Alcohol stores flood Manukau City

I am a Manukau City resident and this issue is one that I think many Manukau residents feel strongly about. The issue of off-licence liquor outlets has driven Manukau residents to protesting on the streets as they did last year in Clendon. Driving down some of Manukau’s poorest neighbourhoods and you will see alcohol stores located next to dairies and other alcohol stores. The question that normally comes to my mind is why would a neighbourhood need so many Alcohol stores?

Source: Pacificeyewitness, 2011.
Manukau residents march out against new alcohol stores in their communities. 

The Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand released a report in 2010 titled “The Impacts of Liquor Outlets in Manukau City”. The findings are extremely concerning. It found that “in Manukau City, off-licence liquor outlets tend to be located in areas of high social deprivation and high population density” (Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand, 2011). I think it could be said that Alcohol stores in Manukau only worsen the social conditions in many of these highly deprived areas. Alcohol’s social costs are widely known and are being experienced by Manukau’s most socially excluded.

Source: Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand, 2010
The most deprived areas are in the grey/black the pink dots are the liquor stores as you can see most of them are in the grey/black areas of Manukau.

I think that regulations and laws around granting off-licences to liquor stores should be toughed up. The location of the store should be taken into account and the existence of other off-licence liquor stores should also influence whether or not a license is granted. While the Council has tools that could be used to stop off-licences being granted such as the District Plan, they are not strong enough to keep the numbers of off-licences for liquor outlets low in Manukau. The effects of Alcohol abuse is damaging not only to the individual consuming it but also to their family, community and the rest of the nation. Placing off-licence liquor stores in areas where social problems already exist adds fuel to the fire.

The new Auckland Council should regularly monitor the number of off-licence liquor outlets and map out their location. They can build on the research that the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand has already established. Auckland Council needs to do this because if they do not the social cost in the long term will be significant on the rest of the Auckland region. Without early intervention and monitoring ratepayers will end up paying the bill for alcohol externalities.

The most deprived Manukau communities are the most vulnerable to the temptations of cheap liquor sold it through these off-licence liquor outlets. Those in positions of power especially local authority have legal obligations to care for these communities’ well-beings. One way of doing this is to stop granting off-licences to stores wanting to locate in these communities. This will reduce the sources of cheap alcohol in the community. By acknowledging, working and helping Auckland’s most deprived Auckland will start to head towards its goal of becoming a global city because we are only as strong as our weakness link.

References:

www.alcohol.org.nz/.../ManukauOutletDensitySummaryReport.PDF

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10662667

Manukau’s trees left to fend for themselves

Submissions for nominating tree protection in urban Manukau finished on the 31^st of March and the future for our urban trees do not look good.

On the 22^nd of March Manukau Courier voiced the pleas of the Manurewa, Otara-Papatoetoe and Mangere-Otahuhu local boards to local residents to lodge submissions nominating trees for protection. 

When Manukau Courier’s article was release only a total of two trees in Manukau “had been nominated for protection under the district plan”. This is a major worry because after January 2012 all current general rules protecting Manukau’s trees will be removed and replaced by the new plan that does not embody a general trees protection rule.

Below are direct quotes, which were interesting from this Manukau Courier article (2011):

• ·         Auckland Council says any trees identified and protected under previous councils' existing district plans will continue to be protected.
• ·      To date there are around 630 trees protected under the former Manukau City Council's existing plan.
• ·      Only trees in outstanding condition that are renowned for their heritage and contribution to the community landscape will be considered.

The worry among some residents in these urban areas is that once the general tree protect rule is removed people will cut down trees unnecessarily without acknowledging their amenity value and wider role in the environment.

While 630 trees will continue to be protected in Manukau, thousands of others are unprotected by law. Think about it this way Manukau covers about 683 km² within this area there are thousands of trees. Of these thousands of trees, only 630 individual trees have legal protection from anyone trying to cut it down, the rest could be cut down without consequence after 2012.

Personally, I think Manukau’s beautiful urban and rural environment is testament to the success of the general tree protection rule, without it trees in urban areas specially those facing major development pressures are likely to be cut down for the sake of development. Trees modify derelict urban areas into pleasant livable spaces and more importantly, they are part of a larger ecosystem that should be protected.

Reference:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/4791835/Time-running-out-for-trees

Choo-Choo train heading towards Manukau’s CBD

Residents living in Manukau are about to get a new rail line service opened to them. Unlike North Shore and Auckland City residents who have frequent bus services with dedicated bus lines such as the B-line or the Northern express buses using the Northern bus-way, Manukau City residents depend on our trains as our main public transport into Auckland CBD. Some may argue that it won't matter if there's another train line service with the increasing train fare encourages Manukau residents to get back into their cars but that’s another story. 

Currently there are rail lines are being attached and laid out connecting the current Southern rail line to the new rail line heading towards Manukau’s CBD. The rail line named the Manukau rail link leads into a Britomart like transport hub, which is estimated to become the second busiest station after Britomart.

More new tracks are being laid out behind the pile of gravel heading towards Manukau CBD.
Source: R.Layco, 2011 Personal photos

Dirty roads that are being used by the heavy machinery to laid out the tracks.
Source: R. Layco, 2011 Personal Photos

More materials that are being used during construction.
Source: R. Layco, 2011 Personal Photos

According to Kiwi Rail this is “the first new rail route to be built in Auckland since 1930”. The line will be a double track “2km section of new track linking Davies Ave in Manukau City with the Southern railway line at Puhinui. The track will run under Lambie Drive and Plunket Ave and across Hayman Park” (Kiwi Rail, 2011).

Source: Kiwi Rail, 2011

Kiwi Rail started work in July 2009 and the project is expected to be finished mid 2011 and scheduled to operate passenger services so after. Additionally, the project has been timed to finish in time to assist in rugby world cup transportation. I have been using train services regularly for over 7 years and I have no doubt that once this line has opened that the locals will utilize it. 

Introduction

Manukau City is located south of Auckland City’s CDB. It is still commonly recognized that Manukau City is made up of the following suburbs Mangere, Otara, Papatoetoe, Manurewa, Clevedon, Howick and Botany. There was a common fear among Manukau City residents that they would be forgotten when the move to a ‘super council’ occurred last year.

Source: Manukau City Council, 2009

In this blog I will explore impact of the political transition on the city mainly by looking at urban issues in Manukau and if there are initiatives being taken to address them.