I hereby give notice that an ordinary meeting of the Infrastructure Committee will be held on:
Date: Time: Meeting Room: Venue:
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Tuesday, 19 May 2015 9.30am 1 & 2,
Level 26 |
Infrastructure Committee
OPEN ADDENDUM AGENDA
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MEMBERSHIP
Chairperson |
Cr Mike Lee |
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Deputy Chairperson |
Cr Chris Darby |
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Members |
Cr Cameron Brewer |
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Cr Dr Cathy Casey |
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Cr Bill Cashmore |
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Cr Ross Clow |
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Cr Hon Christine Fletcher, QSO |
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Ms Liane Ngamane |
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Cr Calum Penrose |
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Cr Dick Quax |
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Cr Wayne Walker |
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Cr John Watson |
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Mr Glenn Wilcox |
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Ex-officio |
Mayor Len Brown, JP |
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Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse |
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(Quorum 7 members)
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Barbara Watson Democracy Advisor
14 May 2015
Contact Telephone: (09) 890 8105 Email: barbara.watson@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz Website: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
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Infrastructure Committee 19 May 2015 |
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ITEM TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
12 Auckland 30 Year Infrastructure Strategy 5
Infrastructure Committee 19 May 2015 |
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Auckland 30 Year Infrastructure Strategy
File No.: CP2015/09161
Purpose
1. To receive an outline of the feedback on the Draft Auckland 30 Year Infrastructure Strategy (the ‘strategy’) as part of consultation on the Long-term Plan (LTP) 2015-25, including the subsequent changes that are recommended to the strategy.
2. To recommend the strategy to the Governing Body for approval as part of the Long-term Plan 2015-2025.
Executive Summary
3. The strategy forms part of the LTP, setting out how the council intends to manage its infrastructure assets, what significant decisions it expects to make about infrastructure, and outlines a 30 year summary of infrastructure investment.
4. Councils are required to address water supply, wastewater, stormwater drainage, flood protection and control works, and road and footpath infrastructure assets in their strategies. Auckland Council has also included open space and community facilities to recognise their important roles. While privately owned infrastructure is not covered in the strategy, the signalling of council’s long-term intentions does provide direction for other infrastructure providers and the wider community.
5. The strategy illustrates the importance of infrastructure as a foundation of society and its potential role in transforming Auckland as it grows, to help reach the Auckland Plan vision of being the world’s most liveable city. The strategy highlights the significant pressures on infrastructure demand in Auckland over the next three decades, council’s funding constraints and a package of coordinated mechanisms that the council will deploy in response.
6. Proposed changes to the strategy as a result of feedback from the LTP 2015-25 consultation introduce an additional mechanism to recognise the application of sustainability and resilience principles to infrastructure planning, delivery and operations, and strengthening the framework around future infrastructure needs in greenfield areas.
That the Infrastructure Committee recommend to the Governing Body: a) approval of the Auckland 30 Year Infrastructure Strategy, with changes incorporated as proposed in this report, as part of the Long-term Plan 2015-2025. |
Comments
7. The completion of an infrastructure strategy as part of the LTP is a new requirement introduced by the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014. Councils are required to identify the significant infrastructure issues over the next 30 years, the significant decisions it expects to make to respond to those issues, and the principal options for the decisions.
8. Water supply, wastewater, stormwater drainage, flood protection and control works, and road and footpath infrastructure assets are required to be included in the strategy. Councils have the discretion to include other infrastructure groups and Auckland Council has also incorporated public transport, community facilities and public open space assets within its strategy.
9. In developing the strategy council took into account the matters outlined in section 101B(3) of the Local Government Act 2002. These are the need to:
i) renew or replace existing assets
ii) respond to growth or decline in the demand for services reliant on those assets
iii) allow for planned increases or decreases in levels of service provided through those assets
iv) maintain or improve public health and environmental outcomes or mitigate adverse effects on them
v) provide for the resilience of infrastructure assets by identifying and managing risks relating to natural hazards and by making appropriate financial provision for those risks.
