckland Regional Authority, was unmoved and confirmed its pipeline proposal.  As fate would have it, shortly afterwards in 1991 a by-election opportunity arose in my own area.  I stood for election on the basis of my proposals for the sewage solution – a hot topic at the time – and found myself elected to the Council.

Within 4 months of being elected I had successfully overturned the pipeline decision in favour of a direction towards the eventual solution we have today.  The result was a discharge which meets extremely high standards before even entering the harbour – at a saving of some $250m to the region’s ratepayers.    Since the commissioning of the new plant, there has been a substantial improvement in the health of the harbour as nutrient levels etc reduced, and the public health risk from the old discharge has gone.

The Manukau Harbour work sharpened my appreciation of wider sustainability questions, and underlined the need for us not to be the greedy generation which compromised all the resource options, leaving little for future generations, when we had the chance to do something about it.  This has been the principal driver for my work on the council ever since.

One of the skills I have found that I have is to translate the sustainability objective into achievable and affordable options.  Partly this is because I firmly believe that solutions can’t be imposed – they have to be “bottom-up” with widespread understanding of the why and what in order for them to work - and partly because I have retained an active involvement in my business.   Daily contact with customers and suppliers exposes me to a completely different set of people, one which keeps me well in touch with the practicalities (both “do-ability” and affordability) of the real world and what people there think.  Council scenes can get a bit remote from this perspective so the long hours involved in doing so have been really invaluable to my council work (as well as to my customers!)

During my time on the ARC I have developed a reputation for taking a comprehensive, strategic approach to issues, for identifying achievable means of making real progress, for focusing on the issue at hand rather than indulging in personalities, and for being an effective advocate for the West.   I believe these attributes are what the new council will need.