Memo Royal Commission Into Auckland
By Paul Smith
Forget the Pakeha name for the place. Maori for Auckland is Tamaki Makarau - the land having a thousand lovers. So your
key priority is to find out why those of us who live here and loved her as she was, are now so disenchanted.
Take a look at Auckland City's contours and you'll soon see why we first fell in love. Auckland's amphitheatre slopes
gracefully from the heights of Ponsonby, Parnell and Karangahape Road to the Waitemata. And the city's architecture once
bowed deferentially towards the sea with at least some respect for shared views. Not now. Grace - aesthetics if you like
- has only ever been allowed to flourish briefly in Auckland. It's a boom and bust town - but never has it
simultaneously boomed and busted.
For that, we can thank the generation of suited vandals who arrived in the '80s. They soon put paid to any notions of
civic pride and associated nonsense like historic buildings and public spaces. What's more they had precedent on their
side. Their forefathers had uprooted elegant trees and tramlines in favour of polluting buses, reclaimed half the
harbour and then, were it not for Mayor Sir Dove Myer Robinson, would have pumped raw sewage into Waitemata's sparkling
water.
In the mid-80s Auckland was, apparently, a frump looking for a makeover. She got it - at one stage, 24 cranes hovered
over her. Skyscrapers soared, none of them sympathetic to man-made or natural aesthetics; the Waterfront we once
strolled on was all but privatised and out of bounds. As compensation we got the Viaduct in time to coincide with the
America's Cup. Lucky us.
There are oases to be found in the city but much of its cityscape was, and continues to be, blighted by alien apartment
buildings, many blocking light and the views of neighbours alongside - but all approved by the City Council. In Auckland
you see, we don't just like Big, we like Ugly - and when they come together - cheaply - it's a developer's dream. Which
pretty much sums up Auckland City really.
All this is a long way from your brief which I suspect has been dusted off from the last local government amalgamations
nearly 20 years ago: But here's Local Government Minister Mark Burton droning on as if all this was new:
"The issues about Auckland's future governance are complex and the Royal Commission will provide for careful and
thorough investigation and consultation to identify the most appropriate long-term governance arrangements… to secure
its future as an internationally competitive city and region."
When I read that my heart doesn't just sink, it shrivels. It's about as relevant to Auckland as… well… debating an
issue. It's yet another view of complex social issues being examined through the now familiar economic prism. It's not
about giving back Aucklanders control of their city; it's not about creating a vibrant city, civic pride or any of those
more enduring touchstones. It's basically a squiz at, and a re-alignment of, power.
Has Burton ever asked Aucklanders other than the local Chamber of Commerce if they want the city to be internationally
competitive, as opposed to owning and controlling their own playground? Thought not. So, dear Commissioners, be radical
- put the public and its voice first - and help us remain lovers of Tamaki Makarau.
*************
Paul Smith is a journalist, author and founder of the babyboomer website kiwiboomers.co.nz.