10. The draft strategy identified the significant pressures on infrastructure led by the demand from Auckland’s future growth, demographic change, service level expectations, sustainability, resilience and the condition of existing assets.
11. There is a gap between the demand for infrastructure and the funding sources currently available to the council. The draft strategy set out council’s approach to planning, delivering and managing infrastructure, ensuring investment in projects that have the potential to be transformative and which allow for the significant trade-offs between costs, risk and service levels to be considered and safely managed.
12. In response to the infrastructure demands and funding constraints that Auckland faces the draft strategy provided a package of seven mechanisms which comprised:
i) The Auckland Plan Development Strategy Implementation and Spatial Prioritisation
ii) Management of the demand for infrastructure
iii) Smart investment / transformative infrastructure investment
iv) Strategic long-term network and systems planning
v) Efficient and innovative asset management
vi) New funding and delivery mechanisms
vii) Monitoring programme for growth.
13. The strategy also lists the significant decisions council expects to make in the next 30 years.
Feedback on Draft Infrastructure Strategy
14. Material to be incorporated into the council’s draft strategy was presented to the Auckland Development Committee at its December 2014 meeting.
15. The strategy was included as section 1.2 within the Draft LTP 2015-2025 and elements of the strategy were also incorporated in the LTP consultation document.
16. There were relatively few submission points directly on the draft strategy received as part of the consultation on the Draft LTP 2015-25. However, there was a high level of feedback on infrastructure generally - in total, over 939 feedback points were received in relation to council’s proposed infrastructure investments. This included feedback on the lack of infrastructure in areas of growth and the issue of timing between new development being built and infrastructure being completed. Lack of transport infrastructure (both public transport and roading) across Auckland was a key matter raised in submissions.
17. Investment in infrastructure was supported with feedback that investment is required to renew ageing infrastructure, improve services and provide for growth. The role of infrastructure in achieving improved environmental outcomes was also recognised, with support by mana whenua and other submitters for increased investment in stormwater assets. Submissions highlighted the inherent tensions between the investment levels in different types of infrastructure over the same timeframe, with investment in transport, stormwater, water and wastewater most strongly supported.
18. Feedback on the strategy itself endorsed the proposed approach as a suitable foundation for driving infrastructure investment in Auckland. The issues identified in the strategy were noted as also relevant for services delivered by other organisations, including in the telecommunications and health sectors. This is in line with the intention to use the strategy in council’s engagement with other infrastructure providers about Auckland’s future infrastructure needs.
19. The New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development called for clearer pathways within the strategy that demonstrate how Auckland Council is responding to issues, the inclusion of an infrastructure gap analysis targeted by investment, and objective monitoring that holds the council accountable for delivering on the strategy.
20. Respondents generally supported increased funding contribution by government for core infrastructure in Auckland, disposal of non-strategic surplus assets and pursuit of alternative funding sources, including private sector capital. Ngati Paoa proposed that specific infrastructure investment be allocated toward sites owned by mana whenua.
21. Submissions from individuals and partner agencies, such as the New Zealand Transport Agency and Waikato Regional Council, supported the need to align planning for growth and the need to target investment. There was clear support to focus resources in areas prioritised for development and sequence delivery of infrastructure with staged release of greenfield land. Where an area is zoned for development it was considered important that infrastructure providers lead and meet the demands of growth.
22. Feedback highlighted the need for investment in renewals and to address gaps in provision, particularly within the existing open space and community facilities networks. The strategy to maximise the ensuing benefits and utilisation of existing assets was endorsed. There was also consistent support for the demand management measures within the strategy that have the potential to defer investment in new infrastructure, such as harvesting, storing and use of rainwater to reduce demand for water.
Changes to the final version of the Infrastructure Strategy
23. The following key changes to the strategy are proposed arising from the feedback.
Smart /transformative infrastructure investment (section 5.3)
24. This section has been broadened to include reference to using robust methodologies for better decision making and to guide planning, investment and project development. This aligns with a collaborative, cross-agency approach to decision making.
Monitoring and review programme (section 5.7)
25. The draft strategy focused on monitoring growth. The updated strategy recognises that there is a need to have wider monitoring of the strategy, of which growth will be an important component, and for the results of monitoring to inform future strategy review processes.
