Post Christchurch Insurance Costs Are Short Sighted

Brian Rudman is correct and the Auckland City Council in their submission to the Ministry of Business and Employment about the impost being placed on building owners is working in the best interests of our neighbourhoods and economy. He is right to point out that volcanoes are the major natural risk to Auckland - not earthquakes.  However, this is not enough.

A national policy needs to be formulated and the recommendation by the Royal Commission into The Christchurch Earthquake should be put on hold to this policy is discussed. Heritage buildings throughout New Zealand return to their communities where they are situated and also return real money to New Zealand through tourism.

Auckland wins all the way to the bank because of the heritage stock of our older neighbourhoods and what buildings remain in the city. To replace theses gems is not in our economic interest. Throughout the country people are reacting to the insurance imposts and costs that are being lumped on them to protect these buildings.

Some examples of buildings we can lose and their economic return include the Art Deco buildings of Napier. If they can’t afford to maintain them, Napier will lose $20,000,000 annually through tourism income. Whanganui is another provincial city whose heritage buildings are under threat. These buildings return much to that community through tourist spending.

Music in Parks Programme 2013

This year programme of events was unquestionably well-intentioned, but has not worked as intended. 

To provide events throughout the new Auckland city is challenging.  For decades every Sunday the Domain has attracted hundreds sometimes thousands of people who bring their picnics, their extended family and friends and listen to the music.

This summer there have only been two events in the domain. We have been to other venues that attracted far fewer people. To pull events from the domain is a very short sighted decision.

The Wynyard Quarter served the same purpose for Films in the Park. They were developing a real following and if the silos were home base the programme would only grow. The films had been moved from there too. 

Thankfully we have them back after good work by Waitemata local board member  Rob Thomas  and board chair,  Shale Chambers. All power and praise to these fine local  representatives .May they be as successful in getting Music In Parks back on track too. 

Fittingly with the Ponsonby Pride Festival, having Priscilla Queen Of The Desert on February 15  is a wonderful choice which thousands will enjoy.

This is not to say that the outer suburbs should not have events.  Of course they should but not at the expense of the central city.

City events were so popular because they are world class. Sprinkling them throughout the city has made it harder for people to get to them so attendances have dropped drastically.

They represented the best of and the aspirations of Auckland. Both venues are well served by public transport and are safe and stunningly attractive.

In Praise of Street People

Ponsonby News - Robert Van Der Linden

Your story of Robert Van Der Linden in your December, 2012 issue was wonderful, generous and no less than he deserved

Robert was polite, gentlemanly and he had a great a pair of eyes

If Sally was out with Hemi and he saw me he would tell me that she just gone into Franklin Rd or another street.
From time to I would give him some cash but  more often I would not.

Ponsonby has had a long history of being New Zealand most tolerant neighbourhood.

Mike Riddell's book and movie The Insatiable Moon which was set in Herne Bay in the 1990s about a developer buying a half way house accurately identified the tension, the prejudice, ignorance and the humanity that surround people like Robert.

I think of long term Ponsonby resident and our greatest Prime Minster Michael Joseph Savage when speaking about mental health summed it for all when he said “I refuse to believe that all mental patients are the same and all we have to do is to keep them away from society. I do not think anyone has a better claim on the humanitarian than the individual who is mentally afflicted."

Ponsonby News' previous obituary of Margaret, another street person, and your acknowledgment of Robert is an important contribution to our community about the issues on mental health and we congratulate you for helping to keep ignorance away and tolerance alive.

Auckland City Misson Christmas Spirit

The Auckland City Mission Christmas visitors as reported in the Weekend Herald, Saturday 5 January, 2013

