Myrtaceae and especially Eucalypteae in urban areas.
I really love Lophostemon confertus brush box & Metrosideros excelsa Pohutakawa / iron tree - among others.
But why do we plant Eucalyptus globulus - Blue gum in urban areas - including on streets. They literally drop massive limbs at will.
Eucalyptus Robusta is maybe okay... Swamp mahogany.
I really love Lophostemon confertus brush box & Metrosideros excelsa Pohutakawa / iron tree - among others.
But why do we plant Eucalyptus globulus - Blue gum in urban areas - including on streets. They literally drop massive limbs at will.
Eucalyptus Robusta is maybe okay... Swamp mahogany.
Off street parking is a problem for town houses in suburbs as you only have one level to deal with, so cars spill into the streets.
Why not build apartments in suburbs instead - with parking and storage space, EV enabled, on the ground floor or basement level? Wouldn't that make more sense?
Instead of taking out entire streets with townhouses, you could have hotspots of density. Should our planning rules be more realistic about parking provision?
Given the new harbour crossing won't be rail enabled and the govt is dragging it's feet on PT investment - it seems our planning system is based on hope for a PT enabled future that just isn't coming?
We either need to enable PT or we need to intensify for a car based future. I don't know.
Is this about oil and control of immigration fundamentally?
How can Alberta be independent when you are land locked with no ports, govt owned railway and dependent on Ottawa to build the infra you need to move your oil?
It just doesn't make sense to me. Can somebody please explain to someone who is outside of your society.
Do you have any navigable rivers????
With the government's announcement today it will sack 10,000 public sector workers and replace them with AI - one wonders if our constitutional settings are strong enough to prevent long-term erosion of state capacity and the well-being of our people by right wing parties.
I propose an alternative - the social democratic commonwealth of Aotearoa.
It's keystone principle - the establishment of a Seanad na Nua-Shéalainne / Senate of NZ / Whare o runga. I take inspiration from the Irish example - where there is strong representation from civil society and vocational panels.
There should be seats for unions; treaty partners - Maori, Pakeha, Indian, Asian etc; faith leaders; business; industry; and community senators elected by popular vote (must have served in local govt).
This house should have some power to delay reforms & slow down our legislative process. We need better made laws. A govt should be able to govern but there must be a hand brakem
I found this old source material from work done on a harbour crossing from 2007, commissioned by the predecessors to NZTA, AT and AC.
They recommended an Onewa - West Haven alignment by tunnel, including heavy rail.
EDIT: RECOMMENDED OPTION WOULD HAVE BEEN AS FOLLOWS FOR MOTORWAY TRAFFIC:
"The twin motorway tunnels would form a new section of State Highway 1, with six lanes of general traffic (three northbound, three southbound). From Westhaven, the motorway would pass under Victoria Park before surfacing to link to the Southern and Northwestern motorways within the Central Motorway Junction."
So actually that was also a great option.
What I found super interesting is they also considered as #2, a Grafton gully connection. Effectively a ring route bypassing the CBD. Alongside heavy rail to Britomart.
If we are going to add road capacity - this is what we need to go for. Not just replicating the current crossing. We need to actually make connections better.
"A Grafton Gully connection
After the Westhaven-Onewa alignment, the next best performing option is a series of long tunnels (two motorway, two rail), with vehicular traffic linking to the Southern and North-western motorway at Grafton Gully (east of the CBD).
The rail tunnels would diverge from the more eastern road alignment under the harbour at a point east of Princes Wharf, and reach the isthmus at depth under Albert Street and link to a future CBD loop rail tunnel.
This option is more expensive and complex to build. The estimated cost is $4.7 to $5.1 billion.
However, the study notes that even if the motorway went to Grafton Gully, rail could take the Onewa-Westhaven route in order to provide the economic and transport benefits associated with a rail station at Wynyard.
