Maungakiekie-Tāmaki residents will benefit from improved bus services—including new frequent services—tree planting and new safe cycling facilities if Auckland Council’s proposed Climate Action Package is supported by councillors as part of this year’s Annual Budget.

Mayor Goff says the Climate Action Package is the biggest investment in climate action in Auckland’s history and will help reduce carbon emissions by making it easier to get around the city by public transport, on foot or by bike. It will also create greener, healthier neighbourhoods through tree planting, with a focus on areas that currently have low levels of tree canopy cover, such as Maungakiekie-Tāmaki.

“We are running out of time to respond to the threat that climate change poses—we need to act now,” Mayor Goff says.

“If we are going to meet our goal to reduce carbon emissions, we need to provide more frequent and accessible public transport, and make it easier and safer for people to walk and cycle around the city.

“The Climate Action Package I’ve proposed includes a funding boost of more than $600 million to provide new and frequent bus services across Auckland. When complete, more than a million Aucklanders will live within 500m of an improved bus route. The package will also deliver 79 new electric or hydrogen low-emissions buses, and there will be increased funding for new cycling and walking infrastructure, and urban ngāhere.”

For Maungakiekie-Tāmaki, the bus improvements in the proposed Climate Action Package include upgrading three existing routes (servicing Glen Innes to Wynyard Quarter; Glen Innes to Panmure, Sylvia Park and Onehunga; and Onehunga, Mt Roskill, Avondale and New Lynn). Service improvements will also be carried out on several other routes in the area.

Approximately 3km of safe cycling facilities will be built to connect Royal Oak and Onehunga.

Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Councillor Josephine Bartley says the transport upgrades will help Auckland reduce emissions and make it easier and faster to get around the city without having to drive.

“Transport makes up more than 40 per cent of Auckland’s carbon emissions, so providing more Aucklanders with the ability to leave their car at home and use low or zero-emission transport alternatives will help achieve our emissions reduction goals,” she says.

“The Climate Action Package also includes tree planting throughout Auckland, with a special focus on areas with lower canopy coverage, such as in Maungakiekie-Tāmaki.

“Increasing tree canopy helps to reduce temperatures and absorb carbon emissions, and will make our neighborhoods greener, cooler and more beautiful. It will also address an inequality that has existed for years, in which lower-income neighbourhoods including Maungakiekie-Tāmaki have had significantly less tree canopy than other parts of Auckland. It’s well past time that we changed this, so that all our communities can enjoy the benefits that trees provide.”

The Climate Action Package will be funded by a Climate Action Targeted Rate of around $1.12 per week for ratepayers with a median-value property (now worth more than $1 million), as well as co-funding from government and fares from increased public transport patronage.

“It’s a small weekly sum but will enable us to make a big investment in our city that will help protect our children and grandchildren’s future,” Mayor Goff says.

Consultation on Auckland Council’s Annual Budget, including the Climate Action Targeted Rate, is open from 28 February to 28 March. Visit akhaveyoursay.nz/budget to find out more and have your say.

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