Application of sustainability and resilience principles (section 5.8)
26. An eighth mechanism to respond to infrastructure demand and funding constraints has been added, recognising that sustainability and resilience principles are woven throughout the strategy, these include consideration of water sensitive design and achieving resilience by managing risks and building adaptive capacity within communities, businesses and infrastructure.
Future infrastructure needs in greenfield areas (section 6.8)
27. Providing infrastructure for greenfield areas will be a major challenge in Auckland over the next 30 years. As part of the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan development, a number of greenfield areas have been identified in the south, north-west and north of Auckland. This land, within the Rural Urban Boundary, is currently in rural use and lacks infrastructure to enable an urban scale of development. Tables have been added to the strategy that provide a snapshot of the possible future infrastructure needs in these greenfield areas, principal options for managing the issues and the associated collaborative processes and decision making requirements around what infrastructure the council will need to deliver, where and when.
Assumptions (Appendix 1)
28. Appendix 1 of the strategy document will contain additional information about the levels of service, demand and asset lifecycle assumptions which underpin the strategy.
Capital works programmes (Sections 6.2 – 6.7)
29. These sections are now being amended by separating out projects that are at the planning stage from those being implemented for each infrastructure type in the most likely scenario of infrastructure investment. More information has also been provided about the options and associated implications for stopping, delaying or scaling back projects in the most likely scenario of infrastructure investment.
Alignment with the financial strategy
30. The strategy is being aligned to the financial strategy in the LTP. Transport infrastructure investment in the draft strategy was based on the Basic Transport Network included in the Draft LTP 2015-2025. The final strategy will be updated to reflect the council’s decisions though the LTP regarding transport and other investment over the next 10 years.
Consideration
Local Board views and implications
31. Presentations on the strategy were made to the local board cluster meetings during September and October 2014. The comments received at these meetings were used to inform the development of the draft strategy.
Māori impact statement
32. The Auckland Plan outcome, a Māori identity that is Auckland’s point of difference in the world, and the Māori responsiveness framework provide the lenses through which to recognise and understand the importance of infrastructure management and investment for Māori. Infrastructure planning, investment, delivery and maintenance impacts can enable Māori outcomes. Preservation of the mauri or life essence of the flora and fauna, land, water and waterways is a matter of great importance to Māori and is an issue that is central to many infrastructure projects.
33. In developing the strategy mana whenua submissions to the Unitary Plan were analysed to understand mana whenua interests, needs and aspirations. The Independent Māori Statutory Board secretariat also provided comment. Their views were taken into account in the development of the strategy.
34. There was no specific feedback on the strategy from Māori through the LTP consultation process. However, the council did receive strong feedback on marae and papakāinga development and the role of mana whenua as kaitiaki in partnering with and influencing council processes. Both of these are acknowledged and can be enabled through the infrastructure strategy. Further, the strategy acknowledges Māori rights and interests, needs and aspirations and the council’s role in leading and influencing better outcomes with Māori. Further work is required through implementation to ensure that these are woven through planning and management.
Implementation
35. The strategy is part of the LTP 2015-25 and will be reported to the Governing Body on 25 June 2015 for approval.
36. This is the first time Auckland Council will have a 30-year infrastructure strategy. It provides a basis for infrastructure providers across the council group to coordinate future planning, including their response to the Future Urban Land Supply Strategy, currently under development, that will set out the sequencing and timing of future urban areas.
37. The strategy will also provide an opportunity to signal council’s longer-term view and direction to the wider community, including other infrastructure providers, which will inform and support their long-term planning. It is anticipated that this will enable dialogue with others involved in infrastructure provision and skills and labour market development on an ongoing basis.
There are no attachments for this report.
Signatories
Authors |
Dawne Mackay - Team Leader Growth and Infrastructure Strategy |
Authorisers |
Jacques Victor - GM Auckland Plan Strategy and Research Roger Blakeley - Chief Planning Officer Dean Kimpton - Chief Operating Officer |