The Grafton Gully option is the best place to bring north and southbound traffic into the motorway network, as it would connect with the Southern Motorway south of the Central Motorway Junction"
The next Labour govt needs to fix childcare - it is fundamental to increased labour market participation, economic growth and better social outcomes. Research shows that it is much more impactful to spend money in the early years. By the time they reach uni it is too late. It also lifts labour market participation which is great for growth.
What has Mamdani achieved and how do we follow:
*Universal free childcare for 3 & 4 year Olds.
*Extending to 2 year Olds from 2026.
*Targeted support for low income families for 6mo to 2 years - either free or low cost.
NZ needs to copy this recipe:
Beef up 20 hours free so it is completely free for basic ece for 2-4 years old. No Forest schools. Expand state provision.
Free care for 6mo to 2 years - free for CSC.
How do we pay for it - not sure.
But we need to tax the rich, we need to cut landlord and corporate welfare, and find savings. We need to invest in what really matters.
According to the NZ Herald as of March 2025 there was 3000+ regular force vacancies. The defence capability plan calls for a move to either a common UK or Japanese frigate platform. With consideration for moving our OPV platform to a common frigate class hull.
At the moment we have ships in stasis as we can't crew them. We obviously don't pay our people well enough. Something needs to change. NZ is committed to the idea of a professional defence force - that pay needs to go up. We need to look at financial incentives such as sign up bonuses. We need to mobilize recruitment drives in our communities. Apply online will not fill the gaps.
However, that's not enough to fix things, at least not in the short term. We need Voluntary National Service to help fill these capability gaps. In terms of numbers here I'm talking in the 100s places per year, dependent on the recommendations of the CDF on what is needed and can be absorbed by our NZDF in a way that is feasible.
Think of it as like LSV but professionalised - SV+ - a six month full-time service commitment, followed by training in the local reserve unit or ship's company. Allowing for school leavers to still start uni or polytechnic in semester 2. They would receive salary for their six month service, an ongoing part time job in reserves, and their first semester of uni or training debt free. They would also have the option of staying on in the corps.
The hope would be that many of these recruits would choose to stay in the services full-time, - however it would absolutely build our overall capability, and capacity over time in terms of the reserve forces. Obviously this is a bit of a cooked idea that I have dreamt up on my commute. But we need to do something to lift numbers and we need to lift participation in our NZDF.
We have several thousand young people in NZ Cadet Forces - there are clearly young people that love the fumes of shoe polish and kerosene. Let's give them somewhere to go.
I was just relistening to the bombshell interview with Dr Sean Sweeney, of late CEO of CRL & a Dublin metro project. Sweeney speaks prophetically about what NZ needs to do to address it's infra issues.
Sweeney scoffed: ~No job here big enough for me - Im off to Australia!~
"For now, Sweeney is heading to Australia to
head the A$30 billion ($36.6b) Inland Rail
Project. The 1600km freight line will connect
Melbourne and Brisbane via regiona
Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland
He'll be busy on that for the next few years."
How's that going Sean?:
"Plans for Inland Rail, Australia's largest freight rail infrastructure project, have been shelved by the federal government ahead of the budget.
The project cost had ballooned to at least $45 billion, according to an independent cost assessment.
What's next?
The government says existing construction of the project between Beveridge in Victoria and Parkes in New South Wales will be completed by the end of 2027."
So he isn't going off to a new big job. He's winding one up. It seems he also didn't know in advance. Maybe let's not act like this guy is some kind of seer...
NZ will find a way - and the biggest issue is partisan disagreement, not the design of railway stations.
In an audacious announcement alongside junior minister Simon Watts - Minister Chris Bishop launched a broadside against local councils - 3 months, reform or die!
Regional councillors - Chris is sending those piggies straight to the works - no elected regional councillors in 2028!
Bishop has laid out a new landscape for local govt in Aotearoa - unitary authorities, a centralised planning and monitoring system - and efficiency x ∞.
Can he pull this off and will NZ be the better for it??? Can Bishop reform NZ local govt by his sheer will?
Is it legal for a resident to place a boat and trailer long-term on the berm in Auckland?