No issues on file for Mark Brickell.

No issues on file for Peter Chan.

1. Local democracy - Keeping the local voice alive in a new large regional organisation. I will work with the two Local Boards to make sure we work as a team to get the best for Waitakere. The Local Boards are the eyes and ears of the community, and are the conduit for raising issues with Auckland Council. I will also work with local communities as I have for the past 9 years to make sure local communities define their futures.
   
   With my 9 years on the Auckland Regional Council, I also know how to work at the regional level, and I can bring that advantage to a role in the Auckland Council.
2. Making sure the public interest is foremost on Auckland Council. With a whole raft of govt-appointed CCOs with boards, it will be important they work within not against policies set by elected members. They will have to be monitored closely to see they don't start setting up their own empires and costly bureaucracies. I will also completely support public ownership of public assets such as parks, water, wastewater, art galleries and so on. While I was on the ARC we brought the Port company into 100% public ownership and I will continue to support that.
3. Looking after the environment. With the pace of development and poor practices in the past, Auckland has a big job to claw back the damage done in the past. We have to look after our waterways, harbours, lakes and beaches; we need clean air, and to reduce pollution.
   We have huge pest issues, from hard-to-control feral pigs in the Waitakeres, possum numbers creeping up, pest fish in some of our formerly pristine lakes, and rampant plant pest growth which threatens our native forests and wetlands. We need to tackle these collectively as agencies and communities to ensure we pass onto a grandchildren a healthy region.
4. Economic prosperity. Waitakere needs to provide more local jobs and the ARC has recently provided for that with Westgate and Hobsonville extensions of the MUL. The new Auckland Council will need to lead the way but it is important Waitakere benefits from regional projects, initiatives and events.
5. More parks! This has been one of my main missions on ARC. We need to buy for the future and to protect our fabulous coast. There is more pressure from growing sports and we need to encourage people into the outdoors and a healthy lifestyle. Parks are a real asset and our regional parks are one of the ways we make Auckland unique.
   
   If you want to know more about this go to www.piha.co.nz/bestwest

1. New Zealand lacks adequate governmental checks and balances. Some other common law nations have upper houses allowing legislation to go through a review stage allowing more time for discussion. Others, notably Switzerland, use binding public referenda on important or contentious issues. I support the public having access to binding referenda as an important part of the process of representative government. It should operate at local, regional and national level.
   I believe all politicians/councillors should be under similar strict laws as company directors, and able to be held to account at all times by voters.
2. The modern money and credit system is a marvelous invention. But some outdated notions from the pre-industrial era unfortunately remain. Only about 3% of money now exists as notes and coins, the rest is mainly bank credit existing on computer memories. The methods of modern money creation and its accounting need to be modified so that societies are not left with an ever-expanding financial debt long after the goods produced with that money have been consumed.
3. First home buyers used to get 3% housing loans. Government should re-implement this, or something similar. For those who desire it home ownership improves personal, family and community contentment. New Zealand is wealthy in natural resources and simple financial changes would easily facilitate this. It should be a priority of the new Auckland Council to advocate this
4. I support continued improvements to public transport, including future rail to the airport so long as there is public approval for such projects. In times past the Government provided Reserve Bank credit for various public works and for financing some local infrastructures, usually as loans at 1% interest. This reduced rate burdens and minimized local government indebtedness. This or a similar facility should be re-established.
5. I think NZ should consider adopting a 4-day working week which would enhance family and community life. Modern technology makes this feasible. Simple modifications to financial policy easily makes this possible.

No issues on file for Marie Hasler.

1. Keeping the spirit of the west alive:
   I am strongly committed to a sustainable, vibrant, safe and financially secure community. In the West we work together. The region should be built on this spirit.
2. Leadership:
   The new Council will need strong leadership. I will help bring the Council together to create a coordinated, vibrant and cohesive region.
3. Growing business:
   Local businesses need to be supported and infrastcutre provided to grow local opportunities. The West must have a fair share of regional investment.
4. Managing costs:
   Costs can be reduced by ensuring a more sustainable approach to infrastructure, reducing energy and water use, and retaining water in community ownership.
5. Public transport:
   This is the key to a successful region. Double tracking and electrification of rail is vital, alongside safe cycling and walking initiatives.

1. TRANSPORT
   More efficeint cost effective tranport with better transport links and shorter travelling times.
   
2. ROADING
   A plan to complete the roading network and a definitive decision about about the harbour crossing.
   
3. GST ON RATES
   GST on rates is a tax on a tax. Government must be lobbied to have this removed.
   
4. ASSET SALES
   Assets should remain in the hands of all Aucklanders.
   
5. GRAFFITI
   Graffiti must be removed within 24 hours and the law changed to brings cuplrits to justice quickly.
   

No issues on file for Sailauama Cheryl Talamaivao.

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.