Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Port Plans Will Cut Views

This map shows part of the inner Waitemata Harbour. Devonport is to the North - and you can make out the Mt Victoria and North Head volcanic cones. You can also make out Queens Wharf and Princes Wharf - and more particularly the Port. The Waterfront Development Agency, with the support of Auckland Council, recommends that the Port be almost doubled in size...

The Auckland Council Master Plan, and the Auckland Waterfront Development Agency plans show a huge expansion of the Port through reclamation. If you don't support such huge expansion - then you need to put in a submission about this - if nothing else.

Does it matter? Yes it does....

This picture is from the end of Queens Wharf looking out to the Harbour entrance. You can see Mt Victoria and North Head to the left. A signature view from Auckland's public waterfront.

The arrow indicates the view line from the end of Queens Wharf. Other view corridors in Auckland have protection in the Regional Policy Statement. Why is this view not protected? Because - for expedient reasons - neither Council nor Central Government (which own Queens Wharf) have sought a Plan Change for the new activities that now happen on Queens Wharf. So this great view is not protected in the public interest.

This image shows how that view will change after the reclamation. In fact it is likely to be even worse because Ports want to stack containers very high on their newly reclaimed land to cope with an almost doubling of container volumes. These volumes will cause serious congestion on surrounding streets also. Isn't about time there was some collaboration with Ports of Tauranga?

But it could get worse than containers. We had three cruise ships in for the semi-finals on Friday. Quite festive and fun if it only happens when there's a big event, and downtown parking and accommodation is at a premium...

The closer you get, the bigger they become...

You can see how the Pacific Dawn totally dominates Queens Wharf, and blocks the morning sunshine and public views. Shed 10 is almost lost alongside the ship - which isn't even the biggest ship to visit Auckland.

This is the Queen Mary II. (This is another of my computer models - all to scale). In fact Queen Mary II has never berthed alongside Queens Wharf because the ship is too long. That's why there are proposals to put a "dolphin" - a support structure off the end of Queens Wharf - to moor the ship. Docked there it will block views from Queens Wharf totally - without any help from Ports reclamation.

If you want to protect Queens Wharf so it can be used as Queens Park (not a cruise ship park), then you need to put in a submission about that too.

2 comments:

Dick Bellamy said...

It is becomming increasingly clear that many of the port activities are just not compatible with preserving other public good values on the waterfront. The bulk of Sydney commercial activity is around the corner in Botany Bay. Elsewhere in the world the same trend has occurred over the past 25 years or so as container traffic has increased. New York is another example.
It has long been evident that Auckland Port activities need to be rationalised with those of Tauranga, particularly since a vaste ammount of the container traffic is destined for Sth Auckland and can get there via the Kaimai tunnel and the rail link.
If we dont undertake this rationalisation, we soon will be unble to see the harbour through a continuous wall of containers!
There are obvious commercial benefits that would flow from such a rationalisation and provided the Commerce Commission could be persuaded to a sensible view, a merger is the obvious answer.

Phil Chase said...

Hi Joel.
Thanks for the great information on your site. I found it invaluable for developing my submission on the Auckland Plan.
keep up the good work.
cheers
Phil Chase
PS: Wonderful photos of Sapporo...and what a park!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Port Plans Will Cut Views

This map shows part of the inner Waitemata Harbour. Devonport is to the North - and you can make out the Mt Victoria and North Head volcanic cones. You can also make out Queens Wharf and Princes Wharf - and more particularly the Port. The Waterfront Development Agency, with the support of Auckland Council, recommends that the Port be almost doubled in size...

The Auckland Council Master Plan, and the Auckland Waterfront Development Agency plans show a huge expansion of the Port through reclamation. If you don't support such huge expansion - then you need to put in a submission about this - if nothing else.

Does it matter? Yes it does....

This picture is from the end of Queens Wharf looking out to the Harbour entrance. You can see Mt Victoria and North Head to the left. A signature view from Auckland's public waterfront.

The arrow indicates the view line from the end of Queens Wharf. Other view corridors in Auckland have protection in the Regional Policy Statement. Why is this view not protected? Because - for expedient reasons - neither Council nor Central Government (which own Queens Wharf) have sought a Plan Change for the new activities that now happen on Queens Wharf. So this great view is not protected in the public interest.

This image shows how that view will change after the reclamation. In fact it is likely to be even worse because Ports want to stack containers very high on their newly reclaimed land to cope with an almost doubling of container volumes. These volumes will cause serious congestion on surrounding streets also. Isn't about time there was some collaboration with Ports of Tauranga?

But it could get worse than containers. We had three cruise ships in for the semi-finals on Friday. Quite festive and fun if it only happens when there's a big event, and downtown parking and accommodation is at a premium...

The closer you get, the bigger they become...

You can see how the Pacific Dawn totally dominates Queens Wharf, and blocks the morning sunshine and public views. Shed 10 is almost lost alongside the ship - which isn't even the biggest ship to visit Auckland.

This is the Queen Mary II. (This is another of my computer models - all to scale). In fact Queen Mary II has never berthed alongside Queens Wharf because the ship is too long. That's why there are proposals to put a "dolphin" - a support structure off the end of Queens Wharf - to moor the ship. Docked there it will block views from Queens Wharf totally - without any help from Ports reclamation.

If you want to protect Queens Wharf so it can be used as Queens Park (not a cruise ship park), then you need to put in a submission about that too.

2 comments:

Dick Bellamy said...

It is becomming increasingly clear that many of the port activities are just not compatible with preserving other public good values on the waterfront. The bulk of Sydney commercial activity is around the corner in Botany Bay. Elsewhere in the world the same trend has occurred over the past 25 years or so as container traffic has increased. New York is another example.
It has long been evident that Auckland Port activities need to be rationalised with those of Tauranga, particularly since a vaste ammount of the container traffic is destined for Sth Auckland and can get there via the Kaimai tunnel and the rail link.
If we dont undertake this rationalisation, we soon will be unble to see the harbour through a continuous wall of containers!
There are obvious commercial benefits that would flow from such a rationalisation and provided the Commerce Commission could be persuaded to a sensible view, a merger is the obvious answer.

Phil Chase said...

Hi Joel.
Thanks for the great information on your site. I found it invaluable for developing my submission on the Auckland Plan.
keep up the good work.
cheers
Phil Chase
PS: Wonderful photos of Sapporo...and what a park!