Category: Greg Presland
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Waitakere Ranges Local Board submission on the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill
I drafted the submission for the Waitakere Ranges Local Board for the HASHA Bill. Text follows: Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area 1. The Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area is an area of immense tree clad beauty in the west of Auckland. The area is very hilly and steep and dominated by the Waitakere Forest. It includes the…
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Can Nick Smith override the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act?
Reprinted from waitakerenews.blogspot.com The politics of the Auckland Housing accord are concerning. It came out of huge pressure being applied on Auckland Council by the Government. Either Auckland was to expand its borders or it would lose some of its planning powers. This was never a Central Government decision. Under the conventional hierachy Auckland…
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There is funding to save Wanganui Collegiate but not Kauri
I blogged recently about the Government’s failure to continue funding of research into Kauri Dieback disease. The recent draft report into the operation of the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008 shows clearly that Kauri Dieback is the biggest natural threat to the natural health of the Waitakere Ranges. Yet despite this the Government has…
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Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act – is it working?
By Greg Presland The Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008 turned 5 this month and it is a good time to review how the Act is working and whether it is providing adequate protection for the Ranges. I was involved in the development of the Act. I can recall an early meeting when Jonathan Hunt…
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By Greg Presland Also posted at waitakerenews.blogspot.co.nz Auckland Council’s draft Unitary Plan is now out for comments from the public. It has already been the cause of some pubic dissent and well attended meetings in the north and east have expressed opposition. Their concerns appear to be based on a misapprehension of the effects of the plan as…