The Xing Yu [Lucky Jade] Tour company activities are not illegal however, their mean-spirited appearance at the City Mission’s Christmas dinner caused shame and offence to the Chinese community at large. The Chinese people in New Zealand are not ungenerous as has been reported by the Herald. They made a donation to the Auckland City Mission because of Lucky Jade’s usury. This generosity has a positive side too. It also reinforces the inherent generosity of New Zealanders like those who support the City Mission appeals.   They did not have to do this and we must know ourselves that many other kiwi communities would respond in this generous way. This says much about the Chinese community and their commitment to this country which sadly, for much of the 19th and 20th century discriminated against them in the most appalling ways. Because of their actions Lucky Jade is considered immoral and potentially damaging to our tourism industry if allowed to continue unchecked. Are Lucky Jade or other touts like them still offering these tours? Of course they are. Touts are symbolic of Third World economics. It would appear at first glance that Ming Xi and his party had real value for money. $88 for a day trip is ridiculously cheap. This is the epiphany of a deregulated society. The Lucky Jade Tour Company profits by this model. They use public spirited organisations like the Auckland City Mission and religious groups to provide free sustenance and entertainment. They also exploit local rate payers, in this case those of Auckland and Rotorua.   Mt Eden and Murawai beach are constantly patronised by unlicensed operators. Their activity undermines Auckland Natural Estate the actions of people who care for these natural assets and also threaten public access to them. Whereas licenced operators are controlled and play by the rules. What other first world country would allow this freedom? Certainly not the Peoples Republic of China. How do tourists know the skill levels of unlicensed operators, or whether they have relevant qualifications or licences or even how safe their vehicles and the other services they provide are? Their business model will not assist the tourism industry or help grow a sustainable economy. Lucky Jade and other operators like them impact on our national reputation and unfairly compete with other companies who are responsible operators. Responsible companies pay their way, pay GST, ACC, and abide by New Zealand laws. Good employers mentor employees, offer training and career paths and pay a living wage.  The tourism industry spends substantial funds collectively to market New Zealand as a wonderful destination. We celebrate our heritage, natural attractions and the cultures that make Auckland a most liveable city in world rankings. We also make community contributions to enhance the public estates and to make the tourism industry sustainable.  This is increasingly an important contribution especially when central government has lost interest. Well healed and educated visitors, the interactive visitor, expect no less. Businesses like Lucky Jade have no perception of what the tourist should actually experience.  If we all followed their model the real contribution that tourism makes to New Zealand Inc. would quickly disappear.  If there had been an accident with Mr Xi and his tour group, they would not have had such a pleasant experience. Indeed an accident may have had expensive ramifications for the tax payer.  The New Zealand Tourism Industry in the main, is a world class operation and internationally is regarded as such. Economically it is as important as the dairy industry and is our largest employer. Chris Roberts of Tourism New Zealand and Justin Hill of ATEED rightly say that visitors should book their activities and accommodation though accredited parties. Qualmark ensures that visitors will enjoy a safe experience that is value for money. Unfortunately the tourism industry is toothless. There is little legislation that enforces standards. Has the Lucky Jade Company ever been inspected? The Prime Minister is the Minister of Tourism and yet light regulation ensures that cowboy operations will survive. We have had loss of life in adventure sports, transport and aviation- including hot air ballooning. Monday 8 January 200 people attended a memorial service in Carteton. This was the first anniversary of the Carteton hot air ballooning accident. On that warm Wairarapa day which that town will never forget eleven families lost relatives who are now statistics and further testimony to the safety standards we accept in New Zealand. We await the report of an enquiry into this incident. This will provide another opportunity to lift standards to hopefully prevent another incident?  The costs of regimes for activities and accommodation should not be borne by ratepayers or tax payers. A very cost effective model is for all operators to be certified by Qualmark, which responsible tourism operators throughout New Zealand are. There may be better ways but in the absence of alternatives all operators should have a Qualmark licence. This will provide confidence for the all important overseas visitor. Internationally it will help branding for New Zealand within this most important industry.   The lessons of Pyke River and the TV building in Christchurch should be a clarion call that cheap and cheerful models are not in our national interest. Tourism is too important an industry to New Zealand to tolerate standards that Lucky Jade and their ilk provide.  Local bodies also need to lift their game. In the accommodation sector some have fire compliance, some do not. We all will be better served if local and central government worked together with industry to develop a plan to eliminate these cowboys before they deliver a Pyke River tragedy to our tourism industry.     --

T

Petrol Tax Increase

This letter was published in The New Zealand Herald on Friday, 21 December,  2012.

The increase in petrol tax and cancelling the reduction in Accident Compensation levies is an attack on small business and rural tourism.

Sir Owen Woodhouse, the father of the ACC scheme, is on record as saying that self employed and small businesses are paying 30% more in ACC levies than they need to. As employers and self employed we have seen our rates rise significantly over recent years and we were looking forward to some relief. The impact of high dollar is real.  In the Tourism and manufacturing sectors people feel this reduction is long overdue. To cancel it is short sighted.  

The increase in petrol tax will impact further. Even Audi drivers think twice about a visit to the Matakana wine country. We hear regularly anecdotal stories of people reducing activities and about the flow-on effect that this is having on the economy.Things can only get worse with the fuel tax increase.  

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Solution to Heritage in Auckland

This week in Auckland a presentation from a Brisbane Architect  Peter Marquis - Kyle.

Regrettably the New Zealand  Herald in an editorial today chose  not support his proposals .

These proposals have been policy in Brisbane since 1992  and have served Brisbane well . I am confident if they were adopted in Auckland they would    also serve  Auckland well .

 Your editorial proposing that the Auckland Council not accept the Character Coalition’s well researched plan is surprising especially as Devonport has something similar. Brisbane’s conservation architect Peter Marquis–Kyle’s evidence is compelling.

In 1992 Brisbane doomsayers also claimed that such a policy would restrict growth and harm the Brisbane economy. The opposite happened by protecting housing stock it enhanced the community.

Hospitals, railway stations and other amenities are complemented by these neighbourhoods. They help provide a liveable city.

Marquis-Kyle’s presentation showed that this proposal had not stopped development. Indeed Brisbane is growing faster than Auckland.

By protecting housing stock and the heritage neighbourhoods it has made Brisbane a better place. Business thrives.

Heritage is not anti development. It is about the place we live. It is more than the story of an individual dwelling and that is not to say an individual house cannot be important, it is the neighbourhoods, the streets themselves which make a district or a city. The Brisbane Plan has achieved that. A similar plan can only make Auckland a better place